The world is currently only 6.9% circular. That means 93% of all raw materials used lose their value after one life cycle. This painful reality is known as the Circularity Gap: the gap between our current linear economy and onein which raw materials circulate rather than disappear. The good news? That gap can be closed. The not so good news: no one can do it alone. Chain cooperation is no longer a nice-to-have, but an absolute prerequisite.
What is chain cooperation?
Chain cooperation means that organizations actively work together with other links in their chain from raw material suppliers and producers to logistics partners, customers and waste processors. Not each optimizing for themselves, but together taking responsibility for materials and raw materials throughout their life cycle.
Chain cooperation can be seen as a form of supply chain collaboration, but with a broader, circular focus. While traditional supply chain collaboration primarily aims at efficiency and cost optimization, chain cooperation emphasizes shared responsibility for materials across the entire life cycle, including design, reuse and end-of-life.
Instead of thinking in terms of "procurement" and "waste," the focus shifts to resource flows, reuse and value retention. This requires transparency, sharing data and making joint agreements. So chain cooperation is not just about working together, but about working together differently.
That may sound abstract, but in practice it means that design, use and end-of-life are not approached separately. That is precisely where chain cooperation shows its value.
A practical example of chain cooperation
A concrete example of chain cooperation can be found in the carpet industry. A producer of modular carpet tiles has been working for years with suppliers, customers and recycling partners to make carpet truly circular. Together with chain partners, Interface developed a take-back program in which old carpet tiles are collected, separated and processed into new raw materials for new carpet products.
That collaboration goes beyond logistics. Suppliers provide yarns designed for recycling, processors invest in technology to separate materials at high quality, and customers agree on end-of-life return flows. This chain-wide approach allowed Interface to greatly increase the proportion of recycled and biobased materials in its products and reduce dependence on virgin raw materials.
This example shows that chain collaboration is not an abstract concept, but a practical way to make circularity scalable. It is only when design, production, use and end-of-life are aligned that real impact is created.
Why is chain collaboration indispensable to closing the Circularity Gap?
The Circularity Gap occurs precisely where chains do not connect. Where designers do not take reuse into account, where producers have no insight into what happens to materials after use, and where waste streams are too fragmented to enable high-quality recycling.
No single organization has a grip on the full life cycle of raw materials. Through chain cooperation, those loose links can be connected. Together, scale is created, innovations become profitable and circularity can be embedded in daily business processes. Without cooperation, circular initiatives often remain stuck in pilots; with cooperation they can grow into structural solutions.
The challenges and opportunities of chain cooperation
Chain cooperation is not easy. Different interests, contract forms, legislation and a lack of transparency make it complex. Regulation around end-of-waste status is a good example. According to the European Waste Framework Directive, a material stream remains officially waste until it meets specific criteria to be considered a product or raw material. As long as a residual stream is legally considered waste, stricter transportation, registration and environmental requirements apply, which can make reuse difficult.
These regulations come into play beforehand, during the transition from waste stream to raw material, during transport and processing, and even afterwards, when materials are reused. So it is both a challenge and a framework at the same time: it protects people and the environment, but can slow down innovation. Chain collaboration helps companies navigate this: through joint agreements on quality, traceability, data sharing and pilots, they can effectively comply with legislation while taking circular steps.
At the same time, there are huge opportunities here. Companies that invest in cooperation now are building future-proof chains, strengthening their security of supply, reducing dependence on primary raw materials and complying better with increasingly stringent laws and regulations.
Moreover, there is room for innovation, new revenue models and long-term partnerships.
How do you really get chain cooperation off the ground?
Chain cooperation does not start with a large program, but with targeted choices. These three steps help organizations move from ambition to action:
- Map your resource flows
You can only work together if you know what you are talking about. What raw materials do you use, where do they come from and what happens to them after use? Understanding volumes, composition and residual flows is the basis for any discussion with supply chain partners. Transparency here is not a risk, but an accelerator. - Actively seek cooperation in the chain
Don't wait for others to take the initiative. Engage with suppliers, customers and processors and set common goals. Where are opportunities for reuse, recycling or return flows? By collaborating early, you avoid suboptimal solutions and create scale. - Start small, but think big
Successful chain cooperation often comes about through pilots. Choose one material flow or product group and experiment together. Measure the impact, learn from what works (and what doesn't) and then scale up. This way, step by step, circularity becomes part of daily practice.
What does this require of an organization? Guts to let go of existing practices, commitment from the top and a long breath. But the reward is great: more grip on raw materials, future-proof chains and a concrete contribution to closing the Circularity Gap.
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