1. The Circular
Economy
Handbook
RealizingtheCircularAdvantage

2. From Waste to Wealth to
The Circular Economy Handbook
Wefirstarticulatedthecompetitive advantageofa circulareconomyinWastetoWealth(2015).Thisbookhighlightedtheopportunityforvaluecapturebyadoptingfive
newcircularbusiness modelsandtenenablingtechnologies.
2
Worked for and collaborated with clients and
partners to deliver leading circular economy
strategies around the globe.
Found that efforts mostly focused on “quick
wins,” small-scale initiatives, or programs can
could be retrofittedinto business-as-usual
environments.
Since 2015
Analyzedmore than 1,500 circular case studies
viaTheCircularsprogram, the world’s premier
circular economy awards program run in
collaborationwith theWorld Economic Forum.
Rising political and economic tensions, the pace and scale of technological
change, along with the urgency of the climate crisis and resource scarcity are
dramatically altering the landscape.
We have an unprecedented opportunityto transform these
challengesintoopportunities, creating financial and economic value
for businessand society.Our research
shows the value at stake is $4.5 trillion of upsideby 2030.
In seizingthe circular advantage, businessescan spur innovation,
create new markets and wisely pivot the global trajectory toward
one that is more sustainableand resilient.
It is time to turn theory into practice andact now.
Now

3. 3
The circular economy handbook is divided into
three parts
Where are
we now?
How do we
get there?
Setting the foundations:
Exploring the five circular business
models, and the disruptive
technologies of the 4th Industrial
Revolution
Making the pivot:
Uncovering the path to
circular maturity across the
four organizational dimensions of
Operations, Products
& Services, Culture & Organization, and
Ecosystem
Where do we
need to be?
Scaling industry impact:
Identifying the biggest challenges
and opportunities for value capture
across ten major industries

4. 4
Wherearewe
now?
Setting the foundation
Wheredowe
needtobe?
Scaling industry impact
Howdowe
getthere?
Making the pivot
1
2
3
Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved. 4

5. The circular business models
Thesecanbemappedacross thevaluechain,focusonbothproduction andconsumption, andprovideaprovenframeworkforcircular
transformation.
5
Resource
recovery
Design
Manufacturing
Logistics
Product
of use
End of use
recycling
Reverse
logistics
Sourcing
Resource
recovery
Circular
inputs
Product
use extension
Sharing
platforms
Product
as a
service
Resource recovery:
Product use extension:
Sharing platforms:
Product as a service:
Using renewable sources, bio-
based materials and man-made
materials, that are recycled or
highly recyclable, to enable
partial or total elimination of
waste.
Using the embedded materials or energy
at the end-of-use of a product and
recovering through collection, aggregation
and processing.
Retaining ownership of products and
selling benefits through a service
model.
Product’s use extended through design
considerations, repairs, reconditioning,
upgrades and resale for second use.
Optimizes utilization rates of products and
assets through shared ownership, access and
usage.
Circular inputs:

6. 6
There are five key enablers
we found through analyzing 1500+ case studies which are essential to capturing the full potential of
the circular business models.
Consumer
engagement
Re-shape what it means to
consume to support evolving
customer demands and to drive
new behaviors.
Create takeback loops by
managing the return and recovery
of products back
into the value chain.
Accelerate with 4IR
innovations to enable the smart
use of resources and create new
opportunities.
Embrace the power of external
engagement and build new
networks to unlock circularity at
scale.
Design
Plan for product clarity
to enable longer use-cycles
and end-of-use recovery.
Ecosystems
Reverse logistics
Disruptive
technologies

7. Disruptive 4IR technologies are the single most
important enabler accelerating the transition to a
circular economy
7
Technologies based on
computer, electronics and
communication sciences,
which make use of the
increasing volume of
information and
connectedness of physical
resources.
Technologies based
on basic properties
of materials, energy, forces
of nature and
their interactions.
Technologies based on biological
aspects, including, but not
limited to: biological systems
and living organisms (or
derivatives thereof), to make
products and processes for
specific uses.
Digital Physical Biological

8. The most competitive businesses deploy
combinations of technologies to achieve the
best performance
8
Design
Manufacturing
Logistics
Product
of Use
End-of-Use
Recycling
Reverse
Logistics
Sourcing
Digital Physical Biological
DataAnalytics
Using aeroponics and predictive
analytics for agricultural
productivity, reducing resource
consumption & waste
generation while
increasing quality output.
Aeroponics
MachineVision
Using AI-enabled robotics and
machine vision to
fundamentally change the
costs of recycling.The
accuracy of waste sorting
system has improved over
time to reach 99%.
Robotics

9. 9
1
2
3
Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved.
Wherearewe
now?
Setting the foundation
Wheredowe
needtobe?
Scaling industry impact
Howdowe
getthere?
Making the pivot

10. Cross-cutting themes are driving the circular
transition of industries
Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved. 10
The need to sustainably meet challenges of
growing demand—to do more with less, while
reducing negative impact—is being felt across
industries (e.g. produce more food with less
deforestation).
Policymakers are targeting industries with
regulations focused on accelerating transition
(e.g. regulations focused on appliance recovery
and recycling).
Public awareness of waste-related issues
(e.g. plastics, ‘fast fashion’) is driving consumer
pressure on both B2C and B2B industries—from FMCG
to chemicals and mining—to address their concerns
through circular solutions.
Technology advancements are happening across
industries, enabling new circular opportunities,
from machine vision to reduce food waste, to
pressurized CO2 to eliminate water from the
textile dyeing process.
Opportunities for industry cross-over and
transformation (e.g. at the intersection of end-
of-use recovery and circular inputs) are
growing, as technology and infrastructure
unlock new possibilities.

11. Industries can generate financial value and
maintain or improve market share through circular
opportunities
11
Value at stake by 2030
Value addition through reducing costs, such as through
designing leaner products, sourcing circular materials,
improving forecasting to reduce unsold product or producing
more efficiently.
Now
Value migration between industry players or from one type of
product/service to another, driven by growth in alternative
products (e.g. EVs in automotive; renewables in utilities) and
refurbished/second-use markets
(e.g. fashion, electronics devices).
Value addition through new sources of revenue, such as circular
business models, brand differentiation and market share or
premium pricing in some industries.
Value
Addition:Cost
Value
Migration
Value Addition:
Revenue
$
USD
Billion
$500
$400
$100

12. Each industry is at a different stage
12
$80 bn
Oil and gas
$5 bn
Household
$300 bn
Electricity
$135 bn
ME&I
$80 bn
Devices/ICT
$5 bn
Personal Mobility
$300 bn
FMCG
$135 bn
Fashion
in their circular transition with unique waste challenges, but there is potential to realize
significant value through large-scale adoption

13. 13
1
2
3
Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved.
Wherearewe
now?
Setting the foundation
Wheredowe
needtobe?
Scaling industry impact
Howdowe
getthere?
Making the pivot

14. The wise pivot provides a roadmap for the transition
to a circular business
14
Transform the existing value chain to remove
waste, reduce value erosion and drive up
investment capacity.
02 Grow the core business organically with circular
offerings embedded to sustain fuel for
investments.
03 Invest in disruptive growth opportunities that will
take organizations’ circular journeys to the next
level.
Wise
pivot
Transformthe
core
Growthecore
Scalethenew
01

15. 15
Organizations must mature across
four fundamental dimensions in order to successfully pivot to circularity:
Ecosystem
Collaborating and partnering with public-
and private-sector actors to create an
enabling environment for collective
transformation.
Rethinking the design, lifecycle and end-
of-use of a product or service to
optimize usage, eliminate waste and
close product loops.
Embedding circular principles into the fabric of an
organization through redefined working practices,
policies and procedures.
Addressing the value lost through the
operations and by-products of business
processes across energy, emissions, water
and waste.
Operations Products & services
Culture & organization

16. Investors and policymakers must help
remove barriers to support organizations in
the global transition
by targeting new approaches which overcome linear structures and systems.
16
Investors
Reevaluating measurements of
financial risk
Adapting the “corporate finance
toolkit” 1
Mobilizing the required capital, $3.9tn a
year in developing countries alone 2
Policymakers
Steering regulations towards practices that yield the
highest value of waste & scarce materials
Incentivizing circular behavior through taxation
Investing in infrastructure to recover & recycle
materials and integrate back into production
Redefining waste definitions to avoid discarding
material with unlocked value
Refining product quality and safety regulation to
reduce limits on product reuse
1 Katherine Garrett-Cox, CEO of Gulf International Bank (UK)
2 UNCTAD, “Promoting investment in the sustainable development goals,” 2018,

17. 17
The circular economy handbook
$4.5 trillion
Global value at
stake by 2030
Disruptive
technologies
Case
studies
Business
models
5 27 1500
Industries
10

18. How can you
capture your
circular advantage
today?
Contactustolearnmoreat
circularadvantage@accenture.com
www.accenture.com/circulareconomyhandbook
Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved. 18