I’m excited because it’s not only the first episode of Circularity.fm but also my first podcast episode. I’m also really enthusiastic about the content: the circular business model map! 

It’s a bit of an odd start. Because I’m starting with an audio episode about visual content. But I like this map so much, I decided to put it at the beginning. 

Before you continue listening, I suggest you have at least a quick look at the map:

Open in a new tab as PDF or PNG.

Before I comment on the organisations shown on this map, I’m going to explain the structure.

What can you see in this map? You can see the logos for different organisations or services. Behind every logo there is a business in the circular economy. 

I’ve put each business in one of five buckets. These five buckets are the ones presented by Accenture in 2015, so I’ll also quote the definition of the categories from Accenture:

• Product as a Service: Offer product access and retain ownership to internalize benefits of circular resource productivity
• Sharing Platforms: Enable increased utilization rate of products by making possible shared use/access/ownership
• Resource Recovery: Recover useful resources/energy out of disposed products or by-products
• Product Life Extension: Extend working lifecycle of products and components by repairing, upgrading and reselling
• Circular Supplies: Provide renewable energy, bio based- or fully recyclable input material to replace single-lifecycle inputs

One of the next episodes will be about the theory behind the circular economy and different frameworks for grouping business models. So if you’re interested in the frameworks themselves, stay tuned. And I’ve added the link to the Accenture paper to the show notes.

Okay, back to the map. All five categories are split in two areas: one area for circular business models and another for the rest. Why is that? First, I’m going to tell you what I mean by a circular business model. This means businesses that contain a circular element within their operations. So there are resources in the value stream of the business model that circulate between customers and the organisation. I want to highlight these business models. The category of Product-as-a-Service is an extreme case here, because by design all assets belong to the provider and circulate back to it. However, there are more business models in the circular economy – they are displayed outside that category of circular business models. 

And I left out businesses from the waste, recycling and green energy sector. They are essential for the circular economy. No doubt about that. But Circularity.fm is – at least at the beginning – about new kinds of circular business models. Since the map would explode if I included everything, I decided to start with this narrowed-down scope to facilitate learning in these fields. We will see some edge cases and I’m aware that there is a grey line between these sectors. And the line will move over time.

I applied one other criteria to the organisations: They should have active operations. So for every organisation you see on the map, customers can buy their product or use their service or give them money in some other form (like crowdfunding). It’s a bit of a barrier, because there are many more ideas out there that are in a very early stage. They are not shown here. From my experience, I can tell you that in many fields the challenge is not having the idea but it’s putting that idea into execution. So I’ve stuck to businesses with active operations.

One last remark about the map itself: This is the first version of the map. I plan to update this map after a couple of months. More businesses will start and some will stop operating. But mostly, I’m going to update because I probably missed a few organisations and initiatives here. Also because I know there’s a possible Europe bias in the map, since this is where I started the research. The map is meant to be a global overview – as our circular economy is a global one as well. So if you know of a business model in the circular economy, please send me the name or link. I will check it and add it. One source I want to highlight is Sitra. The Finish foundation compiled a list of more than 100 companies active in the circular economy. I integrated quite a few of them here, sometimes even used the short description provided by Sitra. If you’re interested in the Sitra list, please check their website.

All right, I’m sure some of you can‘t wait to dive deeper into the map – let’s do that!

I’ll name and describe all of the organisations shown on the map in one sentence. I won’t go deeper right now, but I will be interviewing many of them in upcoming episodes. If you’re interested in one of them and want to find out more information now, just follow the links in the show notes or check out the blog post of this episode – there you will find all organisations and the corresponding links.

Let’s start with the Product as a Service type. In this category, businesses offer access to products while retaining ownership to internalise the benefits of circular resource productivity. In alphabetical order we have 31 companies:

1. 24 Rental Network, 24 Rental Network provides renting of shared cars
2. BlueMovement, BlueMovement offers home appliances as a service
3. Bundles, Bundles offers home appliances as a service
4. Elite Smart Lease, Elite Smart Lease is a mattresses as a service paid by the occupation of the bed
5. Encore, Encore provides its customers with loading pallets as a service
6. Fluid Intelligence, Fluid Intelligence offers an oil-monitoring system or lubrication as a service
7. Foodduck, Foodduck is a spread dispenser leased to cafetarias to reduce packaging and food waste
8. Gerrard Street, Gerrard Street offers Headphones as a service
9. Grover, Grover is a renting platform for consumer electronics
10. Home spring NL, Homespring provides furniture as a service
11. Innorent, Innorent builds, rents out and supplies to its customers movable facilities to be used as sports halls, shops or industrial halls
12. Kleiderei, Kleiderei provides a Fashion Subscription
13. Lem-Kem, Lem-Kem offers lighting as a service
14. Lindström, Lindström provides work uniforms as a service
15. Livingpackets, Livingpackets produces reusable and smart package boxes that are offered as Packaging as a Service
16. Lyfa, Lyfa offers online grocery shopping and delivery service with zero waste
17. Martela, Martela sells life cycle management of work environments and office furniture as a service
18. Mitsubishi M Use, Mitsubishi offers Elevators as a service
19. MUD Jeans, MUD Jeans produces, sells and leases fair trade jeans
20. Naps Aurinkovoimala, Naps Aurinkovoimala provides solar power as a service to companies
21. Oioioi, Oioioi rents out organic clothing for baby’s first year
22. Papillon, Papillon project by BSH rents out Bosch home appliances to poor people in Belgium
23. RePack, RePack provides packaging as a service or reusable and returnable delivery packaging service for e-commerce
24. Solnet, Solnet offers solar energy as a service
25. Tamturbo, Tamturbo sells compressed air as a service
26. Teil.style, Teil.Style is a clothing subscription
27. The Green House Utrecht, The Green House is a circular restaurant where chefs prepare the most delicious food using ingredients from the restaurant’s own urban farm and the Utrecht region
28. TouchPoint, TouchPoint offers work clothes as a service, made of textile and plastic waste
29. Valtavalo, Valtavalo provides LED lighting as a service
30. Vapaus.io, Vapaus.io leases shared-use bicycles, electric cars and other vehicles to companies

Wow, that’s quite a list already. Remember: I consider all of these to be a circular business model, because resources within the value stream of these organisations are circling back and forth between users and organisations.

The second category is Sharing Platforms. These businesses increase the use of their products by making shared use, access or ownership possible. Now in this category the split between circular businesses and other businesses that contribute to the circular economy is more relevant. We’ll start with the circular one:

1. Viako, Viako sells and repurchases used kitchenware and small household items           www.viako.fi

Now let’s move to the 16 Sharing Platforms businesses that don’t have circling resource flows:

1. Airbnb, Airbnb is a platform for flat sharing
2. AirFaas, Combi Works runs AirFaas, a platform for production equipment
3. Blablacar, Blablacar is an online marketplace for carpooling
4. Blox Car, Blox Car enables people to rent their car out on an hourly, daily or weekly basis
5. Cine.equipement, Cine.equipement is a marketplace for film equipement
6. Couchsurfing, CouchSurfing is a global homestay and social networking service accessible, part of the gift economy where hosts are not allowed to charge for lodging
7. eRENT , eRENT is a Track & Rent Platform for equipment management
8. Flinc, Flinc is a Ridesharing platform for employees of bigger companies
9. Getaround, Getaround offers private peer-to-peer carsharing
10. Gloveler, Gloveler is a booking platform for private apartments
11. Kiertonet, Kiertonet by Kiertoa Oy is an online auction platform, where public-sector organisations can easily sell goods, property, equipment and machinery they no longer need
12. MaaS Global, MaaS Global combines public transport, taxis and the use of private cars in a single service based on a monthly charge
13. Nettix , Nettivuokraus.com offers a central marketplace where private individuals and companies can rent goods as an alternative to ownership
14. Sharetribe, Sharetribe offers a technology to easily establish a marketplace website to rent or sell underused goods or facilities
15. Skipperi, Skipperi offers a peer-to-peer boat-hire service
16. SnappCar, SnappCar offers a platform for private carsharing

The third category is Resource Recovery. Businesses in this field recover useful resources or energy out of disposed products or by-products. The circular businesses on the map are:

1. Finlayson, Finlayson produces rag rugs from old sheets and towels from old jeans
2. InterFace, InterFace is a flooring company that offers Carpets as a service and is on a mission to run their business in a way that is restorative to the planet and creates a climate fit for life
3. Kompotoi, Kompotoi produces, sells and rents out wooden toilets and turns the “Human Output” into a soil conditioners
4. Leadax, Leadax offers lead composed from a stream of waste that can be re-cycled
5. Schijvens, Schijvens designes, manufactures, reuses and rents out corporate clothing for the retail, logistical, construction, industrial and facility services.
6. Tarkett Restart, Tarkett Restart is a program to recycle and reuse carpets

The other 32 Resource Recovery businesses are:

1. Aquafil , Aquafil produces fashion of ocean plastic
2. Betolar, Betolar turns different industrial waste streams into low carbon construction materials
3. Cirplus, Cirrplus runs a global marketplace for circular plastics
4. Ecolan, Ecolan receives ash from power plants and directs it for use as a raw material either for tree fertilisers or earthwork products
5. Eko-Expert, Eko-Expert is utilising surplus mineral wool and turns it into recycled mineral wool for insulation materials
6. Helsieni, Helsieni grows oyster mushrooms on used coffee grounds
7. ICL Phosphate Recycling Unit, ICL Fertilizers Europe replaces phosphate rock with recovered and recycled phosphates
8. Infinited Fiber, Infinited Fiber harnesses recycled fibres for reuse and makes new raw materials for textile products from them
9. Kaffeeform, Kaffeeform uses a sustainable material made from used coffee grounds and other renewable resources to produce coffee cups
10. KarmaTea, KarmaTea produces circular tea
11. Kekkilä, Kekkilä manufactures compost fertiliser from organic waste
12. Kierrätyskeskus, The Helsinki area recycling centre provides craft supplies made from surplus materials
13. Lovia, Lovia manufactures luxury designer clothing & accessories from surplus materials
14. Merijaan, Merijaan upcycles plastic waste in to new products
15. Netlet, Netlet collects useful surplus materials from building sites free of charge and sells them on
16. Pa-Ri Materia, Pa-Ri Materia receives, refurbishes and sells large volumes of used office furniture
17. Pure Waste, Pure Waste recycles waste from the textile industry into new material and garments
18. Remake Ekodesign, Remake produces ranges of clothes of recycled materials
19. Signify, Signify offers 3D printed luminaires based on recycled materials
20. SOEX / I:CO, I:CO is a provider for collection, reuse and recycling of used clothing and shoes
21. Soilfood, Soilfood extracts more value out of the side streams of industrial and agricultural processes by making recycled nutrients and soil improvers from them
22. St1 , St1 takes organic waste and residues from various industries and uses them to produce ethanol, which can be used as a petrol substitute
23. Stuffstr, Stuffstr reduces waste by dramatically increasing the reuse of unused stuff
24. Suomen Savupiipputeollisuus, Suomen Savupiipputeollisuus manufactures chimney bricks primarily out of locally created industrial by-products
25. Tracegrow, Tracegrow makes organic fertilizer out of micronutrients extracted and purified from used alkaline batteries
26. Umicore, Umicore provides recycling of Materials especially Metalls
27. UpCircle, UpCircle creates Cosmetics from waste
28. UPM Raflatac, UPM Raflatac’s RafCycle service turns waste into raw material for paper and biocomposites
29. Wear2go, Wear2go provides an alternative for the removal of end-of-life textiles
30. Wilco Design GmbH Flugzeugmöbel, Flugzeugmoebel.de is a service by Wilco Design that turns aircraft parts into design furniture
31. Wimao, Wimao manufactures biocomposite products from recycled materials
32. Worn Again Technologies, Worn Again Technologies’ separates, decontaminates and extract polyester polymers and cellulose and turns them back into new textile raw materials

The fourth category is Product Life Extension. Organisations in this category extend the working lifecycle of products and their components by repairing, upgrading and reselling. To be honest, this is a hard one because thousands of traditional companies have been doing this for generations, especially the ones with a strong craftsman heritage. Many companies emphasise high quality and durability. Providing a complete list won’t be possible, I’m afraid. So the ones I will mention here are particularly outspoken in their communication about it – they make sustainability and / or circularity an explicit pillar in their customer communications. We’ll start again with circular businesses:

1. 3 Step IT, 3 Step IT leases office equipment to organisations and sells it after the leasing period
2. Gispen, Gispen produces and reuses durable furniture
3. iittala, iittala buys used crockery from consumers and sells them on at a higher price than they purchased them for
4. Lorenz, Lorenz is developing, producing, remanufacturing and reusing high-quality water meters
5. Nudie Jeans, Nudie jeans offers long lasting jeans from organic cotton, repair service, recycling and a 2nd hand option
6. Patagonia, Patagonia produces, sells and repairs long lasting clothing
7. Ponsse, Ponsse refurbishes used forestry equipment parts and sells them to its customers with warranty coverage
8. Shiftphones, SHIFTPHONE is a modular smartphone
9. Valtra, Valtra remanufactures gearboxes for tractors

So those were the circular businesses within the Product Life Extension category. The other 31 Product Life Extension businesses are:

1. AfB, AfB extends the lifetime of laptops and smartphones by refurbisment, recycling and remarketing
2. Battery Intelligence, Battery Intelligence provides a platform for remote battery fleet monitoring, optimal and responsible battery use, and predictive maintenance
3. Brink Industrial, Brink Industrial is a one-stop shop business for product development, engineering, manufacturing and finishing of long lasting products
4. Ebay / Ebay Kleinanzeigen, ebay is a platform for selling used products
5. EkoRent, EkoRent buys used electric cars from Western countries and sells them to taxi companies to run a taxi platform in Nairobi
6. Ekox, Ekox services IT equipment for reuse, resell and rent
7. Emmy.fi, Emmy.fi sells and buys used clothes
8. Excess Materials Exchange, Excess Materials Exchange provides a matching platform to find new high-value reuse options for materials or (waste) products for companies
9. Fairphone, Fairphone develops smartphones that are designed and produced with minimal environmental impact
10. Fixfirst, Fixfirst is an independent service to repair home appliances
11. IKEA, IKEA is on a journey to make more of its products easier to repair, disassemble, reassemble and reuse
12. Kaputt.de, Kaputt.de is a marketplace for repair shops for smartphones, tablets, laptops and coffee machines
13. Kleiderkreisel by Vinted, Kleiderkreisel is an online marketplace for selling and sharing fashion, accessories and cosmetics
14. Kokkola LCC, Kokkola LCC repairs worn or rusty equipment components for industrial companies by means of laser coating
15. Konecranes, Konecranes’ Lifecycle Care service concept extends the life cycle of industrial equipment and maximises their safety and productivity
16. Labdoo, Labdoo.org is a non-profit collaborative social network which brings recycled Laptops loaded with educational applications to schools throughout the world without incurring any economic cost and without generating additional CO2 emissions to the Planet
17. Lunette, Lune Group manufactures menstrual cups that replace disposable sanitary products
18. Mädchenflohmarkt, Mädchenflohmarkt runs an online second hand market place for designer fashion
19. Netflea, Netflea.com allows users to sell high volumes of used goods
20. Rebuy, Rebuy is a marketplace for second hand articles
21. Recommerce Swiss, Recommerce Swiss buys smartphones, refurbishs and sells them
22. Saltrex, Saltrex provides a B2B auction platform for all parties with an interest in surplus, secondary or distressed commodities and cargo
23. Sellpy, Sellply is an online second hand shop
24. Swap.com, Swap.com offers an easy way to sell and buy pre-owned goods online
25. Swappie, Swappie services and sells used smart phones
26. Swishi, Swishi is an online marketplace connecting Offers with Wanted listings, showing new ways to exchange value and extend product lifecycles
27. Taitonetti, Taitonetti sells high-quality refurbished computers
28. Thredup, ThredUP is an online thrift store where you can buy and sell high-quality secondhand clothes
29. Varusteleka, Varusteleka is an army and outdoor store from Finland. They buy used items and sell them forward,
30. Virrat, SR-Harvesting disassembles tractors that are beyond repair, repairs and checks the parts, and then sells them with a warranty
31. Zadaa, Zadaa is a marketplace for selling and buying secondhand clothing

The fifth and final category is Circular Supplies. These business models provide renewable energy, or they provide bio-based or fully recyclable input material to replace single-lifecycle (disposable) inputs. Circular businesses in this field are:

1. Adidas Futurecraft, Adidas Futurecraft is a running shoe produced from one garment only designed for recycling and accompanied by a take back program
2. Dycle, Dycle is producing compostable diapers, runs a diapers collection system and converts diapers waste into black soil
3. Green Recycled Organics GRo, GRO-Holland uses coffee residue as a growth substrate for oyster mushrooms, which it sells back to the cafes that provide the coffee residue

Finally, businesses that provide circular supplies but aren’t circular themselves are:

1. Betulium, Betulium provides renewable, biodegradable, and high-performance water-based cellulose materials to replace or supplement synthetic organic polymers
2. BioBound, BioBound produces bio based concrete
3. Forchem, Forchem refines crude tall oil into different renewable products
4. Funghi Famers, Funghi Farmers is a sustainable oyster mushroom cultivation using recycled coffee waste from local Geneva businesses
5. Honkajoki, Honkajoki uses animal-based waste and refines them into raw materials for products such as pet food and biofuels
6. Hubus, Hubus sells boxes for worm composting transforming biological waste in to new soil
7. Jarmat, Jarmat produces biodegradable lubricating oil from the side streams of the forest sector
8. Lifecykel, Lifecykel offers products from mushrooms
9. Montinutra, Montinutra is producing health-promoting products out of the by-products of the forest industry
10. My boo, My boo manufactures and sells bicycles made of bamboo
11. Neustark, Neustark enables circular and carbon neutral production of concrete by turning CO2 into minerals
12. Orange Fiber, Orange Fiber manufactures textile fabrics from citrus-fruits by-products,
13. Renewcell, Renewcell’s recycling technology dissolves used cotton and other natural fibers into a new, biodegradable raw material
14. Spinnova, Spinnova produces textile fibre from cellulosic mass without dissoluble chemicals

Okay, now I’ve named all of the businesses mentioned in the map. Quite a list, isn’t it? I’m amazed by the initial creativity of the founders of these businesses. Looking back, it might seem obvious to start something like that. But from experience I can assure you that all of them had to overcome a lot of pushback. 

The people behind these businesses are changing the world. Wouldn’t it be helpful for everyone else that’s starting such a journey to hear about their experiences? This is what we will do in this podcast. 

You might wonder why a business you know in the circular economy is not on that list. Maybe I didn’t find it! Drop me an email at contact@circularity.fm. I will update this map with other active businesses in the circular economy, excluding the recycling, waste and green energy sectors for now.