and stocking closed loop products can be profitable: “We can make stuff which is extremely profitable to society and which supports other species,” says Braungart. Braungart cites a 2012 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation which found that following proposed circular business models, Europe’s manufacturing sector could save $630 billion in materials costs by as soon as 2025.
Profiting from sustainability Braungart and McDonough’s vision is no pipedream, it is in motion and its theory is constantly backed by academic literature. “Sustainability is now widely accepted as a source – even the source – of revenue and business growth”, said a 2012 survey from UK management consultants, Accenture. The firm spoke to 250 senior executives across the UK, US, Japan, Germany, France, China, Brazil and India to explore the relationship between sustainable business and commercial growth. Just under half (49%) said profit margins were currently lower on sustainable products and services. “While supply side factors may explain lower margins, so too may
The cherry tree The C2C concept is rooted in a circular economy theory pioneered in the early 20th century by an American economist called Kenneth Ewart Boulding. Boulding coined the term “spaceship earth” to draw attention to economic limits of energy, material and the environment. This earth, he wrote, would operate a cyclical ecological system capable of continuous reproduction of material form without escaping having inputs of energy. Taking up the mantel, Braungart now compares this process to a cherry tree, shedding its flowers and fruit only to be absorbed back into the earth to provide nutrients. Waste doesn’t exist in nature, it is a human projection, believes Braungart.
Boulding’s vision is being realised, albeit in baby steps. From packaging to the products themselves, his ideas and Braungart and McDonough’s work now ripples through the retail sector. As retailers ramp up their sustainability strategies more C2C items are finding their way onto their shelves. While the movement has a long way to go, it is making significant progress, proving along the way that making
the perceived reticence of consumers to pay more for sustainable products and services,” states the report. However, it also found over half of the respondents “think that customers are not currently demanding sustainable products as much as they will in the future. Other data from the survey indicates that, on average, 34% of the customer base is expected by our respondents to demand more sustainable products and services in five years.” The C2C mission could be given additional clout with backing by lawmakers. The UK government, for example, is making moves to ensure goods and services relating to the natural environment are assigned appropriate economic capital. On May 3 the government’s Natural Capital Committee published its first State of Natural Capital report which sets out a framework that aims to hardwire natural capital into economic decision making. In the foreword of the report Committee chair, Dieter Helm states: “Our economic prosperity and the wise use of our natural resources are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the latter is a precondition of the former…Economic growth must be sustainable – otherwise it will not be sustained.” The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (Defra) in a 2011 report estimated £23bn a year could be saved by using resources – water, energy and natural materials – more efficiently.
Influence
While retailers are “not the limiting factor” for Braungart – they are “in the UK amazingly well-informed and positive” – some things are within their control. For starters, more should be done by the sector to make it easier for consumers to make the “right” purchasing decisions, he argues. Retailers need to do more to promote “better” products, says Braungart. One way to do this would be to “highlight positive innovations in a one metre square showcase,” he suggests. While most retailers will have both bad and good products on their shelves, he believes it should be their duty to ensure that the most ethical ones are put to the forefront of their stores. “Show one thing a month, for example a paper you can compost; a monthly C2C product which you could display in your store to show what the future looks like. Retailers have a responsibility to influence customers to make the right choice.”
JUNE 2013 | RETAIL ENVIRONMENT 19
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