Carlos Scheel and Eduardo Aguiñaga offer the conference “Entrepreneurship in circular economy” in the ninth virtual edition of INCmty.

By INSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATION | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

The circular economy seeks to generate comprehensive business models that shift away from the paradigm of linear businesses, even the so-called sustainable ones.

This was the explanation given by EGADE Business School professors, Carlos Scheel and Eduardo Aguiñaga, in their conference “Entrepreneurship in circular economy,” during the INCmty 2021 festival.

The circular economy, Aguiñaga said, is about going far beyond the traditional sustainability strategies of companies and governments, to perceive this concept as a business model oriented towards serving three stakeholders: the planet, people and business.

“They have to be inclusive business models for people, in other words with products that are accessible to everyone, while being environmentally responsible and resilient, but without forgetting the economic viability and competitiveness of the business,” explained the National Director of Full-Time Programs at EGADE Business School.

Among the benefits that the implementation of circular economy models can bring to the world, the professors highlighted:

· Generation of 4.8 million net jobs in 2030 (ILO & ECLAC).

· Post-COVID-19 sustainable reconstruction.

· Production of added value through the use of Industry 4.0 technologies.

· 45% reduction of total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by revaluing waste.

· Savings of 70-90% in new materials used.

Scheel commented that recycling is not circular, but is still a linear model.

“The aim is that a product should never end up as waste, but rather generate added value each time it completes a round in the circular model. To achieve this we must learn to switch from generating products to generating systems,” the emeritus professor added.

The EGADE Business School experts shared four types of circular business models:

1. Business model based on circular product design.

2. Business model based on optimal use.

3. Business models for value and resource recovery.

4. Business models to support circularity.

To explain how to generate a circular model from a linear one, Aguiñaga mentioned the cascading business models, which make it possible to transform one business into several, thereby obtaining multiple cash flows through what was previously waste in the original business.

Scheel brought the talk to an end by listing the four main characteristics of circular entrepreneurs: disruptive innovators, systemic approach, circular economy experts, and generators of nontypical processes.