Unlocking Sustainability Goals with Circular Business Models

The Situation One of the world’s largest global retailers recently set an ambitious circularity goal: having 100% of owned brand products be designed for a circular future by 2040. Successfully achieving this requires the development of synergistic relationships between products and systems – circularity cannot be achieved with just product or business design, but with…

The Situation Plastic recycling supply chains are often local and unique as they rely on many informal transactions driven by local conditions, traditions, and cultures, as well as local and regional infrastructure and markets. Very few existing studies on national waste flows explore the plastic supply chains in a more localised context. Recognising this need…

The Situation Peak Performance is a leading sports apparel brand with an ambitious sustainability agenda. The company took part in the European Clothing Action Plan, which aimed to adopt circular approaches to clothing in collaboration with 13 brands across Europe. Peak Performance worked with Anthesis, in partnership with WRAP, on the area of sustainable fibres, to…

The Situation Closed Loop Partners is a US-based investment firm and innovation centre focused on building the circular economy. Over the last seven years, its Centre for the Circular Economy has researched, tested, and invested in solutions to tackle the urgent crisis of mounting plastic waste.   In 2019, Closed Loop Partners published its report on  Accelerating Circular Supply Chains for Plastics: A Landscape of Transformational Technologies…

The Situation Microsoft has committed to becoming zero waste across its direct operations, products, and packaging by 2030, including eliminating single-use plastic from its packaging by 2025. As part of this target, the company has undertaken a global effort to reduce the use of single-use plastic for servers and components within its data centre operations. The…

The Situation World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) ReSource: Plastic was released to close a critical measurement and reporting gap on corporate plastic engagement, helping companies turn their large-scale commitments into meaningful measurable action. The initiative works with a membership group to measure their plastic footprint and to track plastic management outcomes by country. WWF selected Anthesis as a…

The Situation The World Economic Forum (WEF) Low-Carbon Emitting Technologies (LCET) initiative is a collaboration between leading chemical industry players. The initiative aims to accelerate the development and scale up of low-carbon emitting technologies in the chemical industry and related circular value chains to provide a marked reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The main…

The Situation A global food retailer has recently become a signatory to the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, led by Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF). All signatories to the commitment are working to eliminate unnecessary plastic, innovate new packaging solutions, and contribute to a more circular economy. The food retailer, along with the other signatories, has…

The Situation The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aimed to map out companies’ need for investment to support the transition from virgin fossil-based plastics to sustainable materials and to propose a possible design of instruments to help companies overcome the economic obstacles involved. The goal was to assess the feasibility among companies, and the role…

The Situation Through the support of Meat and Poultry Ontario’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership Program, Yorkshire Valley Farms (YVF) was looking to define its organisational purpose, vision, and develop a purpose-driven growth strategy to achieve its sustainability and circularity goals. Solutions Circular Business Models Impact Our Solutions Anthesis started by carrying out a series of assessments…