From jewelry to food waste, companies focus on the circular economy

From jewelry and clothes to food waste, an increasing number of sectors focus on working as part of the “circular economy”, with the aim of lower waste – and reaping the financial benefits in this process.

It can mean the high cost of raw materials and the movement to reduce carbon emissions in this way “decisive”, according to Coldman Sachs, who said that the global economy can benefit up to up to up to up to up to up to up to up to up to up to up to up to up 4.5 trillion dollars by 2030.

In simple phrases, the circular economy indicates, repair or recycling products, while maintaining waste to a minimum. The transition is far from the linear model of “Take-Make-LASTE”, according to Ellen Mac Arthur FoundationCharitable institution looking and strengthening the circular economy.

“The circular economy is not related to gradually small changes to our current system – it is about to transfer the way the entire system operates,” said the Foundation's executive, Rinira Odonel, in an email to CNBC.

She added: “The circular economy follows three principles driven by design – eliminating waste and pollution; distribution of products and materials at the highest value, and renew their nature.”

For example, the Chinese company Deartree buys and renovates office furniture, then sells or rented it to companies such as Microsoft, TENCENT and Starbucks. Meanwhile, the Dutch company De Clique collects food waste such as coffee and sell them to companies that make them in new products.

Even cities aim to become “completely circular” Glasgow Pledge to do this by 2045 and Amsterdam By 2050.

Working in this way can mean a transformation in the mentality. American jewelry company Sonalore says It “shakes” the industry by running an unusual business model: you will buy pieces of customers when they no longer want them, ensuring that the market price is paid for gold minus 15 % fees.

For Nidhi Singhvi, co-founder of the company and CEO, this type of models works better for high-value products-thought of luxury watches or cars. She told CNBC via email: “Successful business models in the circular economy depend on three components: valuable assets, transparent prices or (a) the fair price determined by demand and supply forces, and effective mechanisms to resell them.”

“They are deeply interested in sustainability,” said Singvy, who lives in California. She said: “They dig deeper and ask questions about the sources and chain of supply, and weigh the environmental impact of what they buy.”

In addition, the millennial generation is less richer than their parents, and thus believes “more like investors” when shopping, taking into account the value of reselling clothes and accessories. In fact, the used clothing market is scheduled to reach 350 billion dollars worldwide by 2028, an increase of 264 billion dollars this year and increasing three times more than three times than the clothing market in general, According to a report issued by the fashion reselling site.

The manufacturer is based in Singapore SMC CorporationWhich makes industrial equipment and focuses on products that reduce emissions and raw materials, on the Goldman menu for the classified “high -quality” circular economics companies. Also in the list is a Chinese company LenovoWhile “the best comprehensive circular empowerment factors” included an American company Waste management And the French company Veolia.

“The circular economy is crucial to resolving a low -carbon economy and the loss of biological diversity, which is increasingly recognized by investors, companies and politicians,” analysts in Goldman stated.

In fact, many European Union regulations impose a circular in the design of products and the European Union Work plans Targeting things such as plastic materials, textiles and food waste.

Food waste is “market failure” and “environmental failure”, according to the 2024 United Nations Environment Program Food waste index reportWith 1 billion meals that are lost globally every day. Meanwhile, more than 700 million people were affected by hunger every day, according to the United Nations report.

The great challenge to redesign food in Ellen Mac Arter aims to address this issue. The group is scheduled to announce the details of the food products that have been in line with the principles of the circular economy, while taking things like biological diversity and the use of water in mind.

“For the moment, the way our food is designed to bow to nature to produce food, but we can make different design decisions so that food can be designed to flourish nature,” said Odonil.

It is a topic that was close to the heart of the food security specialist Matthew Tan for more than two decades. “If you see what the poor land, well, over the past hundred years, you will agree with me that if we do not start looking at this session of the economy and the way we do cultivation, it will not be so to look really bright, Tan told CNBC via Video call.

Tan is participating in many Singapore agricultural technology companies that aim to sustained food production, including Kosmodehealth, which extracts protein from barley consumed pills to make pasta.

In Singapore, the government expands its requirements to disclose sustainability, with Delegate the stock exchange in Singapore The financial, agricultural and energy industries have reports on their climatic policies and goals since 2024. This year, construction and transportation sectors are also included.

Tan said that investors are asking more questions about climate disclosure, adding that he expects a “transformation” in the money market towards sustainability.

Tan said: “The value of the bonds, especially those related to sustainability, will take the front stage. It will become more important.”

As for the leadership of the jewelry, the circular models can be applied to multiple industries. She said: “Here is what arouses me as a founder: We already know that these models are working. The real challenge and the opportunity is to bring this thinking to traditionally dark industries through technology and transparency.”