The winners of tomorrow’s Circular Economy adapt today

Have you ever wondered what the future will bring — whether we can still achieve our goals as a nation or as the EU, whether the CSDDD will be adopted, what an EU supply chain law means for a company, or whether it’s worth the effort? Legal requirements will come one way or another, affecting you, your company, our economy, and households. Whether these are distractions or frameworks, only those companies that act with foresight and sustainability will succeed.

Let’s take the example of resources and their current shortages. Around 90% of the waste generated in Austria comes from businesses (excluding excavation from construction sites and mining, it’s around 80%). Our experience often shows that companies are usually aware of the key figures and the underlying internal waste quantities (see waste management concept). However, few companies explore the potential behind them.

For instance, consider how many films you bring into the company with your incoming products, what happens to them, for example, which container they end up in. Often, questions arise quickly about the waste hierarchy: Can I persuade the supplier to omit or replace the films? Have license fees been paid for any packaging, and is free collection to be demanded, or does something need to be changed about the product? Often, companies don’t know what waste disposal companies do with their corporate waste. Checking the box for “recycling” is enough (even if it’s occasionally filled out manually because it was forgotten before). However, companies should be interested because on average, around 30% of costs can be saved here.

Those willing to take responsibility for their corporate waste, by-products, or secondary raw materials can not only sleep with a clear conscience but often also make financial profit. Recyclers and processors are usually willing to offer free collection for good qualities or even pay the material value. Procuring secondary raw materials is already a challenge for many companies. Manufacturing companies aim to build individual supply chains or supply chains of secondary raw materials that are compliant with the law, robust, and difficult to disrupt or copy to be crisis-proof in the future.

The strategy for the future is being built now. International companies such as…