“But, internally driving these are not enough”
“We need to also purchase solutions that actively drive these!”
If you’re actively trying to procure solutions that decarbonise your supply chain and enable circular economy, chances are you’ve hit this wall and these conversations are not new to you.
Either you’ve been part of it or or watched someone else slam into it.
So what’s going on? Are alternatives for a circular economy really that rare, overpriced, or underdeveloped?
Not exactly.
The problem isn’t a lack of ambition from procurement teams. The problem is that the way we’ve always bought things actively discourages the kind of innovation we now desperately need.
Here’s the cycle that keeps repeating:
– Specifications describe yesterday’s solutions, so suppliers deliver exactly that.
– Without a clear signal of demand, suppliers have zero incentive to develop something new.
– Evaluation criteria default to lowest cost and lowest risk, which almost always means the most linear, least option for a circular economy wins.
The result? A frustrating deadend.
Buyers throw up their hands: “The market isn’t ready.”
Suppliers shrug their shoulders: “No one’s actually asking for this.”
Both sides are waiting for the other to move first and nothing changes.
