What is the Circular Economy?

In contrast to the "take-make-waste" linear model, the circular economy model is restorative and regenerative. As defined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, it represents a new systems approach for companies based on three principles: eliminate waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems.

Circularity in Action

It's time for real results. When you embrace the 3DEXPERIENCE®, you take a huge, meaningful step toward the circular economy you've been envisioning.

Battery Traceability: Sustainability's Game Changer
Discover the pivotal role of battery traceability in shaping a low-carbon future with the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform.
Recycling Plastics Isn’t Happening: Here’s How To Start
Our modern life relies on plastic and recycling it, is a challenge. But digital solutions can give you visibility and flexibility you need to build truly sustainable plastic value chains.
Optimize Product Durability to Transcend Take, Make and Waste
Durable products and parts last for life. Discover how to extend the product lifecycle with data analytics and transition from a linear to a circular economy.
Green Logistics: Turn Last Mile Delivery Challenges Into Opportunities
Solve the challenges of last mile delivery and make low-carbon logistics a reality. It’s possible with advanced planning solutions on a digital platform.
Design for Disassembly in the Age of Circularity
Design for disassembly, a practice embraced by product developers, plays a crucial role in fostering a circular economy. By dismantling and repurposing original components, whether within the same product or an entirely new one, substantial environmental advantages can be achieved.
Powering Smarter Battery Recycling With Digitalization
Sustain the electric vehicle boom by scaling up cost-effective and durable battery recycling with virtual twin technology on a unified platform.
Made to Last with Better Waste Reduction
Digitalization keeps waste-reduced products in the loop and unlocks long-term revenue streams in the transition towards the circular economy.

What Does it Mean for Your Business?

Circular economy practices mean rethinking how organizations operate within their environment and value chain ecosystem. It requires embracing bold new business models, based around eco-design and product reusability. It means striving to eliminate waste from your operations in all its forms, from minimizing power use and chemical products, to making sure products are designed to have long lives. And it means integrating disassembly considerations into a product's design stage to support its reuse.

The Challenges of Circular Economy

The circular economy offers a radical new approach to business-as-usual. But as with any radical approach, it means grappling with existing legacy structures and processes. Many current production operations are based on the “take-make-waste” model. Circular economy solutions mean rethinking operations from the ground up, and that means you need a full view of your operations and a way to simulate a new model before making the physical changes to your business.

Real-World Results, As Told by Our Customers

Read how our customers have used Dassault Systèmes’ solutions to integrate circular economic principles into their operations.

AMF
Italian fashion accessories supplier AMF needed a technology platform to deliver transparency across the product lifecycle and streamline the creative process to make its own processes more efficient and environmentally friendly. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform on cloud and its Perfect Consumer Product solution help AMF to improve internal collaboration and work more effectively with its high-fashion clients to bring new ideas to life.
Amcor Rigid Packaging
Leading container manufacturer Amcor Rigid Packaging is continually looking for ways to reduce the amount of material used in beverage containers while keeping them strong and cost-effective to produce.
Amy's Kitchen
Sustainable supply chain planning for food production on a global level.
METSÄ BOARD
Paperboard producer Metsä Board leverages the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to improve the functionality, recyclability and brand impact of its customers’ packaging solutions, maximizing product performance while minimizing both carbon footprint and costs.

Solutions for a Circular Economy

 

Creating a framework where circular economy practices can grow and thrive can be achieved in a number of ways:

Adopt Eco-Design Practices

Implementing eco-design practices involves looking beyond conventional boundaries and utilizing lifecycle assessment techniques to comprehensively track the environmental impact of products throughout their entire life cycle. This approach involves engaging the entire supply chain, from raw material sourcing to product disposal, to identify areas for improvement and minimize environmental impacts at every stage.

Design for Recyclability

Designing products with recyclability in mind from the outset ensures that end-of-life considerations are integrated into the design process. By understanding how a product can be disassembled and its components reused or recycled, designers can create products that are inherently ready-made for circularity. This approach not only facilitates the recycling process but also reduces the energy and resources required for remanufacturing or reprocessing materials.

Explore New Materials

Continuous research into sustainable materials and bioplastics plays a crucial role in developing a greener product lifecycle. By identifying and utilizing materials that are renewable, biodegradable, or sourced responsibly, businesses can reduce their reliance on finite resources and minimize environmental harm. The adoption of innovative materials can also lead to new opportunities for circular product designs and foster more sustainable consumption patterns.

The Benefits of Dassault Systèmes’ Technologies

Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE® platform can provide organizations with the solutions they need to establish the holistic view of production chains necessary for transitioning to circular economy practices.

Dare to create bold new business models > Dassault Systèmes®

Dare to create bold new business models

Eco-design, develop and simulate new products; taking into account their manufacture, maintenance and end-of-life for a service economy.

Strive to eliminate waste > Dassault Systèmes®

Strive to eliminate waste

Optimize the use of materials to their pure functional needs while maintaining the manufacturability, testing and development of new materials.

Design for the 3Rs > Dassault Systèmes®

Design for the 3Rs

Integrate the disassembly process directly into product development and manufacturing engineering.

Making a Positive Impact on Society

Discover Related Challenges

Decarbonization

Rethink how your operate across your entire value chain to reduce your carbon footprint.

Energy Use

How to move to a next-generation energy landscape to reduce your energy use footprint.

Sustainable Production

Achieve low-carbon production and reduce pollution and energy consumption by implementing sustainable solutions throughout your operations and your supply chain.

FAQ About Circular Economy Sustainability