Circular Solutions for Nature – A List of Leading European Solutions

Deadline: 30 September 2023

Is your company involved in halting biodiversity loss using circular economy principles? Sitra is now looking for the leading circular economy solutions in Europe for nature.

The list of circular economy solutions for nature will show how companies can tackle biodiversity loss and turning their solutions into successful business.

Sitra’s “Tackling root causes” report showed that the circular economy can halt biodiversity loss. The key principle of the circular economy is to unlock more value from existing resources. This would reduce the need for new natural resources, leaving more room for biodiversity. Full exploitation of the circular economy in the sectors with a strong environmental impact could significantly help mitigate biodiversity loss. The circular economy is a vital tool for implementing business activities that enhance biodiversity and promote companies’ targets for nature.

The list of circular economy solutions for biodiversity, to be compiled throughout 2023 and 2024, requires European companies that:

offer circular solutions that help prevent biodiversity loss and turn harmful environmental impacts into measures to strengthen biodiversity;
unlock more value from existing resources and reduce the need to use new resources;
operate in sectors that have a strong impact on nature, especially food production and agriculture, buildings and construction, fibres and textiles, and the forest sector.

Sitra is looking for examples of different circular business models:

product–as–a–service: offering services instead of a product. The customer pays for a particular function or performance rather than owning a product;
circular inputs and design: using renewable, reusable, and recyclable materials as well as resource-saving principles in product design, sourcing, and manufacturing;
sharing platforms: increasing the capacity to use goods and resources and extending their life cycles through digital platforms, as a result of renting, selling, sharing and reuse;
product-life extension: using products according to their original purpose for as long as possible or enabling several stages of reuse through maintenance, repair and refurbishment;
resource recovery and valorization: collecting and reusing resources from products and material streams, valorizing solutions which generate more value from existing materials, and material efficiency;
+ regenerative solutions: driving regenerative outcomes in areas under production, to improve soil health, carbon sequestration, nutrient retention, and diversity to build resilience.

Why should you be involved?

Safeguarding biodiversity is featuring more and more on the business agendas of various companies. Investors, financiers and customers are increasingly interested in solutions that mitigate biodiversity loss, hence the growing need for example solutions.
The companies that are included on the list will:
- be given the opportunity to tell their own story to international audiences at the World Circular Economy Forum in 2024;
- be among the first to be given an opportunity to demonstrate how circular solutions can be used to generate business, solve customers’ problems and, at the same time, mitigate biodiversity loss;
- learn to recognise and communicate how their own circular solutions enhance biodiversity.
The list will be published at the world’s leading circular economy event, the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF), in 2024. The list is expected to gain significant visibility through both WCEF and Sitra’s international partner network. The companies included on the list will be invited to the WCEF2024 and, if they so wish, they can showcase their solutions in the forum’s exhibition hall. There is also a limited number of speaker slots available.

Evaluation of Companies

The firms included in the list will be selected by an expert panel comprising experts from Sitra and a consultant partner, who will use the following criteria to evaluate them: