Retail is where the economy meets everyday life. At its heart, our Retail Mission focuses on transforming the systems that create and deliver goods and services, so that by the time someone walks into a shop or browses online, the circular option is the obvious choice.
When products are designed for durabilitydurabilityThe ability of a product, component or material to remain functional and relevant when used as intended. and repairabilityrepairabilityThe ease with which a product or component can be repaired., when they result in regenerative outcomes, and when sharingsharingThe use of a product by multiple users. It is a practice that retains the highest value of a product by extending its use period. and service models are seamlessly integrated into how we shop, the circular economycircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. will be part of our lives.
The linear system wastes resources and pollutes the environment
The take-make-waste system sends products and materials on a one-way journey to landfill, incineration, or environmental pollution, and that process is wasting money. At the same time, supply chain shocks and disruption are increasing in frequency and severity, forcing retailers to pass on their increased costs to customers.
Retailers, whether in store or online, are the face of our global supply chains and they play a huge role in influencing markets and customer behaviours. With the global middle class growing and set to exceed 4 billion, becoming a global majority, the demand for retail goods has never been higher. Couple that with fragile supply chains and there is a risk of material shortages and price rises, making the urgency of the circular economy transition greater than ever.
The circular economy can reshape retail
Increasing production is not the only way to increase revenue. Circular strategies, such as designing products to last longer or be repaired, building business models to keep products in circulation, replacing physical products with service models, or designing for regenerative outcomes can all help decouple revenue from finite virgin production and resource use. The circular economy can build economic resilience in the face of supply chain disruption, price volatility, and political instability.
Businesses are already changing. Clothing resale businesses are seeing enormous growth and secondhand retailers are staging major runway shows. Established food brands are remaking their food to be better for people and planet. Consumer electronics companies are recapturing value by promoting refurbished products over new. The market is moving, while policy is starting to support circular business models.
Our role
The Retail Mission is an ambitious effort to make sure that circular economy products and services are desirable, accessible, and profitable enough to be the default choice. We will leverage our business and policy network and deep expertise to holistically tackle the systemic barriers to scaling circular solutions.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has over a decade of work on accelerating the transition to a circular economy for retail – from product design and route to market, to marketing and supply chain transformation, to circular business models and enabling regulation. We have a global network and global and regional thought leadership and demonstration projects with circular economy activations across China, Europe, Latin America and North America.
We bring businesses together globally and regionally in ways that would be hard to achieve otherwise, and by doing so, help drive market transformation through insight and collaboration. We have a strong track record of pushing the boundaries for collective policy advocacy and use this model to advocate for the right policies to enable circular retail offerings to be cost-competitive with linear.
