I was very pleased to participate in the Middle East Gulf Intelligence panel discussion chaired by Michelle Meineke, director at Energy Transitions Dialogues on August 25.

Net zero product discovery

Today's Linear Economy - starting with a hole in the ground in Africa; moving materials to China; manufacture of goods; moving those goods to foreign markets; using *once*; moving the waste...sometimes vast distances...finishing in another hole in the ground - just isn't going to make economic sense in a world where the carbon cost is counted.

The Circular Economy aims to keep those goods and materials circulating through multiple exchanges of economic value. Think of refilling bottles or packaging several times before recycling the glass into new products. So far, so 19th century...

Where I think the technologies of the 21st century are going to differentiate is in the delivery of customer benefits and market intelligence. Today's connectivity enables the delivery of uniquely bespoke services, way beyond the simple provision of product. The most agile companies to seize this opportunity will secure market share and build brand loyalty whilst driving raw material cost out of their service provision.

The trends towards servitization, mass customisation and connected localisation can be built upon circular material flows to eliminate economic and environmental costs whilst still delivering customer benefits and defensible, profitable business. It's the ultimate win-win-win.

We barely scratched the surface in this conversation, which was a pleasure to participate in. My thanks to Michelle Meineke, Riad Bestani and Leonidas Theodorou and all at Gulf Intelligence.

Watch the full webinar below: 

 

Author
Nathan Wrench
Commercial Director, Head of Sustainability Innovation

Working with ambitious companies worldwide to transform their businesses. Pursuing new opportunities centered around societal and environmental needs.