Applying a Nordic circular economy mindset can help companies capture new top-line growth, achieve cost efficiencies, and mitigate supply chain and regulatory risks – all within the boundaries of our planet.
To stay within the safe operating space of our planet, we need to transition from a linear to a circular economy, where products are used and repaired for as long as possible and then deconstructed so that their constituent materials can be used to create new goods of similar value.
Today, 6% of the Nordic region’s economy is circular—meaning that ~6% of resources used for production come from recovered materials. By comparison, the EU average is at ~12% circularity, with an ambition to double the rate by 2030. Reaching this ambition in the Nordics could unlock an annual ~€48 billion economic opportunity by 2030, similar to 3% of the Nordic region’s GDP in 2021.
Many companies, however, struggle to implement circularity and move beyond isolated circular actions with little impact.
CIRCelligence by BCG provides a comprehensive holistic approach that enables businesses to integrate circularity into their core business strategy in a way that delivers economic benefits and also maximizes total societal value.
The adoption of a circular economy mindset can enable companies to capture significant value pools across industries. However, the nature, maturity, and scale of the value pools are industry specific and vary based on customer sentiment, regulation, technology, and level of competition for scarce resources.
In this section, a sample of specific circular economy trends and value pools are illustrated in five large Nordic sectors: packaging, consumer goods, machinery and industrial goods, metals and mining, and transportation.
Upcoming regulations at EU and Nordic levels will accelerate Nordic companies toward circularity by raising compliance thresholds and redirecting value pools toward circular economy solutions. This presents a valuable opportunity for companies to embrace circular practices and capitalize on the economic potential, while inaction may result in a loss of value.
In addition, the circular economy presents a powerful and unified approach to address multiple environmental challenges and provide companies with a competitive advantage. Adopting a circular economy mindset enables companies to decouple growth from adverse environmental impacts related to resource consumption, waste generation, pollution, water scarcity, land use change, and climate mitigation, providing both environmental and business benefits.
Associate
Stockholm
Partner and Associate Director, Total Societal Impact & Sustainability & Circular Economy
Hamburg
Consultant
Copenhagen
Project Leader
Copenhagen
Decarbonization is cheaper than you think. In a new report, we examine how the Nordics can reach net zero in an achievable and affordable way through “Smart Decarbonization”. What solutions and sectors hold the biggest opportunities. What technologies and actions are needed and how do we ensure that the green transition unlocks green jobs and export potential for the Nordics and beyond.
Learn about BCG’s local business consulting services, read thought leadership articles across industries, and connect with our leadership team in the Nordics.
Through five Moonshots, Finland can simultaneously drive growth and thereby well-being, reach its own ambitious climate targets, and become greater than its size in solving the climate crisis.
今こそ、グローバルな気候変動対策を行動に移す時 BCGはクライアントが気候・サステナビリティへの取り組みの道程を加速し、新たな機会をとらえて競争優位性を築けるよう支援します。
CIRCelligence by BCG delivers the data and insights that top managers need to move beyond symbolic lighthouse projects and lead their companies.
