First self-assessment framework to measure business’ circular performance

WBCSD and 26 companies launch the Circular Transition Indicators, a transparent and objective circularity framework and tool

Davos, Switzerland, 21 January 2020: Today at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launched the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) framework and the accompanying free online tool.

Two years in the making,  the CTI framework has been jointly developed with 26 WBCSD member companies, representing 13 industries, across 13 countries and USD $1.7 trillion in annual turnover, making it truly built for business, by business.

The CTI is a comprehensive framework that complements a company’s existing sustainability efforts and it is applicable to all companies, regardless of their industry, value chain position or geography. It enables companies to take ownership of their circular transition and perform their self-assessment based on their own scope and priorities, in full confidentiality and without sharing data with third parties.

The CTI fills the gap for a universal and consistent way of measuring circularity. It gives companies a common language to use both for internal decision-making and for communicating with external key stakeholders in the supply chain. The CTI framework is completed by an online tool, a software specifically developed in partnership with Circular IQ, for companies to do their own circular assessment.

WBCSD President and CEO Peter Bakker said: This is the first framework and tool that enables companies of all sizes and from all industries to measure their circular performance and take steps to become more circular. Equipped with a common language around circularity provided by the CTI, we urge all companies to tap into their unlocked business opportunities and evolve their circular thinking into mainstream competitive business strategies.

We are proud to be part of WBCSD’s joint initiative to create the CTI, a common framework for business to measure its circular performance. We believe this is a critical step to accelerating the transition to a circular economy, and enabling companies to unlock the trillion-dollar opportunity that a circular world can bring. Gary Reader, Global Head of Clients & Markets, KPMG International. KPMG in the Netherlands was a development partner in the CTI framework.

The transition towards a circular economy requires collaboration across value chains, industries and sectors. To ensure we’re making progress in our circular aspirations, it’s essential for business to speak the same language. The CTI provides companies with qualified insights into their status as they adopt circular business practices and ultimately seize circular business opportunities and address current and future linear risks facing the business. Feike Sijbesma, CEO, ROYAL DSM and chair of the Circular Metrics workstream at WBCSD.

Circular Transition Indicators Working Group

AkzoNobel, Aptar, ArcelorMittal, CRH, DSM, DOW, GREIF, IFF, KPMG, Microsoft, Michelin, Novartis, Philips, PwC, Rabobank, Sabic, Siam Cement Group Thailand, Shell, Sims Metal Management, Solvay, StoraEnso, SUEZ, Veolia, Whirlpool

Circular Transition Indicators Advisory Group

CIRAIG, Circle Economy, Cradle to Cradle Innovation Institute, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, GRI, MVO Nederland, PACE, Sitra