The Circular Economy Handbook: Realizing the Circular Advantage

Can we align global production and consumption systems with sustainability? Can business growth actually lead to a healthier planet? Can companies innovate through the circular economy to create competitive advantage and genuine impact?

Waste to Wealth proved that the emerging circular economy advantage exists – now Lacy, Long and Spindler show you how to realize it at speed and scale in The Circular Economy Handbook.    

We stand at a crossroads, with rising geopolitical and geo-economic tensions, massive technological change and a host of social and environmental challenges. We are pushing planetary boundaries to their limits, with climate change and threats to biodiversity and oceans as just a few examples. Significant impacts are already being felt, and both people and planet face potentially catastrophic and irreversible consequences if we don’t urgently change our global model and systems. Our current linear “take, make, waste” models of production and consumption will not be sustainable in a world of some 9 billion people by 2050, especially with ever-expanding rates of consumption. Thriving within these dynamics demands more than incremental adjustments to business-as-usual. 

The circular economy offers a powerful means to decouple growth from use of scarce and harmful resources, enabling greater production and consumption with fewer negative environmental impacts—at the same time, making companies more innovative and competitive. In fact, this book shows that $4.5 trillion in economic value is at stake.

Delivering on the promise of a circular economy demands impact and scale, extending through value chains and, ultimately, disrupting the entire economic system.   

In The Circular Economy Handbook, the authors illuminate the path from insight to action, from linear to circular. With case studies, advice and practical guidance, they show leadershow to pivot towards a holistic circular organization, embedding circularity internally and delivering broad-based system change. 

With unique insights across business models, technologies, and industries – featuring stories and real-world examples from circular pioneers – this book is the essential guide to help companies become leaders in the movement to secure the circular economy advantage. 

   

Peter Lacy is a Senior Managing Director within Accenture Strategy. He advises senior leaders of Fortune 500 companies and public organizations on issues related to growth, innovation and sustainability amid technological disruption. He leads Accenture's relationship with organizations such as the World Economic Forum and United Nations, where he has led the world’s largest CEO study on sustainability since 2007. He is a business fellow at Oxford University, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and Co-Founder of The Circulars. He is a regular contributor to the BBC, Financial Times, Fast Company and other publications. He is co-author of Waste to Wealth (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). 

Jessica Long has over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of business, technology and sustainable development. A Managing Director within Accenture Strategy, she leads the North America Sustainability practice and previously led teams in Africa and Latin America. Jessica advises companies, governments and non-profits across the globe, focusing on responsible business, growth in emerging markets, new business models and socio-economic impact. She is a sought-after author and speaker and has a personal passion for social justice. 

Wesley Spindler is a Business & Sustainability Strategist within Accenture Strategy. She has been leading circular economy strategy programs with companies cross-industry and partners around the globe for many years. She also has strong expertise in technology innovation. She was Program Director of The Circulars, the world’s premier circular economy award program, run in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and Forum of Young Global Leaders, for the duration of the five-year initiative.