Moves made to investigate legal barriers to circular economy

Dutch thinktank Circle Economy, which provides a business platform for collaboration on the circular economy, is looking to identify the legal barriers that are preventing companies from adopting such models – whether it be directly within in-house operations, or with suppliers and the broader value chain.

These could relate to material and product ownership as new leasing models take flight. For example, how such models translate into customer/consumer contracts and insurance of leased goods.

Financing has also been mooted as a significant challenge, particularly if the ownership of raw materials in an end product is different than the ownership of the product itself.

Circle Economy has teamed up with international law firm Allen & Overy to assess from the business community what the main concerns are, and will select what it feels are the most pressing themes to analyse further.

Speaking to edie, Circle Economy senior project manager Marc de Wit said that one of the main objectives of the initiative was to demystify the legal process as sometimes perceived barriers can be obstacles of a different nature, such as those relating to finance or corporate structure.

“The actual barriers that organisations face differ tremendously,” he said. “We have the ambition to address how laws in different regions may be very different and hence may require different strategies to be overcome”.

Maxine Perella