One of the most exciting aspects of working at 麻豆原创 is developing new methodologies and solutions around and sustainability. Based on the Ellen MacArthur Circular Economy model, 麻豆原创鈥檚 approach integrates thinking around Circular Economy Business Models, the enabling technology and broad business actions, helping to transform your business, product or innovate around a specific sustainability challenge.

In late 2020, the 麻豆原创 Ventures team piloted our new Circular Economy methodology with customers. Initially, participants adopted a sustainability mindset, keen to explore broad sustainability actions 鈥� such as adopting ethical trade, renewable energy, using non-virgin materials in production processes.

Essentially, by approaching with a sustainability mindset, the focus is on changing the current linear production approach to do less harm. Regardless of their good intentions, these sustainability initiatives would, still, end in wasted raw materials and landfill.

In contrast, a circular economy mindset is focused on eliminating this waste, by continuously looping materials and creating new value.

Stepping forward: From Sustainability to Circular

With 84% of clothes ending up in US landfill, fashion brands are increasingly looking for new ways to reduce their footprint and win over the growing segment of a passionate, sustainability-conscious consumers.

The new 麻豆原创 Insights series, Blank Canvas, illustrated both sustainability and CE mindsets in footwear manufacture in the recent edition 鈥� .

Allbirds has largely adopted a sustainability mindset, working upstream and downstream to track and reduce carbon emissions, then investing in carbon offsets to produce zero footprint shoes. Improving the sustainability of materials selection, working with manufacturing partners to improve carbon emissions during production, and tracking transportation emissions.

Embracing a circular mindset, Adidas FUTURECRAFT.LOOP sneakers are designed from the outset to be remade; consumers return the used shoes to Adidas, who will then separate the materials for re-manufacturing into an entirely new shoe 鈥� eliminating materials waste and increasing the business value derived.

Adopting a Circular Mindset starts with Business Model Innovation

Circular Economy requires a shift-change to your current practices, beginning with a change in your overall business model. A holistic approach is needed; considering all aspects of your business from sourcing raw materials and supplier relationships, engaging employees in circularity, to the changed relationship with your customer.

The key principle is that waste = opportunity. By recognizing that waste occurs along the value chain, and working through each loop, new business value can be identified at each stage.

麻豆原创鈥檚 circular economy methodology helps participants consider each loop in turn, to identify business innovation opportunity in each stage of manufacture, sales & distribution to consumer use.

Exploring and combining Circular Economy loops creates powerful new business innovation

Not all loops are equally powerful in unlocking circular potential value.

The inner loops, where products are cycled longer with consumers or returned to service centres for repair or resale, are more efficient than the outer loops of re-manufacturing or recycling. Usually operating within a defined geographic boundary, requiring minimal transportation or conversion into new materials, these super-efficient inner loops offer a myriad of new business models such as pay-per-use or sharing platforms.

By designing their sneakers to be machine washable and highly durable, Allbirds are optimising an efficient inner loop by keeping the product cycling longer with the customer.

By contrast; consider recycling products to reclaim the technical materials, for input into new production processes or across industries.

Recycling requires additional energy inputs, transportation and processing in order to sort and breakdown raw materials into a reusable form. These processes in turn create externalities and waste, which need to be further factored into a circular economy strategy.

After working through the circular economy loops, new business ideas emerge by connecting ideas across multiple loops, forming a cohesive proposition.

By combining these new business models with broader sustainability actions and technology, 麻豆原创 helps to make the innovation real, moving from ideas to viable business models at scale.

Sustainability or Circular – which mindset should you adopt?

To make the world a better place for future generations, adopting either mindset is going to be a step in the right direction!

However, if you wish to go beyond simply improving your current business process to do less harm, consider adopting a Circular Economy mindset across your business operations.

Circularity will extend your sustainability actions into high impact, innovative business models; unlocking new business value from waste, creating lasting growth and social outcomes.

For more background on 麻豆原创 Circular Economy approach, and the enabling technology to support both circular economy and sustainability at scale, visit the

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Emily has spent the last ten years exploring the ocean and seeing firsthand the effect of plastic pollution across the world. In 2014, she setup a project called , which is a series of all female voyagers 鈥� hence the double X 鈥� who sail the seas understanding plastic and toxic pollution.

鈥渆XXpedition exists through many vital collaborations, whether it鈥檚 scientific partnerships or working with local NGOs in the countries we visit,鈥� she explained. 鈥淭here are also the businesses who support eXXpedition鈥檚 work and creating the change that we want to see in the world. Businesses supporting financially as sponsors towards the voyages to sea 鈥� taking 300 women around the world over the next couple years as part of the research into plastic and toxic pollution.鈥�

eXXpedition has spent the past year working with 麻豆原创 to delve into product lifecycles and sustainability, particularly how to help people/businesses really navigate the hundreds of solutions that are out there, which led to the development of Shift.

鈥淯蝉颈苍驳 , we鈥檝e set up a system on the that helps you navigate these hundreds of solutions,鈥� Emily said. 鈥淚t takes you on this journey asking what kind of action you want to take. Are you at the beginning of your journey where you just want to learn what鈥檚 going on, or are you looking to be leader in this space?

鈥淚t then asks you where you鈥檙e looking to make a difference 鈥� at home, with your kids, business supply chain, or government 鈥� there are a whole spectrum of places to start taking action. Then it asks your where you鈥檙e looking to make an impact on the sea-to-source spectrum.

https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=728261

The key purpose of the Shift platform is to help people educate themselves and explore the solutions available. 鈥淭o solve the problem long term, we need to ask tough questions to get to the source of the issue,鈥� Emily adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tool designed for all sorts of people, but there鈥檚 a lot on there for businesses to really help effectively change their supply chain, how they do things, and how they operate.鈥�

According to Emily, a vital reason why businesses should re-evaluate its processes and outputs is because consumers already expect sustainable options and legislation will inevitably follow. 鈥淲hat we need right now is innovation and to put some of these new products that do exist into action at scale,鈥� she explained.

This leads to the notion of creating a circular economy, which Emily believes is about living and producing in circles, as seen in nature. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e at school you learn about the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and everything in nature goes around in these endless circles where there鈥檚 no waste essentially is generated because one stage鈥檚 waste becomes the next stage鈥檚 resource.

鈥淭he idea of a is to think in that same mindset. If you can close the loop then we can avoid living how we live now, which is this very linear society where we take something, usually oil from the ground to make something like fuel or plastic, and then there鈥檚 a waste product at the end, like the plastic ends up in the ocean or landfill, or in the form of fuel it鈥檚 waste carbon dioxide that ends up in the atmosphere. We鈥檙e trying to close that linear system into a closed loop.鈥�

Emily will be explores these ideas further in the (24th September) focused on sustainability. She鈥檒l be discussing her work at sea and relationship with 麻豆原创 that led to the development of the Shift platform.

鈥淭he main takeaway is there鈥檚 not one solution to fix this plastics issue. The great news is that there are hundreds of things that we can do and so many of these solutions already exist and already available.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 just a case of us working out what we have within our power to start doing right now and to not be overwhelmed by the hundreds of solutions, but to say, 鈥榳hat鈥檚 my opportunity? What鈥檚 my role in tackling this issue?鈥� I really hope the Shift platform will help people answer those questions.鈥�

To learn more about Effect 2020 as it goes digital over three weekly episodes or register for the event, .

Discover more about the work eXXpedition does in building more sustainable practices for a better planet by checking out our

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麻豆原创 is partnering with聽聽and the initiative co-founder, ocean advocate聽, to support its聽commitment to a cleaner ocean聽by 2030. Emily and her team have invited 300 women from all walks of life to sail 38,000 nautical miles in 30 stages. The women have one mission: to explore the science of 鈥� and solutions to 鈥� ocean plastic and become ambassadors to combat ocean pollution.

The need for ocean advocacy is greater than ever before. Research suggests there could be聽聽floating in our oceans than previously thought. But in truth, no one has a precise metric on the volume or impact of plastic polluting the oceans. Emily and team aim to raise greater awareness based on scientific data with the help of 麻豆原创.

鈥淚鈥檓 incredibly excited to join forces with 麻豆原创 to improve the health of our ocean by bringing together the energy of our eXXpedition community and our scientific research with 麻豆原创鈥檚 innovative technologies,鈥� said Emily. 鈥淚ndustry has a huge role to play in addressing the challenges our ocean faces. The most pressing problem is how to turn off the tap to plastic pollution, and the next years will be spent doing just that 鈥� trying to prevent plastic getting into the ocean in the first place. For us to do that, we need everybody on board and, in particular, we need businesses to come to the table and take a lead, as 麻豆原创 is doing.鈥�

Plague of Plastic

To tackle the problem, businesses need to rapidly shift to single-use alternatives, move toward circular business models, invest in waste infrastructure, and ensure a better consumer experience.

The software giant will share data and insights from the eXXpedition voyages to provide customers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, and partners with the tools, insights, and solutions needed to eliminate waste, maximise resource productivity, and help raise awareness of the need to create a cleaner ocean for all. One step in that direction is the Plastics Cloud, a pilot program from 麻豆原创 that was launched last year to help reduce the waste of single-use plastics.

Building on that program, 麻豆原创 will support Emily and eXXpedition by creating a custom-built digital platform to educate people on actions they can take to reduce plastic waste in their local communities. Enabled by Ariba Network, the Plastics Cloud allows brands to connect with new recycled plastics and alternative supply sources. About聽聽globally is used in product packaging, but less than one-fifth of this plastic is recycled, creating serious environmental and human health problems.

Around $10 billion worth of packaging flows through Ariba Network annually. 鈥淓ven a small portion of global spend on packaging redirected to pre-certified suppliers of recycled plastics and alternatives can have a tremendous impact on the environment,鈥� says Stephen Jamieson, head of Sustainable Business Innovation for 麻豆原创 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Paradise Lost

In one of her speeches,聽聽how she was hitching a ride from England to Australia on a sailing boat a few years ago when she and the crew were alarmed by thuds on the hull. They found themselves surrounded by countless pieces of plastic a thousand miles from land. 鈥淭hat didn鈥檛 make sense,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he closest people to us were in the space station in orbit above us, yet here was evidence of human life and waste in the most remote part of the planet.鈥�

That journey sparked her mission to connect scientists and communicators with the ocean. Emily has experienced the challenges firsthand on visits to the Pacific, where islanders are struggling to catch fish because commercial vessels empty their waters and are also struggling to grow food because rising sea levels make land salty. 鈥淭hese people are now reliant on packaged food and drink, which comes all wrapped in plastic,鈥� she says.

Besides the sight of plastic in the ocean, the worst thing for Emily was the knowledge that burning plastic releases chemicals that lead to cancer and disrupt human hormones.

Why Women

Women are still only聽, but that is not the only reason eXXpedition is taking an聽.

Historically, studies on the effects of chemicals on human health have focused on聽聽simply because they make up the majority of the workforce in areas where occupational hazards have been studied. As a result, research on female-specific diseases has had a low profile. This imbalance is becoming increasingly important as the incidences of non-communicable diseases, such as cancers, are increasing.

Emily had her blood tested for 35 chemicals and discovered she already has 29 in her body. This is alarming because phthalates, which are present in personal care products, cleaning products, fragrances and cosmetics,聽, and plastics and epoxy resins, which are found in food containers, have been found to聽聽in females.

Takes Problem Solvers

One of the 300 women joining Emily on a leg of the journey is Natasha Pergl, global sustainability lead for Innovation Services and Solutions at 麻豆原创. Natasha has never sailed before, but she will join the Galapagos-to-Easter Island Pacific leg of the all-women ocean voyage.

For Natasha, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. As a child, she was always curious. Historical expeditions fascinated her, and she was intrigued to find out how things work. As a born problem solver, she is confident the team can solve challenges like plastics, but only with the right knowledge and by working together. She understands that researchers and scientists like Emily need data in order to share insights with the business world and help impact changes further upstream.

Creating circular manufacturing and supply chain processes is one way to help solve the problem. Natasha plans to record her experiences and take part in the science on board. Mostly, she is looking forward to learning as much as she can from her fellow crew members, who include a fashion activist, a legal adviser to refugees, businesswomen, and artists.

After the eXXpedition trip, Natasha will share her insights with business leaders and NGOs and help shape the solutions and services being developed at 麻豆原创.

This article first appeared on the Global SustainabilityNews Centre.聽

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