A circular economy approach is an alternative to the traditional linear approach - which is sometimes referred to as make, use, dispose. Instead, in a circular economy we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life.

The Cradle to Cradle (™) philosophy we work with at Shaw Contract underpins this approach.

Within our region we wanted to understand more about where the responsibility starts, where it ends and who is at the forefront of driving change. We took on a challenge-based approach and worked with strategy, transformation and innovation platform business, Insight Futures as a first step to look at: ‘How might we de-risk the move to a circular economy for the built environment, in Scotland?' in Phase 1.

For Phase 2, we took the same approach but looking at England and Wales.

Insight Futures conducted interviews with key stakeholders in both Phases, to establish current views of the value of the Circular Economy and its wider adoption in the Built Environment. In undertaking this “ecosystem mapping”, a key objective was to identify the motivations and barriers for the adoption of circular business models including how to create, deliver and capture value to companies.

Some interesting insights and comparable findings have resulted. We will take these as learnings internally and sharing the Survey Reports with interested parties, supporting knowledge-sharing on this important topic.