Serious Software
Software can enable the circular economy
In the drive to become more sustainable, digital management technologies can start us on the re-purposing journey, writes NATALYA MAKAROCHKINA, SVP at Schneider Electric
As enterprises make ever greater efforts to become more sustainable, with some expressing their intent to go beyond carbon neutral and into carbon negative, the benefits of circular economy practices have come to the fore.
The principles of the circular economy, breaking the linear cycle of resource extraction, use and disposal, has the potential to create new models of usage, with re-purposing, remanufacturing and recycling presenting new economic opportunities as well as sustainability benefits.
However, moving from a linear to a circular model requires major change, cooperation and commitment from multiple stakeholders. Bringing together multiple data sources, complex supply chains, and coordinating partner efforts, while also making financial provision for such major changes, is no trivial task that will require new thinking and new tools.
Digital technologies will be key to enabling the visibility, orchestration and management of circular economies and operations. Leaders in digital management technologies can share their expertise in accessing data streams and operational silos to allow the move towards, and deeper integration of, circular practices in a complete lifecycle.
With many digital leaders already at the forefront of sustainable business and economic efforts, their expertise combined with their existing capability can enable the move towards circular economies and the sustainability benefits they bring.
New economic thinking and action
As sustainability efforts for large organisations intensify, many are seeing the benefits of circular economies as the new operating model for the future to enable them to meet sustainability goals, while remaining responsibly profitable.
There are many benefits to circular operating models, not least of which is the reduction of waste and the ever-growing need for raw materials.
Recognising the broader benefits of circular economies, the Circular Economy Action Plan is at the heart of the EU European Green Deal as an international example of best practise.
The pandemic recovery is seen as an opportunity to begin those efforts to move towards more sustainable, more circular modes of business. However, there are many measures that need to be put in place before a circular economy can scale.
