Intelligent Industry: The rise of circularity

For its fifth edition of the summit, Capgemini Invent joined forces with ChangeNOW to co-publish a report on the circular economy that aims to provide an overview on the state of play of circularity in the global economy, its integration into companies’ strategy, and how to speed up the transformation of this new business model.

Although the circular economy has recently garnered much interest across industries, the mass adoption of circularity is yet to be achieved. Transitioning to this new paradigm is complex, requiring profound changes in business strategy and operating methods, particularly when it comes to product design and operations. The transformation can therefore only take place at speed and scale if industries develop an eco-systemic approach that will inevitably reshuffle traditional value chains. By connecting start-ups, major organizations, academics, and public authorities, the ChangeNOW Summit provides an ideal arena in which to encourage the creation of these new innovation ecosystems in favor of the circular economy.

This paper is a new step in Capgemini’s journey in the circular economy space and will be followed by complementary industry focus. For the purpose of this report, we analyzed over 50 businesses and conducted over 30 interviews with companies of various sizes and from different sectors to obtain a comprehensive overview of the circular economy with patterns for business disruption. Some of the conversations held with business executives and use cases are thus provided throughout the report to illustrate the circular economy trends.