Circular economy

Society has long been accustomed to ‘take, make, waste’ methods to production, but these practices are no longer sustainable. To face the challenges of a growing world population, climate change and resource scarcity, the world must change the way we consume — away from the linear, towards a more circular approach.

Businesses are turning more and more towards circular economy in their business models to help manage regulatory requirements and generate sustainable growth opportunities that deliver ESG benefits both internally and externally. Built on the principles of circularity, circular economies can help create greater efficiency and profitability, less waste, better innovation, and stronger relationships with stakeholders. Examples of circularity principles include effective waste management and reducing pollution, improving sustainable production development, regenerating natural capital and biodiverse ecosystems, shifting from linear to circular (“looping”) systems to extend the product lifecycle (e.g. product design and maintenance for longevity), and so forth.

Considerations for your leadership team:

• Are the challenges of resource scarcity and volatile commodities causing inefficiencies and waste in your current production model?
• Are your consumers’ / clients’ preferences encouraging you to reevaluate your existing linear models of production and consumption?
• Are you aware of the potential economic benefits to be gained from switching to circular production models?
• Are you integrating the principles of circularity with your decarbonization strategy?
• How are you keeping pace with evolving stakeholder and regulatory expectations which are driving circularity?

Collaboration is critical to the success of more circular ecosystems and KPMG in Canada is engaged with our global network of member firms enabling our professionals to advise clients on a wide range of circulatory topics from a global perspective as they shape and develop new circular strategies and business models.