Value Thinking

Recognizing moments of value destruction in a linear chain offers starting points for turning them into circular business opportunities. To do so, however, you need a better understanding of value, value retention and value creation. After all, value can be defined in different ways. Economic, technical, ecological or social. In a linear economy, economic value is the main focus. On the contrary, the circular economy pursues multiple value creation. It is therefore essential to think about the total impact and value of products, components and materials. But also about how that value is utilized and distributed in the chain.

Value can be approached in many ways. Financial value is important for developing an attractive business case. That's where new concrete questions arise in a circular context. For example, how do you establish the value of a used product? How do you monitor and optimize that value during use as a provider? And how do you divide the added value between partners in a chain?

It gets a little more abstract when you want to measure ecological value. Is that mainly about CO2 emissions? About all the (negative) external environmental and health effects? Or social. What is the value of a workplace for someone distant from the labor market? Or the value of making a product accessible to people in poverty?

Knowledge in all of these areas is still very much in development, but in this category you will find starting points for both practical and more fundamental topics.