Mark Lancelott

Sustainability and Circular Economy Co-lead PA Consulting, a strategic partner to Jacobs

Closing the circle: challenging how we think about our consumer economy.

Circular Economy

Taking action to reach net zero is critical, and transforming our thinking to create a circular economy is a powerful step in the right direction.

Unsustainable consumption of our natural resources is negatively impacting the health of our planet, and we are rapidly approaching a tipping point across our fragile ecosystems. Shifting our thinking from a linear economy mindset, which uses a “take, make and dispose” approach, to a circular economy mindset, keeps resources and products at their highest value and seeks to regenerate our natural capital.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which works to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, estimates that 9% of our economy is circular, and only 5% of material value is recovered. This means that 95% of the material value our global economy creates is thrown away. Year after year, water demands increase because of population growth and economic development. Recently, we’ve seen additional stresses on the global water supply from climate-related severe weather events, such as hurricanes, superstorms, tornadoes, wildfires, floods and drought. Water availability is intensely connected to weather and climate patterns, and water scarcity and extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common, with major impacts to public health, the environment and local economies.

Improving productivity, reducing impacts

The circular economy offers a path that will improve economic productivity as well as reduce impacts on the environment and climate. In practice, this involves extending the useful life of products through better design and maintenance; finding second and third (and more) lives; repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing; and lastly, recycling.

Circular economy in practice

At PA Consulting, we’ve worked with innovators, such as Enso Ltd., reimagining the future of tires for electric vehicles; finding new uses for old plastic and creating a sustainable business for Ecobooth; and helping develop a platform to enable a re-commerce business model in retail for Stuffstr.

In the public sector, Jacobs is working with Scottish Water and Zero Waste Scotland to implement a full-scale trial to reuse recovered grit as recycled aggregate, with the potential for significant cost and carbon savings.

And in a partnership with the Western Placer Waste Management Authority, our team has created a roadmap and permit framework to take a full-service, publicly owned regional waste management campus to the next level, laying the groundwork for a sustainable, regional circular economy economic engine.

Designing for circularity

Success, regardless of the sector, is predicated on designing products for circularity and introducing new business models that incentivize circularity instead of product obsolescence. The product and business model must work hand-in-hand. Finding and defining the right opportunities for business is not straightforward, but there is help. We’ve worked with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Exeter Business School to launch an open-source, how-to guide to help businesses do this.

Tips of the trade

The transition to circularity requires innovation. Businesses need to experiment and learn before they can realize economies of scale.
Circularity is a property of an economy, or a value chain. Businesses need to work with others across the value chain in new ways, for example, manufacturers working with waste disposal and recycling companies.
Investable and scalable circular businesses must focus on monetizing the value they create for customers. We don’t yet have the mechanisms in place to reward contribution to the greater good.