De World Economic Forum’s Community van Young Global Leaders heeft, in samenwerking met Accenture, de prijzen voor The Circulars uitgereikt tijdens de Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. De awards belonen individuen en organisaties die opvallende bijdragen hebben geleverd aan de circulaire economie. Met Feike Sijbesma (CEO DSM), Philips en DLL zijn er maar liefst drie Nederlandse winnaars.
De tweede editie van deze jaarlijkse circulaires prijsuitreiking toont initiatieven uit de private sector, de publieke sector en het maatschappelijk middenveld die innovatie en groei bewerkstelligen, gelijk met het verminderen van de afhankelijkheid van schaarse natuurlijke hulpbronnen.
De acht awards werden als volgt toegekend:
The Fortune Award for Circular Economy Leadership (joint award): Feike Sijbesma, CEO, Royal DSM, who has led DSM’s circular economy strategy. DSM has spearheaded research into fossil fuel substitutes. Also awarded to Professor Dajian Zhu, Director of Institute Governance for Sustainable Development, Tongji University, Shanghai, for shifting the attitudes of business and policy leaders on circular economy eco-design models throughout China.
The Accenture Award for Circular Economy Multinational (joint award): Royal Philips, for pursuit of circular economy models in healthcare and lighting and for developing a circular sales criteria that is due to start in 2020. Also awarded to Veolia: for using circular strategies for re-manufacturing, prolonging product lifecycles, wastewater recycling and energy efficiency.
The Ecolab Award for Circular Economy Enterprise: Optoro, for designing high quality reverse logistics solution which changes the way retailers view their distressed inventory; rather than seeing it as waste or a liability, the company’s circular-focused software helps present it as a source of value.
The Young Global Leaders Award for Circular Economy Entrepreneur: LanzaTech, the clean tech solutions provider produces commercially successful durable materials from low-carbon fuels and chemical recycling.
The Award for Circular Economy Government, Cities and Regions: OVAM Flanders’ Materials Programme, describing itself as a ‘network of networks’, has conducted intensive research and created circular economy packages to help public and private organizations adopt circular procurement models.
The Alliance Trust Award for Circular Economy Investor: DLL Financial Solutions, provides equipment financing and leasing to extend the lifecycle of technical assets.
The BT Award for Digital Disruptor: Materials Marketplace, a collaboration led by the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and Corporate Eco Forum, created a cloud based collaborative platform with global partners to track and exchange undervalued materials among multinationals and large SMEs.
The People’s Choice Circular Economy Award: Canon. The first company to implement a closed loop recycling system for printer cartridges in 1992. Canon has extended its global toner recycling program to 24 countries.
Het onderwerp circulaire economie is ook zwaar vertegenwoordigd op het officiële Davos programma van dit jaar. Wereldleiders zullen samenkomen in verschillende sessies om te bespreken hoe ze kunnen samenwerken bij de quantum economische verschuiving die nodig is om de overgang naar een circulaire economie tot stand te brengen.