Not Sustainability.
Not Engineering.
Not Sales.
At first glance, circularity looks like a technical challenge.
Better materials.
Better design.
Better recycling technologies.
Better reverse logistics.
So we naturally assign it to the sustainability or technical experts.
But here’s what I’ve observed:
Circularity rarely fails because the technology isn’t ready.
It fails because the organisation isn’t ready to change.
- Procurement optimises purchase price.
- Product Development optimises specs for quality and cost, not repairability.
- Sales optimises new product sales.
- Finance optimises a linear business case.
None of them are doing anything wrong.
The problem is that the organisation was designed for a linear economy.
I’ve seen circular concepts with enormous potential emerge from workshops.
The ideas were technically sound.
People left genuinely enthusiastic.
Then everyone returned to their daily business.
And a few months later, nothing had changed.
Not because the concept was wrong.
Because the organisation wasn’t prepared to adopt it.
That’s why I believe every circular pilot is less a technology project than a change project.
The real question isn’t:
“Is the technology ready?”
It’s:
“Is the organisation ready?”
And until someone owns that transformation — the change itself, not just the technology — even the best circular ideas remain exactly that:
Pilot projects.
Where have your circular initiatives encountered the biggest resistance: the technology, or the organisation?