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Circelligence by BCG

Lead the Circular Economy

Behind every product are raw materials, but we are using resources faster than nature can regenerate them. Circelligence by BCG helps companies become circular businesses and drive more value from fewer raw material inputs.

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Unleash the Value of the Circular Economy

The circular economy sustains growth in a world of finite resources by turning value chains into value circles. Circularity lowers sourcing risks and costs, improves operational efficiencies, and opens the door to new products and market segments.

The linear economy is a one-way street, and growth may soon hit a dead end; raw materials follow a “take-make-waste” journey—once spent, they’re out of play. In a circular economy, these materials find new life filling needs (not landfills). Circelligence by BCG helps companies master sustainability and the circular economy, sparking efficiency, innovation, and competitive advantage. This transition to the circulate economy has the potential to unlock $4.5 trillion in GDP growth by 2030.

The circular economy sustains growth in a world of finite resources by turning value chains into value circles. Circularity lowers sourcing risks and costs, improves operational efficiencies, and opens the door to new products and market segments. But creating a circular business isn’t simple. A robust circular economy roadmap requires a holistic approach for every phase of a product’s life cycle. The challenge: understanding just how circular your business is and how to focus your efforts to create a circular strategy.

Approach

How Circelligence by BCG Works

Developed by BCG GAMMA and our circular economy consulting team, in partnership with SAP and battle-tested with BCG’s clients, Circelligence is now available as a standalone circular strategy solution running on SAP BTP. It’s part evaluative, part circular economy framework, providing an end-to-end assessment of a company’s circularity and helping leaders identify initiatives that create—and differentiate—a truly circular business.

Features

Holistic Circular Economy Assessment

Circelligence by BCG calculates the circularity of a company to help clients on their climate change and sustainability journey by embedding circular economy concepts into their overall corporate strategy and enabling management to make informed circular investment decisions. The Circelligence tool is built around five key pillars:
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Quantitative Assignment
Through a holistic assessment, Circelligence by BCG provides a baseline of your company's circularity performance from which to launch a circularity strategy. The tool pulls available data from SAP systems to assess the circularity of your product’s full value chain, from raw materials to end of life (you can also enter data into Excel templates or input directly into the tool’s user interface).  
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Qualtitative Assignment
Through survey questions, Circelligence by BCG gauges the cultural and organizational components of circularity, assessing your readiness to embrace and execute a circular economy roadmap.
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Visibility and Transparency
  • A comprehensive dashboard presents your circularity scores in a visual and intuitive format—so you can zero in quickly on current performance and areas for improvement. 
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Simulating Improvement Initiatives
The Circelligence scenario player lets you model how changes—to processes, raw materials, and so on—will impact your circularity. This enables you to test prospective initiatives, develop and assess associated business cases, and prioritize the initiatives that matter most.
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Customization
Regeneration lies at the heart of every sustainability and circular economy strategy. But as every business is different, with different operating models and ways of measuring success, you can tailor Circelligence by BCG to your company’s particular circumstances and needs.
Benefits

The Benefits of Circelligence by BCG

A circular economy promotes sustainability, but it also creates business value. Circelligence by BCG helps you realize the full potential of circularity in a variety of ways:
  • Business Model Innovation
    A circular mindset can drive the formation of new business models and establish new revenue streams.
  • New Growth Opportunities
    A circular strategy can spark innovation, opening the door to new products—and new market segments.
  • More Efficiency, Less Risk
    By reducing dependence on resource extraction, Circelligence by BCG shrinks supply chain risks and boosts operational efficiencies.
  • Stronger Customer Relationships
    A circular business produces less waste and builds longer-lasting products, helping you meet sustainability goals—and customer expectations.
  • Staying Ahead of the Regulatory Curve
    Circularity is nascent, but word—and interest—is growing. First movers can play an active role in developing circular economy regulations.

Impact

Our Clients’ Success with Circularity

Across sectors and around the globe, BCG has helped companies accelerate their circularity journey. Here are some examples of our work—and results:

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Hilti was the first company worldwide to use and codevelop the Circelligence method with BCG. Hilti now evaluates the circularity of its entire product portfolio in terms of both quality and quantity on a yearly basis. Insights from Circelligence supported Hilti in defining a comprehensive circular strategy, leading to the recovery of 120,000 spare parts in 2022 and saving 90 tons of valuable electronic motors and rotors.

90 tons
materials saved
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We partnered with a materials industry powerhouse to pilot end-of-life collection, source bio-based and recycled materials, and develop fully circular business models, among other initiatives. In all, circularity efforts have the potential to impact 75% of the business’s volume.

75%
sales volume

"Circelligence helped bring clarity to an extremely complex topic. It supported us in building a database of material use and flows which—beyond allowing us to calculate the circularity score—gave us deep insight into our material use."

Caroline Stern, Head of Circularity, Hilti

Experts

Meet Our Circular Economy Consulting Team

Our circular economy consulting experts help companies embed circular strategy—and perspective—into their business, culture, and path ahead with a circular economy roadmap. Meet some of our Circelligence by BCG team.

Headshot of BCG expert Chrissy O'Brien Managing Director & Partner

Chrissy O’Brien

Managing Director & Senior Partner

Boston

Headshot of BCG expert Holger Rubel

Holger Rubel

Managing Director & Senior Partner

Frankfurt

Headshot of BCG expert Alexander Meyer zum Felde

Alexander Meyer zum Felde

Partner and Associate Director, Total Societal Impact & Sustainability & Circular Economy

Hamburg

david sayah headshot (1).jpeg

David Sayah

Managing Director & Partner

Dubai

Jack Bugas

Jack Bugas

Partner

Chicago

miriam-benedi-diaz.jpg

Miriam Benedi Díaz

Lead Knowledge Analyst

Madrid

Latest Thinking

Our Insights into the Circular Economy

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Video

Leading the Way on Circularity

Caroline Stern, head of Circular Economy at Hilti Group, discuss the benefits of Circelligence, a solution developed in partnership with BCG and BCG X to measure circular economy performance and help companies make better informed decisions on sustainability initiatives.

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