Circular Benchmark

Aim

We believe that a wide application of circularity becomes increasingly necessary and should not be limited to a niche set of companies as a wide transformation of the economy is necessary. This is why we have identified  750 companies, spanning a dozen of industries, that will be benchmarked on their circular efforts. The first stage of this process involved a scoping study focused on the fashion industry, published in 2020.

In 2021, the scope of the circular transformation will expand to cover nature and biodiversity as recognition of the need for greater understanding, transparency and scrutiny of business impact on biodiversity, climate, land, oceans and water. 

To achieve resource decoupling, circularity will be considered a strategy for nature-positive resource use. The initial company scope for circular transformation will remain the same, with further examination on what additional industries are influential to natural and biodiversity transformation. 

Scope

To dig deeper into the circular economy’s current practices, we conducted a scoping study with the support of  Laudes Foundation  (formerly C&A Foundation) to understand what the best circular metrics and indicators are already available to companies, particularly in the fashion industry, and assess whether the environmental and social impact of circularity is properly considered by these metrics, seeking to anticipate negative  unintended consequences  for instance. More importantly, the scoping study investigates to what extent transparency, and more specifically, public disclosure mechanisms, can be used to overcome the lack of incentives to create data, standards and science-based targets around circular business models. The outcome of this study includes a set of recommendations on how to use public disclosure to accelerate the shift to a regenerative and restorative system.