Introduction

This circular economy procurement framework was created by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to help companies kickstart circular economy initiatives within their procurement process.

The circular economy is based on three principles: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use at the highest possible value, and regenerating natural systems.

Businesses sit at the heart of the transition from a linear to a circular economy. Some of the most successful circular companies are those that adopt a diverse set of features that help to enable the transition, such as embedding circular economy principles into the heart of corporate strategy, making circular economy understanding part of internal capacity building programmes, adapting systems and processes across all business functions, committing to circular innovation, and promoting circular initiatives within the supply chain.

The circular procurement framework provides an overview of the intervention points organisations can use to make their purchasing choices more circular and engage their suppliers in circular economy conversations and collaborative circular partnerships.

The top-level guidelines outlined in this resource will have to be adapted in each individual business and may look different depending on the industry, sector, company, geography, and other factors.

The content of this resource has been created with contributions from PA Consulting as well as Essity, H&M Group, Novo Nordisk, Tarkett, and Virginia Tech.