Circular Ecosystems: Business Model Innovation for the Circular Economy

By design, waste and other negative environmental impacts have become an integral part of our industrialised consumer society. The circular economy (CE) is a way to move away from the linearity of our current industrial and economic systems. The aim of a CE is to keep products, components and materials at their maximum utility and value at all times. The present article provides an actionable path for companies to design, validate, and implement a circular ecosystem with suitable business models that enable sustainable solutions that are beyond the reach of single companies. Our easy-to-navigate framework consists of seven steps.