For countries like the Netherlands and Germany, it falls even earlier, currently in early May! We are depleting our planetary resources and piling up a debt that may become impossible for our children and the following generations to carry or ever repay.
To break this destructive pattern, we need to find and scale responsible ways to use energy and materials. Implementing circular economic models at scale are an essential part of this. Especially if we are serious about achieving ambitious targets, such as the European Union’s plan to have a 100% circular economy by 2050.
It makes me hopeful to see the growing awareness and understanding of this pressing need. And to see that it is being acted upon, within industry, but also in society at large – by consumers, governments and investors. At Philips, we see it first-hand: our customers increasingly consider sustainability a key criterion when choosing a vendor.
The road we need to take is clear. It will not be an easy one to travel, but I am confident we can get there – we have the tools and experience to do so. But we also need the resolve to team up and bring circular economy to scale much faster. This means making a big step-up now, in four key areas:
Let me outline how I see this happening, discuss some of the implications it will have, and invite you to join forces with us.
To support companies and organizations implementing circular business models, we urgently need to create the necessary enabling conditions. For example, both consumers and business customers need to be incentivized – and facilitated – to return products through deposit and buy-back schemes, and adequate collection and processing networks.
All actors have a role to play in helping create this enabling environment:
Looking beyond our own organization, the systemic change needed to scale circular innovation globally can only be realized by likeminded partners, from both the public and private sectors, joining forces.
Across industry and society, new ‘ecosystems of collaboration’ need to be forged – between businesses, governments, financial institutions, civil society organizations, and others – if we are to generate the necessary critical mass to make the leap to a circular future.
This is why, among others, the Capital Equipment Coalition, as part of PACE – the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy – was launched. I wholeheartedly welcome PACE’s recent publication of the Circular Economy Action Agenda for Capital Equipment – an aligned set of actions to drive scale in 2021 and remove critical barriers to accelerate the circular economy.
Join us on the journey
Circularity is not an end in itself. For Philips, it is a tool for us to help create resilient and sustainable healthcare systems, drive business growth, and help meet global targets to combat climate change through the responsible use of energy and materials.
Believing that action speaks louder than words, we’ve set ourselves a number of challenging targets. By 2025, we aim to:
We can only achieve these goals by working together with others in our ecosystem – care providers, practitioners, knowledge partners, and suppliers. We believe it is vital to share success stories and learnings to show it can be done – so I would be delighted to hear how you see the road to a circular economy, where you see opportunities, and learn about your insights.
* either refurbished at Philips, or locally recycled in line with Philips policies
** including non-manufacturing sites, such as large offices, warehouses and R&D facilities
Philips Global Head of Sustainability
Mr. Metzke leads Philips’ activities in Sustainability where he drives the company’s strategy towards innovative, sustainable business models and embedding sustainable and circular ways of working across Philips.
In particular, Robert and his team are leading all activities with regards to Philips' environmental responsibility, with a focus on climate action, circular economy and expanding access to healthcare in underserved communities, as part of Philips overall purpose to improve people's health and well-being. Before joining Philips, Mr. Metzke worked at McKinsey & Company as a consultant where he gained 5 years of experience in strategy and innovation in the high-tech, healthcare and public sectors. Mr. Metzke has a background in journalism, science publishing (Science/ AAAS) and academic research (physics). He is married, has three children and lives in the Netherlands.
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