Each year, we throw away nearly $200 billion of material that could be recycled. But companies can flip the script.
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.
Unleash the Value of the Circular Economy
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 X 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.
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:
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
1.
Business Model Innovation
A circular mindset can drive the formation of new business models and establish new revenue streams.
2.
New Growth Opportunities
A circular strategy can spark innovation, opening the door to new products—and new market segments.
3.
More Efficiency, Less Risk
By reducing dependence on resource extraction, Circelligence by BCG shrinks supply chain risks and boosts operational efficiencies.
4.
Stronger Customer Relationships
A circular business produces less waste and builds longer-lasting products, helping you meet sustainability goals—and customer expectations.
5.
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.
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:
90 tons
materials saved
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.
75%
sales volume
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.
"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.
Our Insights into the Circular Economy
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.
Video
June 3, 2021
Pressure is mounting to find circular solutions, which could unlock $4.5 trillion in GDP growth by 2030.
A new report by BCG and WBCSD calls for a formal global plan for material recycling and the creation of higher circularity through technology.
Metals and Mining Industry
Article
May 10, 2022
Understanding the challenges can help other players in the circular economy.
Consumer Products Industry
Slideshow
April 22, 2021
Achieving a 50% recycling rate in the US by the end of the decade is ambitious but possible. Here’s how we can accomplish it.
As climate breakdown continues to develop, transitioning to a circular economy—fueled by circular businesses—is a top priority.22
Circelligence by BCG supports companies on their journey toward a circular economy.
