Circular Economy

Today's linear economy is based on the short-term business logic of utilizing the Earth's finite resources in a take-make-waste-system. This way of producing and consuming contributes to major climate and environmental challenges and is unsustainable if we want to reach the targets set out in the Paris Agreement. Moving towards a circular economy is absolutely necessary if we are to succeed in reducing our impact on the climate and reduce the pressure on the most important ecosystems on which we depend on. By using business as a force for change, and in broad collaboration with relevant societal actors, Axfoundation aims to provide practical solutions for companies to transform to a circular way of operating in order to become more resource efficient.

Axfoundation develops solutions based on circular business models, resource efficiency and use of renewable materials. Photo: Peter Jönsson

The Issue

Increased resource scarcity and the lack of raw materials results in higher risks for businesses that operate using the linear model. We at Axfoundation are convinced that tomorrow’s successful companies are those that can decouple natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth and become profitable in a less resource-intensive way. A driving force for this could be that companies can find new commercial outlets for side flows of raw or made materials from their own production. Or to develop customer offers where the company can capitalize on the same product several times and thus simultaneously allow the product to be used for as long as possible.

About the Program

Axfoundation wants to be a springboard for good ideas on resource-efficient practices and the circular economy by practically testing, evaluating, and scaling concrete solutions. Together with relevant societal actors, we identify and develop solutions for future business models and material flows, with the goal of accelerating the transition towards a circular economy, and by sharing good examples. We run practical pilot and innovation projects where we test promising real world solutions – and if they prove successful – we scale them up and spread them.

Learn more in Axfoundation’s Progress Report

From waste to fashion: How can one industry’s waste become another’s resource?

A unifying force to drive practical change

Within the program area Circular Economy, Axfoundation focuses on creating ecosystems connecting industries where a circular adjustment is required. Many companies face similar challenges and the transition to circularity often requires structural changes and new forms of collaboration that goes beyond companies’ usual value chains and across industries. Even though the transition has begun in the retail and food sectors , there are in reality very few large-scale, cross-industry and profitable examples of circular economies. Axfoundation wants to be a unifying force to find practical solutions, preferably in new collaboration constellations.

Our ecosystem and focus

Through Axfoundation’s independent position, we are able to develop solutions through collaborations in entire system and value chains. At the same time, our proximity to the companies within Axel Johnson gives us the opportunity to test, evaluate and influence enabling factors for a circular transition. The program area’s focus therefore is on retail and food sectors, with a view to shine the spotlight on the circular materials of the future, circular retail, as well as food waste and biological residual flows. Areas that are particularly interesting in our current work include; plastics, food, textiles, packaging, renewable and bio-based raw materials and electronics.

Circular economy is based on renewable, recyclable or recycled resources.

“A circular economy requires that we end our dependence on virgin fossil-based raw materials, breaking the relationship between economic growth and resource extraction.” – Hanna Skoog, Program Director Circular Economy

Results

In Axfoundation’s Progress Report – Act to inspire & inspire to act – we share an extract of successful results from the program, but also examples of times when things didn’t go quite as planned. Because to innovate sustainable solutions and achieve transformative change, we need to have courage to fail.