Cradle to cradle circular economy model as the business strategy expected to link the financial performance to the environmental and social positive impact

Abstract

The environmental, social and governance huge pressures that the world faces today, push also the business into a new phase, announcing a disruption as never seen before. While many companies still complain in a dangerous inertia, there are some taking the leadership towards an in-depth transformation to become sustainable. This transition is not simple, as companies have to find levers to address environmental and social issues, while remaining competitive and delivering good returns for their stakeholders. When truly committed to sustainability, companies know they have to reinvent themselves to make no compromise between a better world and the financial performance. Yet what business model could establish synergies among planet, people and profit, is there a winning strategy? Cradle to cradle model, based on circular economy maximises the reuse of resources, aiming to eliminate the concept of waste specific to the traditional linear model. Academic studies and field case studies show that, by applying cradle to cradle principles, a company could behave in a sustainable way and deliver growth. The transformation journey is a complex one. It requires vision, stakeholders engagement and courage to transform trade-offs into innovation opportunities.

Keywords

• circularity
• economy
• cradle to cradle
• profitability
• impact
• synergy
• trade-offs