Logistics: the missing link in rolling out circular business models
Transitioning to a circular economy is vital for sustainability, prompting the reevaluation of business models and supply chains in Amsterdam. While the technical aspects of circular business models exist, the practicalities of product reuse and material recycling operations are daunting. The LogiCELL project tackles the logistical challenges, employing the Living Lab methodology to address the shortcomings bringing the theory into practice.
Eight pioneering living labs
LogiCELL commences with an initial eight field labs that enlist organizations in the public and private sector. Together, the collaboration explores how to expedite circular initiatives in the real world. That included shifting from single-use to reusable plastic service items, circular organic waste processes, mattress reuse and recycling, saving discarded solar panels for reuse, coordinating return logistics, optimizing a coffee waste recycling plant, organizing waste and material collection, and pooling reusable packaging such as crates.
Lessons learned, and policy insights
Participative research like this directly benefits the government agencies, reuse and recycling centers, and businesses that join the project and yields broader insights with policy implications. LogiCELL gleaned more information on how to organize circular networks and plan logistics operations for the better. The initial eight field labs are frontrunners for additional real-world logistics solutions for circular initiatives in Amsterdam and beyond.