Circular Business Models: Overcoming Barriers, Unleashing Potentials (Executive Summary)

The circular economy represents a disruption of today’s linear ‘take-make-waste economic’ paradigm. It is not an end-of-pipe approach to tackling ‘waste’. Turning the dominant linear structures into value cycles requires a rethinking by all involved actors. It starts with circular product redesign and demands a consistent realignment of all subsequent business processes of value creation, delivery, and return. Overall objectives, mission of the working group The aim of this report was to develop a scientifically based practical manual for the successful implementation of business practices for advancing a circular economy (CE). Taking a system perspective, the task of the related CEID working group on ‘Circular Business Models’ was a. to identify and describe actor-specific circular business models (CBMs) and their interactions in business ecosystems b. to provide an integrated presentation of existing barriers to CBMs c. to identify digital and regulatory enablers of CBMs d. to derive specific recommendations for action addressed to decision makers in the areas of politics, business and science in order to accelerate system transition towards a CE.