Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
1
CE100 ReykjavikOctober 10th - 12th, 2017
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CONTENTS
3 WELCOME
4 INSIGHTS
4 Talk: De-risk | Re-wire
7 Talk: Renewables
8 Field trip: Hellisheidi Power Plant
9 STORIES
9 CE Stories
11 COLLABORATIONS
11 Pitches: Collaboration
15 Co.Projects: Updates
17 NETWORK
17 Government and Cities
17 Talk: CE100 Strategy
18 IMMERSIVE
18 Work: De-risk | Re-wire
21 Solve: De-risk | Re-wire
3
WELCOMEIt was in Iceland, more specifically the iceberg-like Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik, where we chose to convene the CE100. Our theme De-risk | Re-wire asked the question: how can we de-risk investment in innovation in order to rewire the material economy system?
Sitting on the northern fringe of Europe, Iceland can feel far-away and remote. In fact, it would be easy to write the country off as insignificant or irrelevant to the global economic system. But take a closer look and you find an utterly unique island that has (more than once) had a major impact on global systems.
Iceland is where Europe meets America. It is the only place you can see the Mid-Atlantic Ridge - a tectonic plate fault line - above water. And it is home to Laki: an active volcano whose eruptions have caused famines (and flight cancellations) all over the world.
In 1783, Laki erupted. The lava, ash, and gas released poisoned livestock and contaminated fields. One-fifth of Iceland’s population perished. As the ash and toxic gasses entered the high layers of the atmosphere, the effects became more widespread, dramatically affecting the climate in Europe, America, and Asia and contributing to crop failures, famine, and eventually insurrection - most famously the French Revolution in 1789, a pivotal moment in the evolution of democratic political systems.
Iceland has also played a role in more contemporary example of system failure. In 2008, the Global Financial System was in crisis. In Iceland the banks defaulted and the government collapsed leading to lasting cultural and political changes in the country. The lesson? System change can come from crisis and the fall-out of this catastrophic failure plays out still today.
Fortunately, there are examples of more proactive strategies to achieve systems change; the transition in the energy system towards a greater mix of supply coming from renewable sources is a timely one. As energy prices become increasingly competitive in several geographical areas, we have already hit the tipping point. This global shift is the result of decades of investment, and Iceland, where 85% of primary energy comes from renewable sources, is a living example of the energy dynamic of the future.
So, progress is being made but more needs to happen. Casper Jorna’s opening remarks reminded us that whilst the CE100 community is dynamic and impactful, “We are still a little island in the middle of an ocean of linear wiring. Our mission is to scale: scale engagement in the circular economy across our organisations and scale the impact of our collaborations. To do this we need to celebrate our successes but remain open to challenge.”
The moral of the story? Even a seemingly isolated island, home to a small group of people, can disrupt the global system. All you need is enough hot air...
Joe Murphy Casper JornaCE100 Network Manager CE100 Lead
4
INSIGHTSTALK: DE-RISK | RE-WIRE
The Global Financial Crisis that hit the financial system in 2008 had global consequences that are still felt today.
In Iceland - a seemingly insignificant player in the global financial system with a population of just over 300,000 - the symptoms were particularly acute. As the rest of the world ‘averted’ disaster by bailing out the banks and propping up governments, Iceland - who had massively over-exposed itself - was in the eye of the storm with no room to manoeuvre. Icelandic banks failed and the government collapsed. The impact on society is still being felt today.
The circular economy is a vision for a new economic system: one now increasingly widely understood and supported. In the landscape of circular economy activity, the CE100 exists to play a role in accelerating this transition. In this context, it is important that we understand how change happens.
There are many catalysts for change and our opening speaker provided a unique perspective on how crisis can be a trigger...
THORA ARNORSDOTTIR
As a journalist, documentary film producer, and one-time presidential candidate, Thora Arnorsdottir shared her personal experience of the years building-up to, and following, 2008. Iceland, a country built on the tough endurance of its founding mothers and fathers, had lost all perspective. Fuelled by an ambition to become the centre of global finance, society had experienced a rapid increase of wealth and lost touch with its values.
Catastrophe hit in 2008. It is difficult to overestimate the gravity of the situation, perhaps best illustrated when the Prime Minister took to airwaves to address the nation with the words: “God Bless Iceland.” Emotions of fear, anger, and embarrassment were prominent as the country braved the cold and took to the streets to protest in unprecedented scenes. Also emerging was a profound realisation that the crisis had revealed a mentality of misplaced invincibility.
Thora, following the fallout from the sidelines as one of the nation’s most famous reporters, was unhappy with the establishment’s pace of change. A snap presidential election was announced and the 16 year-incumbent promised to run again. Dismayed by the prospect, and encouraged by advisors who knew a national personality was needed, Thora decided to run.
5
As a mother, step mother, and expectant mother at the time, her campaign was aimed at reestablishing traditional Icelandic values. Being new to the political arena, the odds were stacked and unfortunately she did not win. However, by securing 30% of the national vote, Thora’s campaign reframed the debate and captured the desire for a new direction.
Looking back, Thora sees her campaign as a turning point in re-framing the national debate to focus on values and prompting Iceland’s citizens to ask what they want their society to stand for. A cultural change of this magnitude does not happen overnight. Seeing it through will take grit, resilience, and determination. Fortunately, these are characteristics that the country was built on. In closing, Thora reminded us that, in a week that saw the Iceland national football team beat all the odds to become the smallest country to ever qualify for a World Cup, there is reason to be hopeful.
Proactive investment strategies can change systems. One example is the energy system, where decades of strategic investment has invented and scaled technologies that generate energy from renewable sources.
85% of Iceland’s primary energy comes from renewable sources - the world’s highest share of renewable energy in any national total energy budget. This mix is the result of a decision to capture the benefit of one of the country’s natural assets - the geothermal activity under the Earth’s surface.
Recent pricing suggests that Iceland’s energy mix is indicative of the future for other nations. Is the de-risking of strategic investments in renewables the transferable learning to taking circular business models to industrial scale?
IAN NOLAN
With 24 years of investment experience at 3i, ultimately as Chief Investment Officer, Ian Nolan shared investment lessons that added-up to a need for accelerated investment in circular economy opportunities. Taking up the challenge of how £3bn could help address the £300bn problem of decarbonising the economy, he helped found the UK’s Green Investment Bank, in early 2011. The bank was tasked with helping to address climate change issues and increasing the support of renewable energy technologies.
Ian shared three learnings from the renewable energy transition and the establishment of the Green Bank in its early days that should help accelerate investment into a circular economy.
Firstly, it is crucial to have a precise and accurate diagnosis of the cause of the problem, not just the painkillers for symptoms. For example, governments all too often say the market is the problem, not the answer. Transport London wanted to transition to electric buses, but depreciation of the battery was too high for the financial market to invest in three year contracts. By creating a ten year contract, combined with the announcement that all buses needed to be electric, it provided the right incentives for markets to act. It was not that the cost of capital was too high, the return was too low. Identify the cause of problem, address that and the markets will drive it home.
Secondly, innovation in finance matters but only if it is seen to work by speaking the language of investors and not by attempting to teach investors to speak the language of renewables. By packaging renewable energy assets into a portfolio, Greencoat attracted investment by pension funds and others because of the yield: not because of the assets but in spite of the assets. GIB helped with setting it up, but it took off from there because the markets understood it.
6
Thirdly, early adopters are crucial. They change the perception and behaviour, for example, Dong Energy. Taking a strategic, systematic, and industrialised approach to renewable wind energy at the start of the decade, it has emerged as a dominant player in the industry. You don’t innovate with timidity, it takes real commitment.
We should not underestimate what private capital can achieve, delivering financial as well as environmental returns. Indeed, there are markets that are failing. Ian called out for politicians to tackle the true economic version of market failure by including the pricing of natural capital. Policy makers have a unique opportunity to shape the playing field and unlock the potential of the financial community to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
The Global Financial Crisis highlighted a flawed system.
While political maneuvering and big bailouts prevented many institutions from absolute collapse, something intangible but fundamental broke. The banks had demonstrated how detached they had become from the real economy and people lost trust.
For Intesa Sanpaolo and Massimiliano “Max” Tellini, this signified a call to action. How could a bank reverse the trend and build trust back into relationships? By moving away from a transactional way of working to relationships built on shared values and shared goals. Another important issue to confront was ensuring that negative externality and business risks are accurately priced.
Inspired by what the circular economy offered as an enabling framework to address these issues, Intesa Sanpaolo became the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Finance Global Partner.
MASSIMILIANO TELLINI
Taking a multi-stakeholder approach, Max and his team have started to see the results of their hard work and circular economy momentum in Italy.
Highlights include: the adoption, by customers, of their circular economy standard; the success of the circular economy startup series trial; the forthcoming announcement of the Italian Government’s circular economy strategic positioning paper; the launch of the first European Masters in Bioeconomy and Circular Economy; and the inclusion of an Italian circular economy perspective at a European Commision level and at the World Economic Forum.
2018 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the circular economy activities not only at the bank but for Italy itself.
7
TALK: RENEWABLES
The transition from a linear to a circular economy requires decoupling from finite resources, be it energy or material feedstocks.
Iceland is already demonstrating what is possible when a nation takes an innovative, bold approach to energy generation; renewable energy makes up 85% of the primary energy mix - a higher proportion than any other country. And, based on recent activity in the energy market, the world is following suit. This makes the prospect of a world powered by renewable energy ever more achievable.
The shift to renewable energy generation lays the ground for a future where energy is abundant. The circular economy offers a vision for an economy powered by renewable energy that effectively manages a stock of materials: a regenerative system where waste is no longer a concept.
Achieving transformations at this scale requires multiple actors adopting systemic perspectives. No group is more important than those who incentivise the market by making investment decisions and channelling funds.
WILLIAM “BILL” BURCKART
Bill spends his working days with groups of investors to help them understand the potential for adopting a system-level investment strategy. The traditional approach to investment decision making is to take a portfolio focus that emphasises rapid economic growth and short-termism, while effective, fundamental shifts in demographics, populations, information technology, and innovation have revealed the limits of standard portfolio management. These developments have created a ‘hyper-connected’ world in which economies in general, and finance, are peculiarly dependent on the smooth functioning of interlocking systems - the disturbance of any one of which can cause global disruption. In this context, Bill believes that the circular economy offers the perfect framework (and pipeline of opportunities) for investors to consider integrating into their decision making. It presents a way for asset owners and managers to actually invest in solutions for global issues, generating new opportunities that hedge against linear risks and leverage long-term rewards. And the appetite is growing. More and more investors are beginning to understand the systemic risks associated with ecosystems under stress, societies in turmoil, and economic crises, and are developing and implementing strategies that enhance the stability and resilience of global systems. In conclusion, Bill suggested that the key to unlocking this funnel of investment lay in establishing a shared language and common metrics that demonstrate the return on investment potential for circular economy investments. And who better than the CE100 to tackle this?
Inspired by the renewable energy investment story, where levers were used to de-risk the funding of the invention and scale-up of new technologies, we questioned whether a similar strategy could work for material innovation.
Often the dialogue around the materials economy focuses on end-of-pipe strategies that improve the valorisation of waste. Whilst important, this approach will only treat the symptoms of the problem. The circular economy offers a framework to organise the material economy as a regenerative system, and in doing so, tries to understand the root-cause of the challenges we face.
8
Circular economy solutions are upstream strategies. For the materials economy, that means jumping into the world of industrial chemistry; how can we leverage our increasingly comprehensive understanding of the molecular world to design material building blocks that are more appropriate for circulation through the economy?
JOHN WARNER
“Sit a molecule on a couch, and ask: what do you really want to be?” This was John Warner’s proposition to the slightly bemused but attentive audience. His point was simple - work with the inherent characteristics of molecules to create the materials that we use.
In John’s view, too often we use heat and pressure to force molecules into formats that suit our needs. This leads to problems further down the line as we try to reorganise and recapture, and even leads to unintended consequences as our materials end up in conditions they were not designed for.
To engineer a circular economy from the bottom-up we need to get serious about industrial chemistry and the construction of the materials we use. Chemists need to play a critical role in the transition to a circular economy but, too often, they are underrepresented in the conversation. A quick poll of the audience showed that no-more than six participants had a background in chemistry, out of an audience of 140.
You can not engage a chemist with a moral argument. It doesn’t work. Instead John believes we need to frame the transition to a circular economy as the greatest technical challenge of our time. That will motivate a chemist.
John’s talk made it clear that more needs to be done to engage this key community. The upside? We have no shortage of technical challenges in the room.
FIELD TRIP: HELLISHEIDI POWER PLANT
The final item on the agenda was a trip to the Hellisheidi power plant: the largest single-site geothermal power plant in the world, capable of producing 303MW of electricity. Guides, and an informational video, took us through the process, beginning with the hot fluid extraction through wells to a depth of between 2,000 and 3,000m, to the steam being harnessed to propel the seven turbines. Usable hot water is then piped via a 19.5km pipeline to Reykjavik. For ourselves, re-fuelling took the form of Icelandic birch liqueur: a yet to be acquired taste for most.
9
STORIESCE STORIES
Throughout the workshop we heard a selection of inspirational stories as CE100 members shared personal and organisational learnings from business transformation projects.
Jamie Butterworth, Circularity CapitalPreviously the CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Jamie shared his perspective on the importance of emphasising the economic rationale to the uptake and success so far.
During his time with the Foundation, Jamie identified a need to build a track record that helped establish risks and returns for circular investments. With no-one active in the market, Jamie took matters in his own hands and left the Foundation to start Circularity Capital - a specialist private equity firm - founded to provide clients access to investment opportunities created by the circular economy.
Through direct investment in SMEs, the fund will help build a track record how the circular economy drives financial, environmental, and societal impact. Circularity Capital is now up and running and has already started to make initial investments.
John Ortiz, HPIn an entertaining and unconventional talk that truly embraced the playful nature of the CE100, John told a story about HP’s journey to create the world’s first closed-loop printer. To the soundtrack of Madonna’s Like a Virgin, John explained the constraint that he faces within the business - any recycled feedstock must have quality and price parity with virgin equivalent.
After a fairytale, goldilocks-like journey of trial and error across a number of pilots - that were either ‘too hot’ and hit the quality requirement but were too expensive; or ‘too cold’ and hit the price point but the quality was left wanting - the HP team found a solution that was just right.
The web of partners involved in getting printers back from customers and feeding them back into production, demonstrated the value of OEM’s leading extensive collaboration to deliver circular solutions that can work economically at scale.
Charline Ducas, C&AC&A know how to make t-shirts. Simple, everyday clothing products like this have been bread-and-butter for the business since inception in 1841. So, when the business was exploring strategies to embed circular economy principles across the supply chain, they decided to start with what they knew - the simple t-shirt. In today’s world of fashion, you have to work in a dynamic where production is at scale and there is intense pressure on price. For C&A this meant that starting with a small pilot was not going to work. So, they went big.
Earlier this year, C&A started selling the world’s first Cradle-to-Cradle Gold certified t-shirt, for just €9. Charline’s message is: ‘go big or go home’ and whilst we often advocate to start small to get the ball rolling, sometimes it makes sense to go big.
10
Jonas Dreger, AppleWhen a company like Apple announces that they want to decouple from mining, the world listens. Whilst no delivery date was given for this truly seismic ambition, Apple have sent a message to the market and the industry.
Starting with a robot called LIAM that disassembles the iPhone 6, Jonas shared insights on how Apple is approaching this challenge, including deep analysis of the extended supply chains for materials in their products, associated material risk profiles, and the potential to use recycled feedstocks in the production of new products.
Whilst Jonas indicated that there are some challenges Apple believe they can solve independently, decoupling completely will require system level transformation, and Apple is open to collaboration in order to achieve shared goals.
Chris Krohn, OpenIDEOOpen Innovation is a tool that can accelerate problem solving by harvesting a diverse set of perspectives and leveraging collective brain power and unused capacity.
Open IDEO have a track record of activating global communities of innovators, designers, and general problem solvers, to tackle specific challenges. Most recently, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation partnered up with OpenIDEO to deliver the New Plastics Economy Innovation Challenge. With a prize pot of $2 million, the campaign engaged thousands around specific design briefs. The winners - announced in September at the Our Oceans conference in Malta - will split the prize money and have their innovations incubated by corporate partners.
Chris’s message: the global design and innovation community is primed for more circular economy transition and open innovation challenges. These initiatives are a unique tool to harvest this collective resource, advance corporate R&D, build awareness, and create worldwide momentum around topics.
Oliver Campbell, DELLOliver, Director of Packaging at DELL, and affectionately known as ‘the packaging guy’ to his colleagues, gave us an insight into what it takes to feed unusual materials into the supply chain.
Anyone that has been following DELL will know that they have been doing weird and wonderful stuff with their packaging: whether it was boxing servers in Ecovative’s mycellium-based polystyrene substitute or using bamboo cushions in place of foam, the company has demonstrated already that it is able to work with the unusual at scale.
However, when Oliver proposed ocean plastics as the potential feedstock for DELL’s laptop packaging he was abruptly rejected - the proposition was simply too hard and too expensive. Despite trying a few more times, the breakthrough came as the result of a high school student’s science project. That student happened to be his boss’s daughter, and the topic? Ocean plastics.
11
After a successful pilot DELL is now scaling. The company is sourcing the plastics upstream in rivers and waterways to capture it before it enters the ocean, and all XPS 13 packaging trays are made with 25% plastic sourced from waterways.
COLLABORATIONSNEW PITCHES: COLLABORATION
With collaboration such a vital ingredient in the Re-wiring and De-risking of the transition, the Reykjavik workshop saw more members than ever present Sparks, ideas worth exploring, and actual Co.Pitches to the network. In total, four members shared Co.Pitches, two existing research Co.Projects opened up to new members’ views, and a further five shared Sparks with a view to developing collaboration projects in the network. In this summary we also include the link to a pitch from the recent Chicago Acceleration Workshop as CoreCentric seeks to engage additional members in its potential Co.project.
To recap on the different channels:
• Co.Pitches are pre-competitive collaboration opportunities, inviting other members to work together to overcome system barriers or collectively work to seize an opportunity
• Existing Co.Projects that haven’t started from a Co.Pitch can also open up to the network to invite new member contributions and involvement
• Sparks are earlier stage ideas – not yet accompanied by a group work vision but containing the kernels of future collaboration projects Following the initial brainstorms, the scope and aims of Co.Projects can be refined and noted in the Initiation Form - a shared group document used as a marker in the sand, that can be revised over time.
In response to some members needs for NDAs to engage in Co.Projects, we have also developed a common Acknowledgement Form designed to address issues of confidentiality, information sharing, intellectual property and communications. The form is for members to sign at the start of the process and aid the process of collaboration.
Four new pitches:
Nappies to ResourceKim Graham-Nye - gDiapers - [email protected]
Nappies/diapers are a major source of landfill waste; in the UK alone, nearly 10 million diapers are landfilled every day. gDiapers makes a fully-tested, compostable nappy but these remain a premium product, too expensive for many families and childcare facilities under the current system. If gDiapers can find partners who can capture value from nappies rather than throwing them away - by composting them and avoiding landfill fees, or even by generating energy from them - the economic gains can flow back to users and increase affordability.
Through a new programme it’s calling gCycle, gDiapers is looking to launch pilot projects in London and Milan to demonstrate this economic case. In London, gCycle has already lined up a partner for distribution and collection, and is actively speaking with a network of large scale users such as nurseries and corporate childcare centers. It is now looking for a processor (such as an anaerobic digester or wastewater facility) to work with to create a systemic solution that can be profitable for all parties.
12
At the Reykjavik workshop, the group offered suggestions and began providing potential connections to the gCycle team. As gDiapers continue to build up its ecosystem of partners, the London Waste and Recycling Board will be a key ally - first as a source of connections throughout the city of London, and later, when LWARB establishes its upcoming Innovation Hub, as a potential source of funding for the gCycle pilot.
Who was there: BRE, Cranfield University, University of Exeter, Government of Luxembourg, LWARB, PA, Topolytics.
Circular Value Chains: Developing a circularity assessment tool for products and servicesKingfisher - Caroline Laurie - [email protected]
Value chains are complex, and circular value chains possibly even more so. Kingfisher found, through trial and error, that existing measurement tools such as circularity indicators and C2C certification could feel heavy-duty and were not always fit for purpose.
Supported by Bioregional, Kingfisher has developed a circularity assessment tool for products and services. The Co.Pitch offered members the chance to test the tool and play a role in refining and improving it. The initial meeting surfaced constructive suggestions: for example, to look at how actionable the outcome was; to what extent it looks at promoting circularity versus measuring the sustainability impact of circular value chain; what a ‘base line’ should look like as circularity is so different per product; and the resemblance of scores to other measurement tools.
Next steps for the project lead are to incorporate the feedback in the existing tool and set up a meeting to discuss possible further collaborations with the interested members that signed up.
Who was there: Bioregional, Essity, Granta Design, Heineken Mexico, Kingfisher, OpenIdeo, PA, Rockwool, Schneider Electric, Tarkett.
Building the capacity and market to close the loop on old vinyl floorsTarkett - Elodie Jupin - [email protected]
Millions of square-metres of PVC flooring in Europe can’t currently be recycled. This is due to contamination by glue residues and heavy metals, limited capacity and technology to recycle them, and no real sustainable applications for the recycled products. A small group of members met to discuss the topic initially and better understand the issue. John Warner, who had just presented on Green Chemistry, made a breakthrough when he provided some theoretical solutions. Next step is to run these ideas past the Tarkett research and innovation team.
Legacy materials are a big issue for organisations transitioning to circular models, and Tarkett has
13
embarked on a journey to solve the PVC problem. The Co.Project welcomes other members who would benefit from the success of this exploration. So, if you didn’t have the chance to join or would like to find out more, get in touch.
Who was there: Arup, Royal BAM, Warner Babcock Institute of Green Chemistry
Understanding social dynamics to enable circular transition in organisationsTU Delft - Ella Jamsin - [email protected] An active, engaged group met for a first discussion on how complex systems modelling tools can enable organisations to understand, and influence, the challenges associated with the internal and external social dynamics involved in transitioning to a circular economy.
The group mapped out their thinking, including the following key topics and questions: engaging users; engaging different players in the supply chain; bringing together and influencing the right players; understanding the language of collaboration; how does one create global communities of collaboration with different cultural and economic agendas?
After reviewing available methodologies and reporting back to the group, next steps will be proposed by TU Delft.
Who was there: B-Corp, C&A, Crown Estate, Essity, Lexmark, LWARB, The Plant, WRAP
A pitch from the recent Chicago Acceleration Workshop:This is also the first time we are able to open up a pitch from a US Acceleration Workshop: Chicago 27th and 28th September 2017.
Developing of a complete circular LED lights system CoreCentric - Chris Cloutier - [email protected]
Chris Cloutier of CoreCentric pitched the company’s aim to build a complete service model in the LED lighting space, for which he is seeking partners to involve. An initial conversation took place at the Chicago CE100 workshop, but the Co.Project is still open to companies who would like to explore how to offer a service proposition building on the reverse logistics and repair knowledge that CoreCentric has developed.
Two Co.Project groups opening up to additional members:
Water and the circular economyTristan Steichen - Antea - [email protected] Siraj Tahir - Arup - [email protected] Building on the conversation at the recent Chicago CE100 Acceleration Workshop, Arup and Antea Group led a broad discussion about the connection between water and a circular economy. The topics covered included resilience in water systems, security of supply, current non-revenue water lost in the system, the processing of wastewater contents, and policy landscapes.
Agreement was reached to finalise a paper on the topic, supported by several key visuals. These materials will be shared with the combined attendees
14
from Chicago and Reykjavik for feedback, and will be accompanied by an invitation to continue to narrow the focus of the group and agree an ambition for the Co.Pro.
Who was there: Antea Group, Arup, Bradford University, Cranfield University, CPA, Danone, Davines Spa, Grundfos, Government of Catalonia, Hera Group, Heineken Mexico, Suez, Veolia
Renewable Materials in a Circular MaterialTetra Pak - Sabine von Wiren Lehr - [email protected]
DSM, Essity, Ikea and Tetra Pak have been working together to develop a common understanding of the role of renewable materials in the circular economy framework. The group originally wanted clarification on the role of materials that are produced from biological feedstocks but are designed to flow through technical cycles, for example, paper, wood, and cardboard. The hypothesis is that these materials already play a major role in enabling a economy, and there is scope to increase the use of ‘renewable’ materials such as these.
The group has already commissioned a piece of research to establish common definitions and quantify the opportunity. The Reykjavik workshop provided a great opportunity to open this project to the wider group and test hypothesise to take advantage of the diversity of perspectives in the group.
Who was there: DSM, Essity, Ikea, Tetra Pak
Sparks:
To find out more, discuss the idea further, and/or explore scoping a future Co.Project, please reach out to the Spark leads below.
Exploring Public Procurement in Circular EconomyFrank Wiseler - Ellen MacArthur Foundation - [email protected]
How to increase circularity between retail tenants without compromising expectations? Claudine Blamey - Crown Estate - [email protected]
Assemble to Disassemble for a Circular EconomyHans-Jan Udding - DSM - [email protected]
All chemicals can be produced with biomass. How can we increase market demand?Andreas Kicherer - BASF - [email protected]
How to demonstrate your contribution to SDG 12 on Sustainable Consumption and Production?Katie Tuck - UNEP - [email protected]
15
Co.Project: UPDATES
Co.Projects are pre-competitive collaboration projects led by members to unlock shared opportunities and overcome barriers. Since Oxford, nine live Co.Projects have been running in the European network. Co.Projects met on the Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the workshop, to take stock of progress and either confirm next steps or focus on collecting insights from their work that can support wider system transition.
A short update of each of the existing Co.Projects is given here, five of which are coming up to completion point:
The Finance Co.Project team, whose work strongly influenced the theme and curation of the workshop, is working on its second piece of analysis which is progressing well. The ambition is to share the findings at the spring Acceleration Workshops.Frido Kraanen - PGGM - [email protected] BRE, Danish Business Authority, ENSO Tyres, ING, Intesa Sanpaolo, PGGM, Suez.
The members of the Re:Tex Co.Project are reviewing the results of their joint cotton textile recycling tests. This is after they refined their Co.Project to focus on the risk of finding chemical contaminants in secondary jeans fibres. Insights will be shared ahead of the next workshop.Per Stoltz - IKEA - [email protected] BESTSELLER, H&M, Ikea, M&S.
The Circular Neighbourhood Co.Project is also progressing the insights it has drawn from their groups work across a number of regeneration projects: Arup House, Old Oak Park Royal, and a residential redevelopment site in Merton, London. The group will capture and share insights from this work in a summary document. The group is now likely to morph into a number of different initiatives, including a London-specific demonstration project.Nitesh Magdani - Royal BAM - [email protected] Arup, C2CPII, LWARB, Royal BAM, London Borough of Merton, Philips, Steelcase, IBM, DSM, Tarkett
Engaging the retail customer Co.Project has worked with a group of Cranfield University students to draw up a first report and is now progressing this into a more commercial document that can be used by retailers to share examples of good practice. The intention is to share insights and invite others to join the conversation. The scoping and writing will continue following the workshop and will be shared during the spring workshops.Anna Vinogradova - Walmart - [email protected], Cranfield University, eBay, Kingfisher, PA, Philips, Stuffstr, Walmart.
Modularity in ICT finalised its research project and reported back to the group via the ExCEbition space in the Reykjavik workshop. Initially, the scope was a qualitative look at the opportunities and barriers to apply modular design principles to the ICT sector. To get closer to the detail, the group used manufacturing data to simulate the impact of redesigning a consumer wifi product offered by Orange. The group is putting the finishing touches to a short report that will summarise findings and will publish in the coming weeks.Samuli Vaija - Orange - [email protected] Group, Granta Design, HP, Orange.
16
Cross-border enablers for circular economy was a project that aimed to inform the CE100 membership of legislative barriers and enablers, and to accelerate cross-border circular economy activities, looking at the EU scenario. The project is releasing the findings of a survey conducted by the group on the topic, and will be completing the project at this point. It seems clear that this topic is of great interest to many CE100 members, and could be carried forward in other discussions.Richard Barnish - DHL - [email protected], Antea Group, Cranfield, Dell, Globechain, HP, Philips, Renault, RIT, Suez, Tarkett, Teleplan, UCL.
From the Co.Projects launched at the Oxford Acceleration Workshop in Spring 2017:
Electric Vehicles Data Capture for Circular Mobility in Cities: having mapped out the vision and framework in phase 1, G Erlendsson from ENSO Tyres updated attendees during the ExCEbition. The project is now looking for additional pilot partners (especially from the cities space) to join them in the second phase of the project. The Co.Project will have a meeting in London in November, to which pilot partners are invited. Mariela Moreno - Cranfield University - [email protected], Government of Catalonia, DHL, ENSO Tyres, Riversimple.
From Waste to Resource: is running pilots in Germany and the Netherlands, and is working on the business case to run a pilot at Schiphol airport.Susan Illiefski Janols - Essity - [email protected], Schiphol Airport, Suez.
The 3D printing for product life extension Co.Project has run multiple 3D printing tests for products and parts identified by the Co.Project members. The first findings, such as consideration of impact on quality, colour, and price, were shared during an update in the plenary and will be shared in a short document. The following step in the Co.Project is to kick off an open-source competition to engage the wider Repair community in this opportunity and challenge. The group hopes to gain insight into the feasibility of on-demand 3D spare parts printing instead of traditional build out and inventory of injection moulded parts, as an opportunity to increase circularity by economically providing support and product life extension.John Ortiz - HP - [email protected], iFixit, Ikea, Teleplan, Philips EU co-funded project ResCoM (Resource Conservative Manufacturing), which invited CE100 members to get involved in the testing and refinement of tools to support decision-making and implementation of closed-loop product systems, has now launched. The tools can be found on the ResCoM website and members are encourage to explore these further.
Conclusion insight sheets will be shared in the CE100 Members Area, whilst open reports will be added to the Foundation’s webpage.
17
NETWORKGOVERNMENT & CITIES
The Government & Cities meeting provided a space for CE100 members from the public sector and selected invitees from the private sector to meet.
After words of welcome from Ashima Sukhdev, Government & Cities Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the group dived into the topic of financing circular innovation. Christian Tock (Director for Sustainable Technology from the Ministry of Economy of Luxembourg) presented the work that the country has been doing to embed circular economy thinking. Following this, Arnold Verbeek introduced the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Innovation Finance Advisory through a quick review of their journey in circular economy and selected case studies.
The second session of the day focused on fostering and enabling local collaboration. John Nederstigt from the Haarlemmermeer Municipality and Guido Braam, Director of Valley Creators, took us on a quick journey on the importance of collaboration, large scale projects and connecting all the different pieces through the creation of living laboratories. They did a call out for any organisation who would like to get involved in building a circular test ground, either in Haarlemmermeer or elsewhere.
TALK: CE100 STRATEGY
The CE100 is a programme that has significantly changed over the years. With a built up richness in knowledge, diversity of members, and experience in collaborations, it is crucial that we harness this collective intelligence in the evolution of the programme.
For the first time, the members had the opportunity during this session to contribute to the strategy by suggesting ways the CE100 might help organisations:
• Learn faster
• Share more information about opportunities and challenges
• Collaborate more effectively on real projects
Through what was dubbed a ‘Troika with a Twist’, members exchanged ideas and needs in groups of three, and upon agreement submitted them to the CE100 team. Over 50 agreed needs were submitted revealing trends such as a need for a wider range of executive education options, bite size content, more options to engage online, and a digital platform to share opportunities.Over the next three months, the CE100 team will be getting in touch with member organisations to discuss these trends and improvements to the CE100.
18
IMMERSIVEWORK: DE-RISK | RE-WIRE
The scope of topics that fall under the headline of ‘de-risking investment in innovation in order to rewire’ is extensive. This includes questions of financing and investment, clearly, but also questions about governance, the mechanics of business model transitions, and the policy conditions that can enable or block transformation strategies.
The breakout session that followed our opening plenary was an attempt to focus on specific topics and give participants a chance to test some tools, frameworks, and theories that are being developed to support their transformation.
B Corp 101Charmian Love, from B Lab UK, shared an overview of the B Corporation (B Corp) structure, process, and benefits in this session.
B Corps are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. There are currently more than 2,100 certified B Corps around the world, across 130 different industries, and in 50 different countries.
Examples include large companies such as Danone, Patagonia, and Natura, but also include many small businesses. B Corps have to meet standards around governance, ethics, transparency, workers, community, locality, and environment.
The group discussed the benefits of being a B Corp, which include talent attraction, being engaged with other community members and developing trade based relationships, and relevance to investor communities. B Lab is continuing to explore how to integrate other standards, certifications, and concepts into their methodology, including circular economy.
Start your B-corp assessment here
How mature is your circular economy strategy?Bill Blaue, Senior Director at Reporting 3.0, led the group through their Strategy Continuum matrix, plotting the spectrum of ever more circular transformation strategies against the maturity of the economic system design transition.
Using the Strategy Continuum matrix, the group then considered the maturity of the circular
19
economy approaches within their own organisations and the overall maturity of the circular economy movement.
Amongst a range of company specific insights, the exercise also helped to expose the interconnection between the two, noting that as more and more organisations move, the quicker and easier the transition becomes.
What types of policy can enable or create barriers for financing a circular economy?This session, led by Frank Wiseler, explored different possibilities for financing circular innovation through policies.
Questions like: what kind of policies exist that create enabling conditions or barriers? and, how can they be fostered and tackled respectively? were discussed between mixed groups of participants from public and private organisations.
The dialogue was based on the policy types presented in the Circular Economy Policy Toolkit; Information & awareness; Collaboration platforms; Business support systems; Public procurement & infrastructure; Regulatory frameworks; fiscal frameworks.
How can business model and technology innovation disrupt, rewire, and re-risk business?De-risking investment and innovation requires acknowledging and mitigating the risks a business faces. During this working session Mark Lancelott from PA introduced the three risks they see a business faces:
• Credit risk - the risk of an entity not meeting its payment obligations;
• Market risk - the risk of changes in the market leading to losses such as changes in prices or liquidity in the market;
• Operational risk - the risk of operational failures within a business.
PA presented six business models for the technical cycle as an entry point to exploring the risks. These are: product as a service, next life sales, product transformation, recycling, collaborative consumption, and enabling services. Using the Business Model Canvas, the groups explored the risks and talked about how technology could help address this.
Scanning the Circular Value: the Intesa Sanpaolo approachMassimiliano “Max” Tellini shared Intesa Sanpaolo’s circular economy standard questionnaire with the group as a provocation for discussion and feedback. Overall, the conversation was positive and dynamic; participants appreciated how going through the full qualitative and quantitative process could help them evaluate their current circular economy maturity and engage senior stakeholders in their organisations. IBM shared how useful a similar exercise was for them and how it helped them understand where to focus their efforts.Discussion and feedback and centred around the following areas:
• differentiation of scarce and non-scarce materials and supply security,
• importance of the nuances in the answers to the questionnaire,
• how maturity scoring of an organisation’s circular economy strategy was calculated
• emphasis on the value of including reverse logistics,
• expanding the questions on renewables beyond energy to include materials,
• next steps once the initial assessment has been made.
20
Intesa Sanpaolo looks forward to further feedback from participants and invites members to undertake the complete process with them. So do get in touch with Max to find out more.
Value Creation in the Built EnvironmentLed by Nitesh Magdani from Royal BAM, the breakout was a role play to envisage the various stakeholders angles while building a headquarter, and convincing the main players in the building of best circular practices.
The game had four characters: client, designer/architect, contractor, and manufacturer.Working in groups of four, we had to define who was the most influential. The game was interesting, however, the dynamics could be affected if one of the people in the group was an expert!
The main issues in this discussion are generally around cooperation, value creation, and mindset. Key points of consensus from the discussion were:
• Trust is key.
• Establishing a shared language is key.
• Education on circular economy is primordial.
• It is Important to think longer term, going against the built environment mindset / accounting principles in most cases.
The sword or the samurai – how to create viable product-to-service models?Moving towards more circular business models brings a range of challenges for companies. The group, facilitated by Gerald Naber from ING, looked specifically at drawing out collective insights around mitigating the financial risks associated with moving from a product to a service/performance-based model.
Conversations focused around three areas:
• Moral hazards: the risks associated with how owners look after products which they don’t ‘own’ and whether these risks can be mitigated by better design, deposit schemes, and scoring customers.
• Supply chain collaboration: the effects of one supplier falling over. Solutions covered levers to create less brittle chain, for example, more effective mechanisms to distribute risk by increasing the share of the ultimate benefits at each stage of the value chain. Other options included extracting and sharing new value streams like customer use data or cooperating to deliver joint marketing campaigns.
• Flexibility vs Cost: how to navigate the principle that flexibility comes at a cost. The balance can be struck by creating the feeling of flexibility by providing choice but not too much.
ING have been doing a lot of work around the transition to product-as-a-service business models, so if you have any related questions, contact Gerald.
21
SOLVE: DE-RISK | RE-WIRE
TROIKA is a speed-networking, collaboration-sparking exercise designed specifically with the CE100 in mind. Inspired by the principles behind international negotiations, participants self-organised into groups of three to share priorities, spot connections, and take actions.
During a dynamic 90 minutes, the group reorganised several times, with individuals making new connections with each iteration. The intention of TROIKA was to create a space for participants to share, identify connection points, and capture tangible actions that could spark more meaningful connections between the group.
The energy in the room was palpable, and, as a result of the exercise, the CE100 team collected a rich list of participants’ priorities. These will be digitised, and with permission of participants, shared on the CE100 Members Area. We will send specific communications when this content is ready.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation was established in 2010 with the objective of accelerating the transition to the circular economy. Since its inception, the non-profit organisation has become an important lead in global thinking by inserting the circular economy firmly on the agenda of decision makers in business, government and academia.The organisation’s work focuses on four interconnected areas:
Education: inspire learners to rethink the future through the circular economy framework.
Businesses and governments: to catalyse circular activities across the global economy and create the enabling conditions.
Insight and analysis: to provide robust evidence of the benefits of the transition.
Communication: spread the circular economy to a global audience For more information, visit the website here ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
