RT Report
T1 The Role of Business in Moving from Linear to Circular Economies - GEO for Business Brief No. 2
A1 United Nations Environment Programme, 
A2 Swannell, Richard
A2 de Wit, Marc
A2 Faúndez, Alex Godoy
A2 Liu, Lerwen
A2 James, Keith
A2 Nordin, Malin
A2 Holmberg, Lotta
A2 Verstraeten-Jochemsen, Jacco
K1 circular economy
K1 consumer education
K1 business enterprise
K1 sustainable consumption
K1 value chain
K1 cost effectiveness
K1 risk management
K1 innovation
K1 food resource
K1 sustainable agriculture
K1 food production
K1 food waste
K1 food loss
K1 market
K1 recycling
K1 technology
K1 construction industry
SN 978-92-807-3885-8
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/36830
UL https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/36830
NO The analysis presented in this brief shows there is a need for businesses to act, rather than continuing to assume that old business models will remain profitable. Crucial to transforming the global economy towards full circularity is an understanding of how it can be achieved while still maintaining business value. This brief first examines the mass-value-carbon and value chain approaches, before considering sectors that have shown promise in transforming towards circularity. These includes key opportunities within food systems, the electronics value chain and the construction value chain, though examples also exist within many other sectors.
DS UN Environment Document Repository
RD Sep 21, 2026