Norwegian Center of Circular Economy

SRL 6 - solution(s) demonstrated in relevant environment and in co‐operation with relevant stakeholders to gain initial feedback on potential impact

Norwegian Center of Circular Economy

A development center for industry, business and public enterprises, which sees business opportunities in the circular economy and the green shift.

Fredrikstad, Viken, Norway

ORGANISATION / PARTNERS

Norwegian Center of Circular Economy

BUSINESS MODEL

SCALE: National

Stakeholder:

Knowledge SectorPrivate SectorPublic Sector

Type:

B2B - Business to Business

BUSINESS MODEL FORMAT:

Product Type(s):

FACET & LEVEL

FACET:

AgricultureBuilt EnvironmentEducationEnergyMaterial FlowsNetworks & HubsRecyclingRemanufacturingSupply ChainWaste Management

LEVEL:

Meso - Network, Cluster & Eco-Industrial Parks

Network, Cluster & Eco-Industrial Parks

SOCIETAL READINESS LEVEL & POTENTIAL

FUTURE POTENTIAL

ScaleableReplicableNetworkable

SOCIETAL READINESS LEVEL

SRL 6 - solution(s) demonstrated in relevant environment and in co‐operation with relevant stakeholders to gain initial feedback on potential impact

SRL 6 - solution(s) demonstrated in relevant environment and in co‐operation with relevant stakeholders to gain initial feedback on potential impact

CIRCULAR CYCLE PHASE

STATUS & TIMELINE

Milestone title	Date	content
Start	09/2016	In 2016, the Gjenvinning Østfold and Borg Plast-Net Networks, with their 45 member companies, joined forces for a preliminary project to map the needs and opportunities for establishing a national center for circular economy. Fredrikstad Municipality and Østfold County Municipality supported the project and the establishment of the Norwegian Center for Circular Economy was a fact.

DESCRIPTION

TITLE: Norwegian Center of Circular Economy

CONCEPT: A development center for industry, business and public enterprises, which sees business opportunities in the circular economy and the green shift.

Together we create green competitiveness
The Norwegian Center for Circular Economy works with the opportunities that lie in further developing circular economy in practice for and between companies. Development of new business areas and utilization of waste products or residual products are work tasks the center works with. The combination of a strong professional environment and collaboration with the most important research environments in Norway and abroad gives users of the center a great opportunity to develop their own business with changed / new products and possible new business areas based on the green shift and the circular economy.

The Norwegian Center for Circular Economy is for companies that, through projects based on the green shift, create innovation and profitability.

NEW – USEFUL – UTILIZED

This is the basis for the center’s commitment to innovation. The center works with the development of residual products and other types of recyclable products to be used as a replacement for more resource-intensive raw materials / products. This can result in new products being created. The process will also give its assessment of how useful a new development is and not least how a new development can be utilized.

The interaction between the advisory service and the test laboratory will be able to provide the necessary basis for increased innovation.

LOCAL LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION: Norsk

Sammen skaper vi grønn konkurransekraft
Norsk Senter for Sirkulær Økonomi arbeider med de muligheter det ligger i å videreutvikle sirkulær økonomi i praksis for og mellom virksomheter. Utvikling av nye forretningsområder og utnyttelse av avfallsprodukter eller restprodukter er arbeidsoppgaver senteret arbeider med. Kombinasjonen av et sterkt faglig miljø og samarbeid med de viktigste forskningsmiljøer i Norge og utlandet gir brukere av senteret stor mulighet for å utvikle sin egen virksomhet med endrede/nye produkter og mulig nye forretningsområder basert på det grønne skiftet og den sirkulære økonomi.

Norsk Senter for Sirkulær Økonomi er for virksomheter som gjennom prosjekter basert på det grønne skiftet, skaper innovasjon og lønnsomhet.

NYTT – NYTTIG – NYTTIGGJORT
Dette er grunnlaget for senterets satsing på innovasjon. Senteret arbeider med utvikling av restprodukter og andre typer resirkulerbare produkter til å kunne brukes som erstatning for mer ressurskrevende råstoffer/produkter. Dette kan resultere i at nye produkter skapes. Prosessen vil også gi sin vurdering av hvor nyttig en nyutvikling er og ikke minst hvordan en nyutvikling vil kunne nyttiggjøres.

Samspillet mellom rådgivningstjenesten og testlaboratoriet vil kunne gi det nødvendige grunnlaget for økt innovasjon.

IMPACT

BARRIERS

CULTURAL
- Company/community culture
- Limited understanding on impacts
- Willingness to collaborate in the value chain
- Operating in a linear system
- Change of mindset
- Shareholder concerns dominate corporate governance
SOCIAL
- Lack of awareness
- Lack of sense of urgency
- Lack of community connection
TECHNOLOGICAL
- Circular design
- Ability to deliver high quality remanufactured products
- Too few large scale projects
- Inability to reach 100% recycling
- Strategy to extend product service life
- Geographic dispersion of supply chains
- Geographic dispersion of products/materials
- Regional service economy infrastructure
- Complexity of the materials to be recycled
REGULATORY
- Limited Circular Procurement
- Government incentive support the linear economy
- Circularity is not efficiently integrated into innovation policies
- Recycling policies are not efficient enough to yield high quality
- Governance issues related to responsibility and property
- Absence of consistently applied standards and protocols
MARKET
- Technology and infrastructure path dependency & lock-in
- High upfront investment costs
- High planning and management costs
- Limited funding
- Low virgin material prices
- International and geopolitical competition
- Limited reverse logistics capacity
- Traceability/transparency in the value chain
- Demand for low prices
- Complementary skills/services required
- Dependencies on natural capital
- Lack of fiscal tools for internalizing environmental costs

ENABLERS

SOCIAL
- Stronger personal connections
- Shared norms, values, attitudes, and beliefs
CULTURAL
- Integration of the CE concept into training and educational programs
- A creative and skilled problem-solving resource
MARKET
- Need for a long-term vision by businesses
- Knowledge of impact
- Competitive advantage for early adopters
- Functional service economy (XaaS)
- Digital infrastructure
- Valuing the services, not only the products - provided by nature
- New alliances and collaborations
TECHNOLOGICAL
- Increased resource productivity, cost reductions
- Increased environmental performance
- Increased efficiency
- Better waste processing
- Higher quality of recycled materials
- Digital technologies and engineering to support business models
- Biomimicry innovation - emulating natures strategies
REGULATORY
- Green & Circular Procurement
- Foster the development of new technologies with the support of public authorities
- Assess progress using reliable indicators for imports and local production while accounting for the life cycles of products
- Use of circular performance indicators by governments, investors and businesses can encourage the value chain to become more circular
- Investment in education and employment services to prepare the market for the next economy
- Promote public-private partnerships to better counter and lift political barriers