Accelerating Circular Economy Using Digital Transformation

The book explores how digital transformation can accelerate the adoption of circular economy principles. It introduces the concept of the circular economy and its importance for sustainability. The role of digital technologies, such as IoT, big data, and blockchain, in supporting the circular economy is discussed. The book also covers circular design and product development facilitated by digital technologies, enabling easier recycling and disassembly. It explores the creation of circular supply chains and business models, such as product-as-a-service and circular leasing, that minimize waste and resource consumption while creating economic value. The book showcases the benefits of creating products that are easily disassembled and recycled, contributing to a closed-loop system. The practical insights, including case studies, provide readers with tangible examples of successful implementation. Case studies highlight successful implementation of circular economy strategies using digital technologies. The book emphasizes policy and regulatory frameworks supporting circular economy and digital transformation. This book aims to inspire business leaders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs interested in creating sustainable and circular business models. By exploring the intersection of digital transformation and the circular economy, it offers practical insights for accelerating the transition to a more sustainable future.

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 leaders how 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.

Systemic change is required to move to a circular economy (CE) model which can meet the demands of a growing population in a manner that is decoupled from resource use and waste generation. This book takes a deep dive into the innovation aspect of the circular economy (CE), with a specific focus on India as a geography, where the transformation to a circular economy is underway. How a developing country like India is tackling the complexities of the transformation and creating innovative solutions is showcased in this book through many practical examples and inspirational case studies. The book lays out the foundations for mainstreaming resource efficiency (RE)/CE in India, and covers innovation led by businesses and start-ups, along with the innovative policies, financing, and collaborative models required to spur and accelerate circular economy approaches, while also providing linkages to the international context. Features: Provides insight into the role of innovation in the circular economy transition Helps to develop and facilitate adoption of resource-efficiency policy and strategy with particular focus on key resource sectors and waste streams Treats the circular economy as a holistic approach across the entire lifecycle, and places emphasis on upstream interventions and systems change Examines the current context of COVID-19 and its impact on circular economy models and practices Touches upon how the EU-based approach was adapted and contextualised significantly to work in the unique Indian landscape This book is aimed at students, researchers, and professionals engaged in the domains of circular economy, sustainability, business innovation, environmental studies, natural resources management, and environmental and resource conservation policy.

Globalization and increased competition are forcing companies to review and improve their production processes to be more sustainable. However, a clear vision and environmental culture are lacking because, even today, companies are motivated to act to improve the environment essentially by compliance with government regulations and the opportunity to achieve profit growth. This book presents practices, challenges, and opportunities for the digital and sustainable transformation of business as we know it.

This book provides an overview of a circular economy. This model has profound consequences for production, employment, education, money & finance but also induces a shift in public policy and taxation. Its economic advantage lies in designing out waste and favouring radical resource productivity with the prospect of rebuilding capital & resilience.

Through a series of studies, the overarching aim of this book is to investigate if and how the digitalization/digital transformation process causes (or may cause) the autonomy of various labor functions, and its impact in creating (or stymieing) various job opportunities on the labor market. This book also seeks to illuminate what actors/groups are mostly benefited by the digitalization/digital transformation and which actors/groups that are put at risk by it. This book takes its point of departure from a 2016 OECD report that contends that the impact digitalization has on the future of labor is ambiguous, as on the one hand it is suggested that technological change is labor-saving, but on the other hand, it is suggested that digital technologies have not created new jobs on a scale that it replaces old jobs. Another 2018 OECD report indicated that digitalization and automation as such does not pose a real risk of destroying any significant number of jobs for the foreseeable future, although tasks would by and large change significantly. This would affects welfare, as most of its revenue stems from taxation, and particularly so from the taxation on labor (directly or indirectly). For this reason, this book will set out to explore how the future technological and societal advancements impact labor conditions. The book seeks to provide an innovative, enriching and controversial take on how various aspects of the labor market can be (and are) affected the ongoing digitalization trend in a way that is not covered by extant literature. As such, this book intends to cater to a wider readership, from a general audience and students, to specialized professionals and academics wanting to gain a deeper understanding of the possible future developments of the labor market in light of an accelerating digitalization/digital transformation of society at large.

This book explores how digital technologies can be used to drive sustainable business practices and achieve long-term business success. It offers insights and practical strategies and guidance that can help businesses adapt to the digital age, optimize their operations, and create new opportunities for growth. The book further provides real-world examples that illustrate how businesses can leverage digital technologies to achieve long-term sustainability and success. The book is an essential read for business leaders, managers, academician, practitioners and entrepreneurs who are looking to drive sustainable digital transformation within their organizations. The book covers a wide range of topics, including: 1) Understanding the digital landscape: The book provides an overview of the digital technologies that are transforming business operations, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things. It explores how these technologies can be leveraged to create sustainable business practices that benefit both the organization and society. 2) Building a digital strategy for sustainability: The book offers guidance on how businesses can develop a digital strategy that aligns with their sustainability goals. It covers topics such as identifying digital opportunities, setting targets, and measuring performance. 3) Embedding sustainability into digital operations: The book explores how businesses can integrate sustainability into their digital operations, such as data management, supply chain management, and product design. It provides examples of companies that have successfully implemented sustainable digital practices. 4) Digital innovation for sustainability: The book discusses how businesses can use digital innovation to create new opportunities for sustainability. It covers topics such as circular economy business models, sustainable product design, and social innovation. 5) Leading for sustainable digital transformation: The book offers insights on how business leaders can drive sustainable digital transformation within their organizations. It covers topics such as leadership skills, organizational culture, and stakeholder engagement.

“A clear and crisply written account of machine intelligence, big data and the sharing economy. But McAfee and Brynjolfsson also wisely acknowledge the limitations of their futurology and avoid over-simplification.” —Financial Times In The Second Machine Age, Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson predicted some of the far-reaching effects of digital technologies on our lives and businesses. Now they’ve written a guide to help readers make the most of our collective future. Machine | Platform | Crowd outlines the opportunities and challenges inherent in the science fiction technologies that have come to life in recent years, like self-driving cars and 3D printers, online platforms for renting outfits and scheduling workouts, or crowd-sourced medical research and financial instruments.