These are just a few among many insights from Circular Economy Outlook for the Nordics, a groundbreaking new study that explores adoption and execution of strategies for material and resource efficiency among publicly listed companies in the region.

– The circular transition of business gains momentum. 79% of the companies believe that their competitors will develop significant circular capabilities within the coming years. If you want to future proof your business, it is time to get started, says Marcus Linder, RISE, co-author and scientific lead of the report.

Measured Strategies Gets Done

Almost all companies claim to have integrated circularity to some extent in their business strategy. However, 42% have defined a target for at least one circular strategy and even less than a third measure performance and progress.

– Circular strategies with defined targets that are measured are much more likely to be executed than those without. Simply put: what gets measured really does get done, says Michel Bajuk, director of Cradlenet and co-author of the report.

The Circular Demand Paradox

Ambitions and outlook apart, many companies feel stuck in linear business models. The most widely indicated obstacle is a perceived lack of demand: customers are not making circular requirements. Ironically, only a small fraction of companies indicate that they themselves present circular requirements to suppliers in all or most purchases. Worse, one-fifth of companies only set circular requirements in their purchases when customers or authorities demand it.

– There seems to be a differing perception of agency for self and others here, but this is a great opportunity for change. To break out of this Catch-22, companies simply need to systematically start making circular requirements in their purchases. There is plenty of room for most companies to take action even among those who manage materials and products with challenging regulations, says Marcus Linder.

The Circular Business Index

The report introduces a new method for measuring circular activity in companies: the Circular Business Index. This is a calculation of the intensity and scope of collective efforts from all publicly listed companies. The index summarizes a large quantity of data for all participating companies from the study. It is expressed as a percentage with a maximum value of 100%. Result? The Circular Business Index for Nordic public companies is 21%.

– This indicates a significant potential for improvement. The majority of all material flows are managed by companies, so their actions decide the speed of transition in society. This gauge is a leading indicator that enables us to assess expected scope of efforts in the near to mid-term future, says Michel Bajuk.

Contacts

Marcus Linder, RISE: 070 874 51 85, marcus.linder@ri.se 
Michel Bajuk, Cradlenet: 070 635 46 46, michel@cradlenet.se 

Conclusions

– We see that more and more companies understand the power of circular strategies and are incorporating circular goals into their strategic agendas. The report confirms our experience that those who start exploring and testing early often gain clear competitive advantages, says Pernilla Dahlman, Business lead, Circular Business Lab at RISE.

About the report

Circular Economy Outlook 2024 explores to which extent public companies in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have integrated circular strategies into their business and operations. The study addresses 809 unique companies on the main lists (LargeCap, MidCap, SmallCap) at the stock exchanges in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm. 283 companies (35%) have responded to the survey and 64 companies (8%) have been interviewed. The total participation rate is 39%.

Read the report here: Circular Economy Outlook 2024

Release event: the report and key insights will be presented by the authors and discussed among industry experts on Wednesday December 4, 10:00–12:00.

Registration for the event

The study has been led by Cradlenet and RISE in a collaboration with Danish Technological Institute (DTI), Research Centers of Norway (NORCE), and Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT).

The project is co-financed and supported by: Avfall Sweden (Swedish Waste Management), Foxway, Helsinki Circular Valley, Håll Sverige Rent, Industriens Fond, Nordic Circular Hotspot, Nordic Innovation, Ragn-Sells, RE:Source, Sirk Norge (Avfall Norge), Skanska Sweden, Södra Skogsägarna, Teknikföretagen (Technology Industries of Sweden) and Återvinningsindustrierna (Recycling Industries of Sweden).