**The challenge**

The family-owned company [THIMM](https://www.thimm.com/en/) is a leading solution provider for the packaging and distribution of consumer goods. As part of a generational change, the challenge was to develop a new corporate identity including strategic planning for organizational, cultural and brand strategy.  

**Strategy**

Customers and employees were surveyed in several parallel working groups and a strategy was developed based on the company's DNA, which envisages the modernization and digitalization of the value chain and THIMM as a sustainable solution provider.  

Furthermore, not only the vision and mission, but the entire corporate identity was redeﬁned and strategic areas of action were planned. In addition to a management and cultural guideline, a new brand strategy was also developed.

THIMM's new brand identity and culture served as the foundation for an analog and digital relaunch campaign, which was communicated and implemented internally and externally throughout Europe. The result was not only a new corporate design, but also the claim **"When simplicity feels good. It's THIMM time".**  


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THIMM - Realignment of the corporate brand and culture

## DIGG vs. EGG

If we are facing a planetary collapse today, this is also due to the usual behavioural patterns in economic life that we do not immediately associate with it. Instead, we cling to them and try to master the planetary challenges with their help, which cannot succeed. We are therefore caught in a paradox.

The cult of leadership, competitive and dominance thinking, scaling mania and much more have made the planetary destruction we are experiencing today possible in the first place. The old patterns are causing us to stumble back into the traps of limited corporate and national interests. Regardless of the planetary discourse, these bad habits continue to be celebrated in the media. It is believed that without them, we cannot achieve change or the transformation that everyone is talking about.

I have already addressed some aspects of this paradox in articles on human functionalism and planetary intelligence. However, hardly anything has changed in terms of harmful behaviour and ways of thinking in recent years. They are deeply rooted in us and we build cults around them, whereas we could have known long ago that they don't work.

I deliberately call the now increasingly dysfunctional patterns of thought and action ‘cults’ here to emphasise their irrational character. By way of illustration, let us imagine a typical aggressive pattern such as that of raw material extraction, which is currently being extended to the deep sea and the Arctic, including Greenland. Highly fragile ecosystems are being targeted as if the destruction of the rainforests, such as the imminent degradation of the Congo Basin or Amazonia into a semi-arid scrubland, had never happened. Not to mention the destruction of the North American and - much earlier - the European primeval forests.

Yes, there are conservation efforts. But there are also major players who believe it is in their legitimate national or commercial interest to disregard them. The fact that there can no longer be national protection without planetary protection is deliberately ignored. This also applies on a smaller scale to urban sprawl, pollution or the destruction of non-human life.

Many continuing undesirable developments have to do with the cult of misbehaviour. Before we look at some of the behaviour and ways of thinking, the question arises as to what a ‘cult’ actually is.

This attribute, which can be found in the word ‘cult film’, for example, actually seems to express recognition - but in fact too much of it. In today's linguistic usage, cult means the exaggerated veneration of someone or something.

There are quite a few of these exaggeratedly revered things, ways of thinking and behaviour in business.

In addition to the cult of growth, the cult of leadership immediately stands out. The prevailing view is that only people who are managed and thus led, i.e. conditionally responsible, can act efficiently at all. And that brings us to the third in the group, the cult of efficiency.

All three are due to an archaic mindset of accumulation and dominance that is deeply rooted in all of us and still determines economic behaviour today. And which I would like to describe using the short form DIG as dominance (suppression of balanced models), ignorance (towards the planet and its population) and greed (archaic addiction to accumulation).
So, ah, like Faust, two souls live in our chest.
It makes sense that the word Faust has a double meaning: in German it stands for rage and rebellion, untamed power and violence. Derived from Latin - (from faustus = happy) - Faust, on the other hand, means the happy one. The name of this tragic hero, who often tries to achieve his happiness through violence, thus refers to the deep inner turmoil of his character.
In order to at least find a balance between DIG and EGG (knowledge, generosity, serenity) and to achieve an EGG world in the long term, we need to recognise and change underlying behaviour and ways of thinking. That's why we take a closer look at some of them here and show new approaches:



**1. The groth and prosperity cult**

So far, he has justified all economic dynamism with two main arguments. Firstly, without growth, capitalism is at an end. And secondly, this economic growth naturally serves to maintain and increase prosperity. Both are questionable from a purely economic point of view. But if we also look at ecological growth and the well-being of nature, this cult is predominantly harmful. All economic activity, even sustainable economic activity, reduces the prosperity of nature. In addition, it generally only increases the prosperity of privileged social subgroups.

**EGG approach:** Prioritisation of natural prosperity, conservation ethics instead of work ethics.





**2. the cult of leadership and decision-making**

Quick decisions are considered the non-plus-ultra in business and society, the pace of change - according to the cult of leadership - must be ever faster through efficient management. Unclear, pending situations are not tolerated. Action is more important than reflection. This shows that the economic logic follows old military principles of attack, conquest and dominance. Modern management methods may disguise this, but structurally, economic activity is still based on the principle of battle. The own-your-project cult is also based on this principle.

 However, appropriating something is not a planetary concept. The planet lives thanks to coexistence, balance, floating states, slow adaptation and long arcs of development. (Where the cult of leadership is taking us is also shown by the authoritarian transformation of democracies, whose balance-orientated nature is currently being destroyed).

**EGG approach:** Allow coexistence, floating states and long development arcs to have equal priority. Vague and floating states are often more planet-friendly than the hands-on behaviour of the decision-maker. Learn ambiguity tolerance and, if necessary, servant leadership.

**3. the cult of the entrepreneur**

It goes so far as to claim that the world would be a better place if everyone acted entrepreneurially. This may seem appealing at first glance, but from the point of view of entrepreneurial ideology, everyone would actively tackle individual problems and thus generate income. There are two fallacies here. Firstly, 70-80% of all business attempts, which we now euphemistically call start-ups, fail. In other words, they mainly cause resource consumption and other planetary costs that have no impact anywhere except in real nature itself, even if they pursue sustainable goals. On the other hand, entrepreneurs are the actors with one of the largest ecological footprints of all. This is due to the cult of scaling. Every economically interesting idea, however questionable it may be for the planet, is scaled to the extreme because this is the only way to justify investment.

**EGG approach:** Categorising entrepreneurial activity in a planetary context can also mean doing less. Those who take action generally create a much larger footprint than others who take a more reflective approach to their environment and the world. Prioritising companies and initiatives with human and planetary objectives.




**4. the cult of scale**

The large number of units, the unicorn worth billions, billions of customers and thousands, yes, millions of employees - they determine the economic reality. In doing so, they deform the planet. When economic activity strives towards a gigantomaniacal end goal, it is not only surprising local, regional and ideosyncratic solutions that fall short. Limited planetary services such as water, soil, atmosphere and biodiversity are also burnt up for often questionable objectives on the largest scale. The cult of scaling also applies to jobs and thus determines our policies. The more jobs a measure creates, the more justified it appears and the more votes it promises (even democracy is based on a cult of scaling).
Instead of thinking in terms of jobs, we now have to think in terms of places to live that are not tied to gainful employment and take ecological costs into equal account.

**EGG approach:** Overcome the greed for large numbers. Think surprising local, regional and ideosyncratic solutions, places to live instead of jobs.




**5. the cult of digital**

Reinforced by the cult of AI, the digital cult suggests that computers will solve our problems and ultimately even save us. As a result, many societies are investing more resources in the development of machine intelligence than in human intelligence. Education for independent thinking is being pushed back in favour of training in the use of computers. Social participation without computers will soon be, and in many areas already is, no longer possible. Promises of salvation and optimisation mask increasing manipulation and data skimming down to the smallest social niches. Aggressive demarcation and alienation jeopardise democracy and peace. Individuals still don't understand that what feels great digitally can be destructive in real life. Our analogue brain is overwhelmed. The cult of digital is the twin of the cult of efficiency, which is what makes it so difficult to relativise. After all, it naturally generates economic added value and can be turned into money, right down to individualised cancer therapy or autonomous seed technology. At the same time, however, it undermines the quality and basis of life through authoritarian troll armies, hybrid warfare and disenchanting social media. The question of whether we adapt to the computers or they adapt to us seems to have been decided in favour of the computers.

**EGG approach:** Create many more digital-free areas of life, consciously maintain analogue solutions and, above all, provide massive training for independent, critical thinking that is not digitally framed from the outset, and thus counteract regression.




**6. the cult of efficiency** is double-edged. Of course, it is good if goals are achieved with as little effort as possible. The cult of efficiency also plays a major role in sustainability, especially as a cult of thriftiness. However, this is where the stumbling block lies, both economically and ecologically. Because planetary change will not be realised with frugality. On the contrary, it is to be expected that the necessary measures will soon force us to violate all economic principles. We will initially have to invest huge sums over a long period of time to contain the damage that has already been done, to implement adaptation measures such as resettlement, flood defences and the closure of destructive industries, and to reorganise our economies. Saving the planet and its inhabitants can be quantified in economic terms, but its value naturally goes far beyond any economic measure.

Those who do not understand this, who do not mobilise all means for the purpose of planetary protection without focusing on quick economic benefits, will not manage the change. This also shows that the fixation on economic efficiency can become one of the major obstacles to the development of planetary intelligence.
Paradoxically, the second obstacle is the inherent human fear of inactivity. Because there are many things we will simply have to leave alone. We will also regenerate biodiversity and the climate through moratoria, make our societies more resilient through strategic and sovereign renunciation and, last but not least, make privileged classes take planetary responsibility through material sacrifices. (Economic) efficiency is a means that must be reconsidered, placed in a flexible framework and even ignored at times in order for planetary regeneration to work. Especially since even at the highest speed, the results of the efforts cannot be seen immediately.


**EGG vs. DIG**

We are caught up in the hectic, aggressive routines of our - economic - world. The working term **DIG** is intended to remind us to counteract all dominant, ignorant and greedy impulses that we notice in ourselves and others and thus make space for **EGG** realisation, generosity and serenity. In other words, space for the unfolding of Planetary Intelligence and thus the preservation of our world.

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Economic cults vs. planetary intelligence 

The pharmacy market is facing profound change. Traditional structures and business models are increasingly being challenged by economic pressure, digitalisation and changing customer behaviour. This white paper outlines the most important developments in the pharmacy market, paying particular attention to the current situation and future trends. 

**1. Pharmacy demise and economic pressure**

With one/two closures per day, there has been a dramatic trend of pharmacies dying out in recent years. While there were still 18,068 pharmacies in Germany at the end of 2022, there were only 17,733 at the end of the third quarter of 2023. 
Many pharmacies are seeing their profitability jeopardised by falling gross profits, price pressure from mail-order pharmacies and political cost containment measures (e.g. mandatory discounts for pharmacies to health insurance companies). This is exacerbated by a massive shortage of staff, which is affecting the performance of many pharmacies. 

The ban on multiple and third-party ownership is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it ensures the regional survival of many pharmacies. On the other hand, entrepreneurial room for manoeuvre is severely limited by restrictions on capital inflows and synergies through scaling. 

**2. Digitalisation and mail order in the pharmacy market**

Mail order, digitalisation and the current introduction of electronic prescriptions are massively changing customer behaviour in the pharmacy market. The market share of mail-order pharmacies and digital pharmacy platforms for pharmacy-only medicines, which can be purchased in pharmacies without a doctor's prescription, is already over 20%. For prescription-only products, the share is currently 1.2%, although the introduction of electronic prescriptions (e-prescriptions) is expected to lead to rapid and significant growth. 

The e-prescription opens up potential both for optimising care through better interaction checks and medication management for chronic patients and for greater convenience in care, for example through same-day delivery, which saves multiple trips to the pharmacy. Electronic patient records and a digital medication plan create additional opportunities for improved patient care. Digital and telemedical services, online consultations and "AI-supported remote diagnostics" would be possible, for example. 

**3. New players in the healthcare market**

In the midst of these changes, new and powerful players are positioning themselves in the healthcare sector. For example, Christoph Werner, CEO of dm drogerie markt, has recently announced that he intends to offer health services in the more than 2,000 dm shops in future. In line with his vision, preventative and health consultations will be provided, vaccinations offered, diagnoses made and medicines dispensed. 

Drugstore discounters and supermarkets are already among the most important sales channels for nutritional supplements and medical products. Vitamins and minerals are most in demand here. The cold segment is experiencing annual sales increases, as are the stomach and digestion, muscle, nerve, fitness and eye ranges. 

It is therefore not surprising that the expansion of healthcare providers beyond doctors' surgeries and pharmacies is already well established in other countries. In the USA, for example, drugstores with integrated pharmacies generate two thirds of their sales with products or services that are reserved for pharmacies and medical service providers in this country.

**4. Pharmacy light**

The momentum of change is intensified by an announcement by the Federal Minister of Health. In a published ‘Key points paper on reducing bureaucracy in the healthcare sector’, various regulatory requirements for pharmacies are to be reduced. At the centre of the discussion is the intention to enable ‘pharmacy light branches’, which envisages a significant downgrading of the standard compared to the current regulations.

In pharmacy branch networks, for example, the laboratory and prescription department will only have to be kept at one location. With the option of telepharmacy, i.e. the use of technical equipment for video consultations, medicines can be dispensed in ‘pharmacies light’ by a pharmaceutical technical assistant (PTA) without a pharmacist being present. 

If these political plans are actually realised, this will open up completely new options, such as the possibility of so-called shop-in-shop pharmacies, which would also call into question the ban on third-party ownership and open up the possibility of e.g. shop-in-shop pharmacies for drugstores or other chain stores. Previous laws or assumptions such as the prohibition of third-party ownership could be seriously called into question. 

**5. Challenges and opportunities for the players - what does this mean for pharmacies and drugstores?**

First of all, it can be said that the topic of health will become increasingly important in the coming years due to demographic change. Rising life expectancy and increasing morbidity are coming up against declining numbers of doctors and pharmacies and reduced medical capacities. The growing number of older people requires an increasingly modern range of healthcare services, medicines and medical products, while younger people are prioritising quality of life and a healthy lifestyle. 

In the context of the developments described above (digitalisation, mail order, etc.), the mail order pharmacy market will see further consolidation among a few powerful players. This is illustrated by a new study by Smile.BI. According to this study, Amazon would be the market leader in the pharmacy market within three years if the e-commerce giant were to enter the market. In the USA, Amazon already ranks second among the ‘top e-pharmacies’. 

Drugstores and grocery chains could also offer tangible added value in rural areas with shop-in-shop pharmacies due to their coverage of the area. To do so, however, they would have to rely on business partners in the healthcare sector, which would result in two different scenarios. Partnerships with regional pharmacies could be considered for the operation of shop-in-shop pharmacies. An alternative scenario is a mail-order pharmacy concept, which is becoming more interesting than ever with the introduction of electronic prescriptions. In both scenarios, it will be important to actively utilise customer data through digital direct-to-consumer offers. Especially in combination with ever-improving AI, customer needs could be anticipated based on demographic variables and previous purchases and, if necessary, converted into subscription models. Local pharmacies could also evolve into ‘supply pharmacies’. The focus would then be on comprehensive pharmaceutical services, such as drug therapy safety or care counseling. 

Regardless of whether all the ideas in Lauterbach's key issues paper are realised or not, the pharmacy sector faces considerable challenges.  Those who manage to build direct customer relationships and actively utilise customer data in order to anticipate patient needs and are also able to maintain sufficient relationship trust despite the high volume of transactions will emerge from this crisis as winners. 



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Developments in the pharmacy market: An analysis of current trends and future challenges

**The problem with our cars**

With around 18% of global CO2 emissions, road traffic is one of the biggest climate sinners.¹ In addition to high CO2 emissions, individual automobile traffic has considerable structural waste in three areas: Utilization, energy efficiency and material use. Current research on usage behavior shows that the average car in Europe is used for less than 5% of its lifetime with only 1.5 out of 5 available seats.²

Although often advertised otherwise, cars, especially combustion engines, are anything but energy efficient. Tank-to-wheel energy consumption considers the chain of effects from the energy consumed (e.g. fuel) to its conversion into kinetic energy. In combustion engines alone, around 86% of the energy is lost through engine losses and idling. Further energy losses, such as transmission losses, mean that only 1% of a car's energy is actually used to transport people.³

Another planetary problem in the automotive industry is material waste. Although pressure on manufacturers at EU level is increasing and initial efforts are moving in the right direction, the current proportion of recycled plastics in cars is only 5.5%. Masses of materials are also wasted at the end of a car's life. According to the Empa research institute, less than 20% of plastic fractions recovered from end-of-life vehicles are currently recycled when they are scrapped. Critical earths or palladium are often not recovered at all.⁴

Even if car-sharing providers increasingly rely on electric cars and thus tackle the usage and energy problems, the immense material and resource problem remains. These cars are also sold after approx. 3 years of use and are usually scrapped a few years later.⁵

**Mobility-as-a-Service as a solution**

The British company [Riversimple](https://www.riversimple.com/) offers a circular alternative to many of these problems with its Mobility as a Service (MaaS). Cars can be subscribed to or rented for a certain period of time, while Riversimple takes responsibility for the entire life of the car, including maintenance, insurance and tire changes. Riversimple cars are specifically designed for a long useful life, which makes it easy to replace consumable parts and significantly extends the useful life of the cars. 

As they are **hydrogen fuel cell cars**, Riversimple cars produce very low emissions while being highly energy efficient. The only product that results from the chemical reaction of hydrogen with oxygen to generate electricity is water. 

Riversimple relies on the aerodynamic small car model **Rasa**. The body is not made of metal, as is often the case, but of carbon fiber, which makes the vehicle lighter and more energy-efficient. Similar to electric cars, the recovery of braking energy also helps to save energy. Some parts of the car, such as door handles or the upholstery material, are also made from recycled materials, further underlining Riversimple's vision of a circular business model. All these different advantages ensure that Rasa is one of the **most efficient vehicles** in its category. 

Riversimple's understanding of holistic sustainability is also special. In addition to ecological aspects, social variables also play a major role, which can be illustrated through active interaction with the value chain. For example, the company is equally responsible to six voting custodian banks, representing the six stakeholder groups (customers, investors, environment, society, employees and business partners). 

Of course, there are still major challenges to keep in mind here too. In order to have a positive impact on the climate, green hydrogen should predominantly be used. However, hydrogen is currently mainly produced from natural gas and is therefore not a renewable energy source.⁶ On the other hand, hydrogen as an energy carrier has a disadvantageous energy efficiency. While primary energy carriers such as natural gas or renewable energies are direct energy sources, hydrogen as a secondary energy carrier is produced through the conversion of primary energy. In order to transport or store the hydrogen obtained, it must in turn be bound with carbon dioxide or nitrogen. The problem here is that massive amounts of energy are lost with each such conversion process and energy efficiency is further reduced. 

Nevertheless, it should be noted that Riversimple has created more than just a circular business model with its emission-reduced alternative to the fuel engine and its MaaS approach. With its system-integrator approach of involving everyone in the value chain, it is setting new standards in social sustainability for the automotive industry. It is therefore clear to us that Riversimple's ecosystem achieves the highest level of impact at **[Impact Level 3](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**. 


¹[CO2 Emissionen weltweit » SFC Energy AG: in: SFC Energy, o.D., [online] ](https://www.sfc.com/de/glossar/co2-emissionen-weltweit/)
 
² [Bilharz, Michael: Fahrgemeinschaften, in: Umweltbundesamt, o.D., [online]](https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/umwelttipps-fuer-den-alltag/mobilitaet/fahrgemeinschaften#so-nutzen-sie-fahrgemeinschaften-im-alltag) 
³ [McKinsey Center for Business and Environment/Ellen MacArthur/Klaus Zumwinkel/Martin R. Stuchtey/Frans Van Houten: Growth Within: A Circular Economy Vision for a Competitive Europe, in: Growth Within: A Circular Economy Vision for a Competitive Europe, o.D., [online] ](https://emf.thirdlight.com/file/24/_A-BkCs_h7gRYB_Am9L_JfbYWF/Growth%20within%3A%20a%20circular%20economy%20vision%20for%20a%20competitive%20Europe.pdf.)
 
⁴ [Leistritz, Claudia: Autorecycling: EU-Kommission legt neue Richtlinie vor, in: PROFI Werkstatt, 24.07.2023.,[online] ](https://www.profi-werkstatt.net/de/news/recycling_autorecycling-eu-kommission-legt-neue-richtlinie-vor-110108.html)
 
⁵ [Schmitt, Heidi: Wie umweltfreundlich ist Carsharing?, in: ReCYClist Magazin, o.D.,[online] ](https://www.recyclist-magazin.de/post/wie-umweltfreundlich-ist-carsharing#:~:text=Stichwort%20Lebensdauer%20%E2%80%93%20was%20passiert%20mit,zwei%20bis%20f%C3%BCnf%20Jahren%20ausgemustert)
 
⁶ [Statista: Produktion und Verwendung von Wasserstoff weltweit, in: Statista, 02.01.2024,[online]](https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1195241/umfrage/produktion-und-verwendung-von-wasserstoff-weltweit/#:~:text=Im%20Jahr%202019%20wurden%20weltweit,Nebenprodukt%20bei%20chemischen%20Prozessen%20entstanden)
[Bdew: Flexible Herstellung: Wie wird Wasserstoff erzeugt?, in: BDEW, 26.01.2021, [online] ](https://www.bdew.de/energie/wasserstoff/flexible-herstellung-was-ist-wasserstoff-und-wie-wird-er-erzeugt/#:~:text=blauer%20Wasserstoff%20aus%20Erdgas,spricht%20man%20von%20grauem%20Wasserstoff.)


 Photo © Riversimple

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Riversimple - sustainable mobility as a business model

**Challenge** 

[Lodge](https://www.lodgecastiron.com/), a distinguished manufacturer of cast-iron frying pans based in the USA, aimed to expand into new geographic markets, particularly in the DACH region, in response to steadily increasing demand. Executing this initiative required a thoughtful go-to-market strategy, covering the identification of potential target audiences, selection of an appropriate product portfolio, and determination of suitable distribution channels.

**Strategy** 

Following a precise segmentation of the relevant target groups, we developed target audience personas based on the results of a specific customer survey. 
These personas providing detailed insights into drivers, barriers, and purchasing behavior. 
Rather than spreading our focus across highly diverse target groups, we concentrated on one customer persona for our future strategy. To effectively differentiate the product from competitors post-launch, we analyzed competitors' brand landscapes and assessed potential positioning scenarios. Building on the U.S. positioning, we delved into the brand DNA, identified possible brand values, and crafted a fitting brand promise for the DACH market. Consequently, we positioned Lodge as an authentic, family-oriented brand. Simultaneously, after analyzing competition, market trends, and the product portfolio, we outlined the future offering structure for the DACH markets, suggesting a three-phase market entry progressing from premium to mass market gradually
Finally, based on our customer and market analysis, we formulated the distribution channel mix. This involved the necessary distribution infrastructure, encompassing e-commerce platforms, data management, and marketing tools.

 Photo © Lodge

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Globalization of the Lodge brand

The German glass industry produces 20% of the total amount of glass in Europe in terms of revenue.¹ Over 4 million disposable glass containers are produced in Germany every year. Glass recycling closes the cycle, but high temperatures are still required for melting, so that only about 25% of the energy input can be saved by recycling compared to the production of new glass.² [MAGNA Glaskeramik](https://magna-glaskeramik.de/) is part of the glass industry and focuses on the sustainable and combined production of glass and ceramics entirely from waste materials, thus saving part of the energy consumption.

For the production of glass-ceramics, glass is crushed into fine glass granules and then sintered in plate form for 20 hours at melting temperatures that are lower and therefore more energy-efficient than glass production.³ The temperatures used develop a crystal structure that makes glass-ceramics a robust material for exterior and interior use. 

MAGNA's glass-ceramic is made from almost 100% surplus and waste material from industrial and bottle glass production.⁴ After use, glass-ceramic can be completely returned to the production process and recycled. In order to save additional electricity and water during production, a water treatment plant and a photovoltaic system are used, which each cover the majority of the waste water and electricity.⁴

The smooth, scratch-resistant and water-resistant glass ceramic is available in different colors and sizes and is suitable for products such as facades, furniture, washbasins or design objects. One example of the individual use of the material is the facade of the Bulgari flagship store in Shanghai, which was primarily made from green recycled glass, or the new façade of the Cradle to Cradle NGO Lab in Berlin, for its production MAGNA was partly responsible for.

To close the circle of the circular economy, the company also offers the service of taking back glass-ceramics and introducing them into the recycling process. This **circular business model** has been awarded with the **Cradle to Cradle Gold certification**.

Hopefully, this application will set a precedent so that glass-ceramic solutions in general become even more cost-effective. In any case, MAGNA Glaskeramik has achieved a positive circularity level of **[Impact Level 2](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)** with its business model, which is completely focused on the recycling of waste glass and saves CO2 with low temperatures and durable products.

¹ [van Bergen, Johannes : Energieintensive Industrie, in: KWK, o.D., [online]](https://ee-kwk.com/energieintensive-industrie/) 
² [Thiel-Sonnen, Alice : So entsorgen Sie Ihr Altglas richtig, in: SWR1, 04.06.2024, [online]](https://www.swr.de/swr1/rp/altglas-102.html#:~:text=%C3%9Cber%204%20Millionen%20Tonnen%20Beh%C3%A4lterglas,eine%20Quote%20von%2090%25%20vor.) ; [Glas Gasperlmair: Glasrecycling – der nachhaltige Umgang mit dem Rohstoff Glas, in: Glas Gasperlmair Ges.m.b.H., o.D., [online]](https://glas-gasperlmair.at/unternehmen/news/glasrecycling-der-nachhaltige-umgang-mit-dem-rohstoff-glas/)
 
³ Interview mit Steve Eigenwillig und Maria Loran von MAGNA Glaskeramik 
⁴ [MAGNA Glaskeramik: Umweltproduktdeklaration, in: MAGNA Glaskeramik, 02.11.2022, [online]](https://magna-glaskeramik.de/fileadmin/glaskeramik/pdf/de/Zertifikat/GER_2022-11-02_EPD-MGK.pdf)


 Photo © Magna Glaskeramik
 Photo © Bulgari Shanghai

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MAGNA - stunning facades made from recycled glass

In view of the subdued consumer sentiment, more and more companies such as adidas, Puma and Zalando are under enormous pressure in the new year. Falling sales are making urgently needed investments in sustainability or artificial intelligence increasingly difficult. The effects are being reinforced by the bankruptcies of start-ups (+65%) and companies (+26%) compared to the previous year, which corresponds to a total of 15,000 companies.

The fashion industry in particular has been experiencing an unprecedented wave of insolvencies for months: Peek & Cloppenburg, Görtz, Reno, Hallhuber, Impressionen, Madeleine, Peter Hahn, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, Wormland. With the Sigma insolvency, Sportscheck, Fahrrad(.de) and Tennis-Point also slipped into bankruptcy. In addition to consumer goods, consumer durables such as Römertopf, Zeller Keramik and Weck were also hit. Furniture manufacturers such as Arco, Nolte, Hülsta, Wesco and a number of kitchen manufacturers also filed for insolvency in 2023. These included companies such as Warendorf, Hansa, Störmer, Lechner, Dan, Alno and Quelle.

And so the new year begins for many with postponed investments, extended supply chains, reduced production and overtime cuts, also in view of new problems in the Suez Canal. Knife manufacturer Zwilling is putting its workforce on short-time working, just like 40 percent of furniture manufacturers.

**Does this sound familiar to you?**

**Complex situations require focused action.**
The time of silos is over. Now all those with responsibility in the company need to sit down at the same table. 

**Task**: Everyone works on a joint strategy for the future from their own area.

Procedure: Business model, organization, brand and sustainability **together create a solution scenario.**

**Opportunities:** Those who build up direct customer relationships as well as retail relationships usually also succeed in capitalizing on these. In other words, developing significant eCommerce margins from **direct-to-consumer channels**. Since 2000, adidas has been showing us how to do this and make retail partners and customers happy in the process. Active customer data offers monetary and planetary earnings potential in several respects. 

• Only those who use their customer data can differentiate themselves in the market through target group-specific **innovations**. For example, two founders with over 12,000 fans developed their first pan design via a crowdfunding campaign. Today, Pfannenhelden(.de) is read by over 100,000 people every month. With their STUR cast iron pans from Germany, Filip Mierzwa and Simon Köstler not only win design awards, but also offer a 50-year guarantee on a pan costing between 150 and 300 euros. 

• However, consumers are not only digging deeper into their pockets for design. As the example shows, they are just as happy to avoid coatings that are harmful to health (PTFE, PFOA, PFOS). In every product area, there are target group segments that are willing to pay more when it comes to **sustainability**. This is the quickest way to replace plastic kitchen utensils with other materials, rent out kitchens temporarily or refurbish electrical appliances in new cycles.

• And once a specific target group segment has been conquered, **internationalization** is just as cost-effective via social media. Marketplaces are identified in advance, portfolios are tailored and Go-2-Market campaigns are reviewed on a country-specific basis. This not only allows additional sales potential to be leveraged, but also increases the earnings per product through economies of scale.

• Those who actively use their customer data in times of substitutable products are also able to significantly increase the overall duration of their customer relationship, i.e. their customer loyalty. This not only reduces marketing and returns costs. Most consumers value personalized shopping experiences and direct service contact. Precise targeting can encourage customers to make specific purchases at each stage of their lives, which ultimately increases the total revenue per individual customer, i.e. the **customer lifetime value.**

**Objective:** To further develop the core business with an efficient set-up and actively use direct customer relationships to generate a higher price premium through sustainable innovations.

**Result:** Every crisis is overcome with the company's own customers and their willingness to pay. This is the only way to sharpen portfolios, measures and earnings horizons. 

This creates **clarity in times of change** and moves the company and the planet forward.


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Consumer and durable goods lose their customers: Four opportunities for a better D2C strategy

**Planetary intelligence through planetary rights.**

After exposing the addictive nature of the current economic model in the second part of the essay on Planetary Intelligence, in this third and final part we will explore the question of what prevents growth-obsessed humanity from acting in a planetarily intelligent manner, and what it might look like to seek a way out of the dilemma.

Addiction is always a narrowing of perception. For those, like most countries on Earth, who have become dependent on economic growth, it's becoming increasingly difficult to imagine a world without continually increasing production and financial returns. The protracted change not only causes us to lurch from one economic crisis to the next like a fly continually hitting the windowpane, our limited perception also results in a stunted imagination. In our mind's eye, a world ravaged by the consequences of climate change and species loss doesn't take on a clear form, making it challenging for us to boldly depart from the old model. And the concept of a planetary intelligence following the era of destructive profit maximization remains vague as well. Or as the author Amithav Gosh says: We are in a crisis of imagination. Humanity can no longer imagine the improbable and is thus incapable of creating it. Whoever tries, crashes against the glass cage of ignorance and greed.

**We are also in a crisis of imagination.**

Let's take one of the clearest positive examples. Ecuador renounces the exploitation of its oil reserves in the Yasuni National Park in order to preserve an 8,000 square kilometer habitat that comprises more animal species than all of Europe and more plant species than North America. In return, developed countries in the northern hemisphere agree to pay the country compensation equivalent to half of the unrealized proceeds from the sale of the oil reserves. A plebiscite in the unstable and poor country even confirmed in 2023 that the majority of the population is in favor of leaving the oil in the ground.
The matching fund would be $3.6 billion; $336 million has been pledged, but only $3.6 million has been paid in. One thousandth of the money needed. Greed and avarice ally with insatiable energy addiction. Apparently, it's easier to imagine a pile of money than a pile of dead animals and plants. 
The example of Ecuador shows an act of resistance against the business as usual of destructive extraction. Unfortunately, it’s a failed one. Is there an example of similar government action in the wealthy countries of the Northern Hemisphere? No. The wealthy countries are too afraid for their prosperity. In plain language, this means: They are too cowardly. And in concrete terms, this means that politicians are afraid of losing votes by imposing unpopular restrictions and making sacrifices. The heat pump debate in Germany confirms that this fear is well-founded.
If it can't be done that way, then what might effective resistance to continued extraction and species destruction look like? Or do we not need to resist at all, but adapt to the new planetary reality while continuing – albeit couched in terms of circularity – the old profit motive: behind higher dikes, with wind farms stretching to the horizon, in smaller apartments, with bicycles, e-car sharing and floating houses? 

Do we just need an improved tolerance for ambiguity? Less and less of the old and more and more of the new, bravely enduring change until the balance is right at some point? The problem is the someday. Again, as I did at the beginning of this series of essays, I return to the necessary pace. The illusion of a gradual transition is already being torpedoed by a frightening accumulation of impacts from the climate-ravaged world: previously unseen forest fires, floods, glacier melt, landslides, storms, droughts.

**Amidst the dissolution, we still believe that everything will turn out fine.**

We still embed all of this in our perceptions, determined by control thinking. We cannot even imagine that our familiar world is dissolving, even when we are in the midst of that dissolution, when the ground is literally burning from beneath us.
Vacationers travel to burning regions, expect to be evacuated, return to still smoldering burned areas, and spread out their towel. Is this just lack of imagination, or destructive ignorance? What is clear here is the addictive behavior and expectations of return - what one has paid for, one wants to claim. What we do not recognize, however, is a change in attitude or even behavior. As the above example shows, people simply can't imagine to not go on holidays or giving up some of what they've already paid for in favor of drought-stricken areas that are at the tipping point. 

So: we are in a crisis of imagination. Changes in attitude and behavior also seem difficult to imagine when one has a right to what is contractually assured. Is this perhaps, even on a small scale, the model from which the developed world suffers on a large scale? Does the notion of contractually assured satisfaction of this addiction not also imply the sense of having been cheated if that contract is not fulfilled? In any case, depending on the political hue, this feeling is served and exploited with popular consensus. 

**The planet doesn't know of contracts, yet we must commit ourselves to it through agreements.**

That said, it is not man, but the planet that is cheated out of its fair share. The planet, however, does not care. It does not know any contracts. But since our thinking and acting increasingly works on the basis of contracts and protocols (i.e. our protocol-controlled Internet), we should best also think about a contract with the planet, in which it is considered as a partner permanently and equally, if not even privileged. A contract that binds only humans, to prevent us from exploiting the planet gratuitously, as we have done since our species existed. 
Out of consideration for our limited imagination, we initially stick to a material contractual basis. Even though money quickly loses its significance when we lose the intact planet, it remains the most critical driver of change for now.

What are nature's services worth in trivial dollars? Paul Hawken and other scientists such as Vester and Costanza put the value of the natural capital stock at $400 to $500 trillion. Each year nature provides $33 trillion in benefits to human society in the form of fruits that grow, water that is purified in rivers, CO2 reduction in plants and oceans, aquatic and terrestrial fauna, and much more.
Already about one third of this natural capital has been destroyed by humans. Species have been wiped out, rainforests cleared, farmland destroyed and the air polluted. 
But still, according to this model, each person would be entitled to $70,000 per year of natural capital at the current population of the Earth. This makes it clear how much planetary capital is still available. However, humanity is using it recklessly and without creating sustainable prosperity. If all humans would live with the lifestyle and prosperity of the average U.S. citizen, we would need 12 earths according to Hawkens calculation, and there are other higher estimates.

**Each person is entitled to the annual equivalent of $70,000 in planetary value added.**

In a planetary, rather than capitalist, scenario, each individual could leave the equivalent of $70,000 to the planet each year by foregoing or preventing the use of planetary services. So we need moratoria that flexibly stop the consumption of planetary services. And we need laws that establish both the right to one's share and the right to renounce planetary services, which would then no longer be determined directly and often arbitrarily by corporations, institutions and states, but by the planet's inhabitants, who could also join together to form moratorium communities. In this way, even a few residents of a biotope could enforce its preservation, e.g. by opposing the deforestation rage of a timber company with their shares. 
On the other hand, large companies would have to convince citizens and employees to sell them their planetary shares. For this, they would have to present very good and planetarily resilient arguments. They would thus be forced to think through their interventions thoroughly and to check them for harmfulness. And the individuals would no longer be largely powerless against them as planetary co-owners. The addiction cycle could be broken simply by no longer producing products that are not planetary in focus. This would no longer be decided by detached boards of elitist directors, but by the new and actual planetary owners. In order to prevent any fixation on possession, we should of course rather see them as administrators.
Yes, this model is radical, and it raises some legal issues, but without radical change we will not overcome the primacy of economics in sufficient time. In the transition phase, we need to adopt a great tolerance for ambiguity, because planetarism and capitalism are each very stubborn concepts in their own way. Transitioning one into the other will be a mammoth task. We will also have to overcome the old feasibility mania and soberly put many entrepreneurial actions that are still celebrated today, including many anti-planetary startup ideas, to the test. Thoughtful action, even inaction, and economic withdrawal from defined areas will become equally valid options.
We will have to learn to leave many things just as they are, because it is good for the planet, and to flip others from head to toe, even though it upsets us. Only when we have understood this will we be intelligent enough to prevent our own demise.


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Planetary Intelligence: Part 3 of 3

**Hygiene factor sustainability**

No company can avoid the topic of sustainability today. Fortunately, not only the executive floors or the EU reporting obligations ensure this, but increasingly also the customers, employees, and talents. Sustainability has long since arrived in everyday working life and has transformed from a motivator to a hygiene factor.

 **The greenwashing trap**

Probably hardly any brand manager has not dealt with which aspects of their own brand are or can be made sustainable in recent years. Most brands try to position themselves positively sustainable in the market – be it ecologically, socially, or economically. But only a few manage to actually differentiate themselves from the competition with it.

Through an automated analysis of communicative positioning using the K’UP Brand Language Model of 387 global brands, we were able to show that a large part of all brands position themselves on the same topics. The analysis shows which topics are communicatively played by the brands. It is easy to see that ecological sustainability, and especially climate and renewable energies, as well as biodiversity, dominate the brands' world of topics.

![Kommunikation Nachhaltigkeit Grafik_Combined_v2 (2).png](https://kup.id/api/uploads/Kommunikation_Nachhaltigkeit_Grafik_Combined_v2_2_9d296e95cc.png)

Most of the brands thus rely on the same topics, which is communicatively of no use. Worse still - some companies slide into greenwashing with their statements and risk financial damage. Whether through puffed-up packaging or false claims.

 **The green claims rules**

The upcoming Green Claims Directive from the EU once again changes the rules of the game and makes a targeted alignment with sustainable brand positioning indispensable. Greenwashing will no longer have any place. In the future, those who continue to use flowery names to give consumers a false, good feeling will maximize their legal costs. Companies will face increasingly strict rules in the future, although the exact implementation and execution have not yet been fixed. This will lead to the brand management having to constantly readjust its own communication in the future. This means statements like “climate-neutral” (e.g., Babydream - diapers) or “100% green” are defined too imprecisely. 

For consumers, it is not clear what exactly “green” means or whether “climate-neutral” products were only compensated instead of reduced. The use of seals will also be more strictly regulated so that consumers can rely on the truthfulness (e.g., organic seals on eggs – often still mass animal farming). If studies or comparisons are carried out, the company must precisely specify the basis on which the investigation is conducted. Another example is actions that are supposed to promote sustainability but actually only increase net profit and make hardly any ecological contribution will be regulated (Aldi - plastic bags for 1ct). All of this is intended to ensure that companies that act honestly sustainable have a competitive advantage and that consumers are not misled and have the greatest possible influence on ecological change.

No wonder that greenhushing is spreading and prompting companies to no longer talk about their sustainable activities at all. Both developments are cause for concern because there is a lack of positive progress attitudes and role models that would be able to change an industry.

 **Away from emotionality. Act decisively.**

There is no way back. The topic of sustainable brand positioning will continue to occupy brand management in the coming years and must be approached clearly and holistically. It's not bad if your colleagues are still working on the materiality analysis or carbon balance. Look in your strategic planning or innovation roadmap to see when your company wants to tackle what specifically on sustainability. Then eliminate all vague emotions and terms from your marketing. 

Customers want clear facts. Arrange your goals in terms of content and time before you start and put them in a rational ratio to your positioning. In this way, you can tick off your proof points like in a check box in the future, and your narrative never runs into emptiness. Now simply report on what you are actually doing in terms of sustainability. Start small, but stick to concrete, provable facts. Tell relatable and authentic stories about your goals, successes, and setbacks. BASF has been praised from the start for its way of transparently showing its own challenges and the path taken. And Tony’s Chocolate openly talks about the fact that despite intensive efforts for years, it cannot completely exclude child labor.

 **New clarity in times of change**

What ultimately pays off, as always, is a clear attitude and honesty. It encourages others to get started and convinces your employees and customers.

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The Transformative Power of an Effective HR Department

Living sustainability instead of pretending

**Challenge**

**[TH Nürnberg](https://www.th-nuernberg.de/en/)** is a university with strong regional roots and a century-old history. However, a growing competitive environment and declining numbers of applicants are intensifying the competition for students, specialists and third-party funding. The goal was therefore to reposition itself for the future with a new brand identity.


 **Strategy**

Based on a comprehensive analysis of the university (history, faculties, competition, trends, structure, communication) as well as an extensive quantitative and qualitative stakeholder survey, K'UP developed sharp target customer profiles, a vision/mission and a differentiating brand strategy. Based on the new values and a clear positioning, the activation was then tackled together with the agency **[Ediundsepp](https://www.ediundsepp.de)**. The result is a new name, a claim as well as a comprehensive corporate design, which from now on will draw inspiration form the physicist Georg Simon Ohm.

 

![2023_Ohm_Logo_Rot_ohneZusatz_RGB.svg](https://kup.id/api/uploads/2023_Ohm_Logo_Rot_ohne_Zusatz_RGB_528854ed0a.svg)


 Photo © TH Nürnberg

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THN - From university to motor & impulse generator of the region

OHM - From university to engine of an entire region

A five-kilometre car journey produces about as much CO2 as the production of a bottle of wine. And that's even without the associated transport to the consumer. The traditional, round glass bottle is responsible for **the largest CO2 footprint** in the value chain of the wine industry, with a share of over 50%. 

**[Packamama](https://packamama.com)** from Great Britain wants to tackle this problem with an innovative shape. Red and white wine are offered in **flat bottles** that can be stacked more efficiently and even fit through the letterbox slot. This allows more than twice as much wine to fit on a pallet, saving costs and facilitating delivery by post, which in turn saves on emissions.

The Packamama bottle has the same capacity as traditional glass bottles, but stands two centimetres taller. It is also 87% lighter than traditional wine bottles as it is made from 100% recycled PET. 

Thanks to its collaboration with The Wine Society, a leading online retailer of **monthly wine subscriptions**, Packamama has managed to both raise its profile in the wine industry and successfully implement its letterbox technology.

Packamama has thus launched a completely new circular product from **[Impact Level 1](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**. Compared to conventional wine bottles, the **carbon footprint could be reduced** at many points in the value chain - from production, to delivery, to the recycling process.




 Sources:
 How climate-damaging is wine? - SWR Wissen
 About — Garçon Wines (garconwines.com)
 Flat future: Garçon Wines eyes Oceania and China with ‘sustainable’ wine bottles that fit through letterbox (foodnavigator-asia.com)


Photo © Jill Wellington for Pexels

Quellen:

 [Hüwelmeier, Judith: Wie klimaschädlich ist Wein?, in: SWR Wissen, 14.03.2023, [online]](https://www.swr.de/wissen/1000-antworten/wie-klimaschaedlich-ist-wein-100.html#:~:text=Wenn%20man%20sich%20die%20CO2,kommt%20noch%20der%20Transport%20hinzu.)
 [Garçon Wines: We’re building the wine brands of the future, in: Garçon Wines, o.D.,[online]](https://www.garconwines.com/about)
 [Yu Lim, Guan: Flat future: Garçon Wines eyes Oceania and China with ‘sustainable’ wine bottles that fit through letterbox, in: Foodnavigator Asia, 21.05.2020, [online] ](https://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Article/2020/05/21/Flat-future-Garcon-Wines-eyes-Oceania-and-China-with-sustainable-wine-bottles-that-fit-through-letterbox)

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The Innovative Wine Bottle

Packamama - The Innovative Wine Bottle

We know that the challenges are big and the demands are increasing: Shortage of skilled workers, pressure to innovate and change, digitalisation, a backlog of professionalisation.

 **Is your organisation up to the task?**

Although HR work has many answers to current crises, HR departments in small and medium-sized enterprises often reach their limits - especially when it comes to asserting themselves as a fully-fledged strategic partner in everyday administrative and operational work.

The reasons for this are clear: HR work has often not yet benefited from digitalisation. Efficiency has not been increased, and the corporate strategy has not been implemented. HR professionals have had to demonstrate social rather than business skills. 

 **How can new requirements be reconciled with the old range of services?**

HR departments need a tailor-made strategy and appreciation for HR professionals. Only in this way can they be sustainably transformed and create real added value.

Our clients undertake the transformation in four steps: 

We survey the status quo. 
We jointly develop the content-related priorities, the organisational set-up of the HR department and the necessary role profiles. 
We condense our findings into a simple strategy paper with an implementation plan. 
We support the actual implementation, usually in the context of development measures. 

 **What concrete measures make HR departments really effective?**

**Define clear roles.** Clarifying roles between management and HR leadership (e.g. employee focus vs. business focus), is the first step in developing together.

**Set a strategic focus.** Priorities need to be defined together with management along strategic goals. Programmes that are not priorities need to be radically cut or outsourced. 

**Make talent acquisition a priority.** A good HR department must have complete mastery of the spectrum of recruitment. This includes Strategic Workforce Planning and Employer Branding. 

**Work with data.** HR analytics can be used to translate HR-related insights into strategic decisions. Regular capacity building is essential in this process. 


 The time for change is now.
 **Strengthen your HR department and make it a true strategic partner in the company.**

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How do you help your HR departments solve the challenges?

**Challenge**

Today, a car is like a computer. That's why anyone who wants to maintain or repair their car needs complicated tools for electronic onboard diagnostics (OBD). One of the market leaders for these OBD tools is the Munich-based IT company, **[Carly](https://www.mycarly.com/en/)**. Not only does it offer an amazingly simple end-customer solution in the form of a small ODB dongle, but with our help it wanted to differentiate itself more strongly as a brand in an otherwise very rational competitive environment.



**Strategy**

For Carly, we developed a fundamentally new brand strategy based on an extensive analysis of product, communication, and competition. A central component of this was the research and segmentation of target customers. Typical for the topic of cars, their needs ranged from control to pragmatic solutions, to self-realization. Based on this, we developed brand values, a positioning, and an emotional marketing strategy that put the customer benefit even more clearly in the foreground. Because for the customer, Carly doesn't just hold a little dongle. In addition to reading out detailed vehicle data in real-time, Carly can offer mechanical advice expertise on its platform. To this end, the Munich-based company maintains one of the largest international communities of mechanics and experts, who provide tips and instructions appropriate to the vehicle in question. Carly thus gives customers the certainty that repair and maintenance can be efficient and fun. The best prerequisites for making every trip a good one. 


 **Carly. The good drive.**


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How a newly developed strategy shapes the brand image

Carly - How a newly developed strategy shapes the brand image

The use and production of light generates 5%* of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. In the European Union alone, 40% ** of electronic waste is not recycled. If all EU countries' light sources were switched to LED, 51 million tonnes of CO2 emissions and 65 million euros in energy costs could be saved each year. 

**[Signify](https://www.signify.com/global)**, formerly Philipps Lighting, is a leading international supplier of **efficient lighting technology.** The company wants to significantly reduce the consumption of resources by light sources for commercial and private customers. 

With its concept **Light as a Service** (Laas), the company offers a circular lighting solution. For a monthly subscription fee, Signify takes responsibility for the lighting technology from planning and installation to maintenance. The products used are designed for easy repair and recycling and are manufactured by 3D printers to save material and weight. The use of AI in lighting management additionally reduces energy consumption and costs. Signify's LED lights are thus claimed to have a 75% *** **lower environmental footprint** than conventional products. 

With its focus on long life and reusability, Signify is not only closing product loops. With its LaaS business model, the company has an **[Impact Level 2](https://kup.id/article/die-drei-wirkungsebenen-nachhaltiger-zirkularitaet)** circularity score.


 Sources:
 *https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-examples/why-buy-light-bulbs-when-you-can-buy-light-signify 
 **https://www.signify.com/global/sustainability/green-switch/circular-economy
 ***https://www.signify.com/global/our-company/blog/sustainability/circular-economy-in-lighting


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Light as a Circular Service

Signify – Light as a Circular Service

The company **[Dr. Schnell](https://www.dr-schnell.com)** specialises in the production of cleaning agents for buildings and commercial kitchens. In 2020, the Munich-based company was awarded the Cradle-to-Cradle Gold certificate for its **ECO collection** of household cleaning agents.

The ECO products are offered as highly concentrated cleaning agents that can be extended with water itself. This reduces packaging and water consumption. The products are free of chemicals that are harmful to environment or human health. Production is powered by 100% green electricity, carried out with regional partners and recycled packaging is used to reduce the carbon footprint.

In the detergent and cleaning products industry, high water and energy consumption still have the greatest impact on the environment.*

With its **ecological and technical measures**, Dr. Schnell reduces waste by 45% and water consumption by 72%* compared to the rest of the industry, achieving a **[circular efficiency](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)** of **Impact Level 1**.


 Sources:
 *IKW | Sustainability initiative
 **Dr. Schnell Envorinmental Statement 2022 P.35

Photo © Karolina Grabowska for Pexels

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Circular Cleaning Agents

Dr. Schnell - Circular Cleaning Agents

Without using marketing descriptors such as Generation Z or Y, the aim here is to reflect on the Young Generation between the ages of 14 and 20. 

When we talk about the condition of this Young Generation, we must bring two aspects to the fore: 

**Society is in a transitional phase from a long-standing fixation on increasing production to a reluctant prioritization of the habitability conditions of the planet.**
 Many of the younger people already understand this, and hopefully, many of the older people do too. But the social and economic reality is still focused on increasing production - now in the guise of sustainability. 

**So, the wrong thing keeps happening, while the right thing is already obvious.** 

As if that were not enough, a lot of lip service is paid to social change by social elites, while at the same time, assets accumulate more and more in the hands of the upper decile. A minority that emerges even richer from severe social crises. The life chances of the younger generation are narrowing more and more due to this unequal distribution. Regardless of whether one considers ecological or economic prospects. 

This brings us to the second point: **The young generation has already greatly lowered its expectations of the older, responsible generations, both materially and morally, as well as ecologically.** 



Just to remind you, the ruling generations are largely responsible for today's problem status through their maximalist greed. The battle cry of the 80s "Greed is good" exemplifies this, as does the 50-year-old knowledge of Exxon and other fossil corporations of the destructive climate consequences of their exploratory bonanza. 
The emergence of dangerous clown politicians, the ranking of societies under the profitability dictate, lobbying of the wealthy for their privileges up to the democracy- 
abolition etc. All this is well known. The necessary changes are also. But they take place only in homeopathic doses, or not at all.

So, the young generation is confronted with appeasement and empty promises - from corporations, managers, the church, teachers. And the parents. The politicians? They acted, as the saying goes, flexibly.
 The misbehavior of the supposed role models continues. They are not role models. They speak - as Karl May says - with forked tongues. They say one thing and do another. And that's what young people see day in and day out; it's the reality they follow in the digital media - their preferred access to social participation.
 At the same time, they are shaped by heroic narratives that they internalize through gaming and media worlds. These worlds are Manichean: good competes against evil, which is the only way to make it exciting. In reality, however, the often hypocritical self-contradiction of "yes", but continues to prevail, which must seem particularly questionable to them against this background. 

They must therefore assume that this compromised world is precisely what the previous generations wanted.
 The fact that this is not so, that a large part of the older generations had and has quite different ideals, is rarely an issue. History, especially economic history, is written by the victors. Only, from a planetary and also moral point of view, yes, even from an economic point of view, they are now more and more often the losers.
Their beliefs have not worked, they have ignored or even overreached a large part of the societies. And this is now so clear that, from the point of view of the young, they should step down.
 But they don't. They continue to play the game of enrichment at any price as well as the theater of self-congratulation. They pull glass ceilings up a few inches. Perhaps they practice quotas for women, but these lead women into the same capitalist dilemma of destruction in which men are already stuck. 
 The young generation sees all this. How should they react to it, that was our initial question, how should they feel about it?
 What else is there besides participation resignation or doublethink? Some of them will certainly choose these strategies of adaptation. But what do the critical ones among them do? 
 I am surprised again and again, by how few of them revolt, how many knowingly take the well-trodden path of destructive competitive thinking, although from all horns resounds: 
 We need material and planetary justice and above all moderation. It can no longer be a matter of ruining the planet and society in the struggle for monetary success. Redistribution and a change in thinking that is willing to do without are long overdue. 

**So has the young generation allowed itself to be tricked after all?**

I think it's different: On the one hand, they no longer believe in universal rights and replace them with particular claims. Within their own bubble of reference, they try to achieve their goals. Other things seem secondary. This can be called resignation, but it is probably above all pragmatism. When pragmatism becomes mediocrity would have to be clarified.
 More and more often I encounter the attitude If my normal life feels okay, average is okay for me. You have to be able to afford high goals - hero fantasies are just lived out digitally. Pragmatism - bend for success - was already the fanfare of the previous generation. So who should be surprised that the next generation is adopting it?

The younger generation strives for balance in their (working) lives. No wonder, when they have seen what careerism has done to their parents.
 But when does balance become cowardice? A courageous act is always an abandonment of balance.

Self-protection and protection of others become strategies for stress reduction. What is it worth at all to dare hard confrontations for ideals? If then I do something small, I have my compost bucket and ride my bike.
 Timidity spreads, while the few energetic environmental activists are partly already declared terrorists by the media. How would it be times not only with a school strike day but with a general strike day for the planet? Does not take place so far, because there is obviously not enough cohesion, courage, and problem consciousness for it.
 Everyone must know for himself is the new battle cry of inaction.

But everything must be constantly renegotiated and re-evaluated, right?
Actually not, because we know long ago what must happen first. But the knot just doesn't burst and no savior comes with the (light)sword to cut it.

**Everything must change so that it can remain as it is** - this well-known saying of Guiseppe Tomasi's "Gattopardo" describes the dilemma: the privileged keep their privileges and stage sham changes with which they distract the rest of society, which ultimately has to pay the price.

Some call our time the "Digital Biedermeier" others "The age of diminished expectations".
 In any case, it characterizes a young generation that lives in a permanent state of waiting for meaning under partly unpredictable circumstances and therefore doesn't want to hear any more bullshit. On the other hand, they jump at the biggest bullshit - such as aesthetic self-optimization or flexing with ostentatious luxury.
This generation remains trapped in contradictions. That's precisely why they want to feel that their counterparts will stand up for their promises even at the risk of their own failure. That is the touchstone of credibility. Only those who do not elegantly - or, in most cases, clumsily - get off the hook stand for something.

After a phase in which staging displaced reality, the Young Generation finally wants the world to become more honest, more modest, and more predictable. And that, unfortunately, also paralyzes them. Because they will not get the change without a hard confrontation - also with themselves.

Perhaps it's quite simple: **If you want to find your own truth, you have to be able to engage in conflict and endure it.** If you can't do that, you're left with the truth of others. And unfortunately, that's often not quite true.
 The new appreciation for rationality, for sound arguments, and for factual product advantages instead of emotional sales is certainly a first, decisive step on the way to the Young Generation's own truth.

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The Young Generation in the Endless Beta Phase

The UK produces over 1 million tonnes of sugar annually. About 50% of this is exported. The largest sugar producer is **[British Sugar](https://www.britishsugar.co.uk)**, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods (ABF), which is committed to consistent **waste reduction** and **resource efficiency.**

At British Sugar, waste products from sugar production are turned into animal feed, topsoil and ethanol, among other things. **This ensures growth.** The company is one of the largest British ethanol producers and has become a major supplier to the petrochemical and pharmaceutical sectors.

A third of all ABF factories have succeeded in recycling or reusing 95% of all waste*. As a result, for **every tonne of sugar produced, less than 200 grams of waste is generated.**

In terms of **[efficency](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**, British Sugar is therefore a good example of **Impact Level 1**, as they have made the production of their core product as circular as possible.


 Source: British Beet Research Organisation, Responsibility Report 2022, ABF.


 Foto © Ulleo for Pixabay

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Optimised use of resources

British Sugar | Optimised use of resources

### Challenge

Waste management, street cleaning, green maintenance, road construction: With more than 750 employees - 23 of them of different nationalities - at more than 18 locations, the **[Aachen Council](https://aachen.de)** performs central tasks of public service for the city of Aachen. In order to break down silos, manage the complexity of the multi-layered organization and motivate and retain employees, we were tasked with developing a mission statement with shared values.

### Strategy

We have developed a mission statement that clearly encapsulates the strengths of the Aachen Council. In doing so, we not only want to create identity and joy, but also a framework for action that forms a common platform for the heterogeneous organization. For the activation, we have developed three concrete phases that the Aachen Council can also use to develop its organization, its ecological footprint and its digital tools. A mixed team of Change Ambassadors accompanied the process with a lot of joy and trust and established itself as a permanent dialog tool for the management.

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A mission statement for new strength and togetherness

The Aachen Council - A mission statement for new strength and togetherness

The initiators of **[Labor Tempelhof](https://labor-tempelhof.org)** have set themselves the task of developing and implementing circular economy concepts for large concerts according to the **"Cradle to Cradle"** (C2C) principle. 

This project was put into practice for the first time in August 2022 at **three concerts at Berlin's Tempelhof Airport.** The large-scale events served as test sites to measure the climate-, environment- and resource-positive effects of C2C solutions and to test their scalability. 
 For example, 100% of the required electricity was covered by green electricity, phosphorus was recovered from sewage sludge, slightly polluted water was purified and fed into toilet flushes, and a social awareness concept was developed. The project uncovered challenges, for example, in the scalability of solutions and existing (mobility) infrastructure. The findings were published as a guidebook and made available to businesses, politicians, and event organisers.

We distinguish in three **[impact levels of circularity](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**. The project Labor Tempelhof is an example of impact level 3 "Circular and sustainable ecosystems", as it pushes for both a systemic transformation and the development of innovative solutions for society at large, as well as involving diverse societal stakeholders (from participants to start-ups to politics and infrastructure).




 Photo © Jörg Steinmetz for Labor Tempelhof

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Concerts as Circular Testing Fields

Labor Tempelhof - Concerts as Circular Testing Fields

The Dutch smartphone manufacturer Fairphone is not only committed to **ethically fair working conditions** in the manufacture of its products along the entire value chain, but also ensures that the smartphones are made from both recycled and **recyclable materials** during production. In addition, attention is paid to reparability and thus a longer device lifespan. 

Furthermore, Fairphone has established a model in cooperation with recycling specialists, such as the French company Cadaoz, whereby old devices should increasingly enter the recycling cycle.
 As an incentive for donating the old device, the cell phone owner is issued a voucher that can be redeemed at Fairphone. According to the company, this should enable the return of 17,000 old devices in 2020. Around 40% of the devices will be refurbished and repaired for the second-hand market, while the rest will be recycled and recyclable materials returned to the cycle.

We distinguish in three **[impact levels of circularity](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**. As an innovative business model, Fairphone is a good example of Impact Level 2.


### [Fairphone](https://www.fairphone.com/)



 Photo © Fairphone

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Fairphone - Sustainability goes electronic industry

Online mail order has been booming not just since the Covid19 pandemic: in Germany alone, the volume of shipments is forecast to increase by almost 20% by 2026*. This means at least as much growth in **disposable packaging waste**.
 The Finnish packaging specialist RePack has set itself the goal of preventing this. The idea of the start-up founders around CEO Jonne Hellgrenn: a **reusable recycling system for packaging**. Such systems have already been successfully established for glass and plastic bottles or beverage cans - why shouldn't it also be feasible for packaging?

In practice, the reusable packaging system is simple, practical and above all, circular: RePack provides online retailers with bags made of recycled polypropylene for a monthly rental fee.
 Retailers ship their goods in them, and customers return the empty packaging directly to RePack or use it to make returns to the retailer. After the return, the shipping bags are cleaned - either by RePack or the retailer directly - and are available for up to 40 additional shipping cycles. 

We distinguish in three **[impact levels of circularity](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**. As an innovative business model, RePack is a good example of Impact Level 2.


### [RePack](https://www.repack.com/)



 Photo © Original RePack Ltd
*Source: BIEK; KE-Consult, Statista 2022

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RePack - Verpackung neu gedacht

RePack - Packaging rethought

As if the shortage of skilled workers and the corona crisis weren't enough, the Ukraine war is currently fueling commodity prices and inflation. With rising financing interest rates, digital investment targets are slipping out of sight. SMEs are therefore economically unsettled, especially as supply bottlenecks are likely to lead to further foreclosure of the global markets in the coming months. This will have a particularly severe impact on Germany as an export nation.
 But so far, German SMEs have discovered economic opportunities in every crisis.
 Take the climate crisis, for example: the current UN climate report from May 2022 shows why we can already expect global warming to average 1.5°C in the next four years. You don't have to be an economist to recognize that the climate crisis not only requires extreme action, but also offers enormous business potential.
 
Instead of just green washing, however, the core business should finally be rethought. Three steps can be defined for dealing with sustainability:

 **1. Gain transparency** about your use of resources and your emissions. Identify your biggest environmental levers.
 **2. Reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions**, but also close material cycles and replace resources with sustainable alternatives.
 **3. Discover circular business models** that enable you to serve customer needs in completely new ways. In this way, not only create economic value, but also build a resilient ecosystem that creates planetary and societal value.

Many CEOs complain they are overwhelmed by the number of new issues and the complexity of decisions. How can you address this complexity? How do you make sustainability real?

**Manage your business as a whole**, not through silos. See it through the eyes of a customer for whom it is a logical entity. So avoid separating organization, brand, business model, or sustainability. From your customer's perspective, your corporate identity is indivisible. Therefore, bring all those responsible for these topics in your company to the same table.

Don't just survey your current status on all four levels, but let those responsible work together to develop the potential for the coming years.
 You will see how much sustainability connects all areas, from production to sales. Plan binding proof points for the next few years with a consistent innovation roadmap. Because you'll have all areas at the table to realize these milestones together. A new mission statement and strong forward momentum will be the result.

 **Here are our most important learnings as strategists who accompany such processes every day.
Contrary to popular belief, sustainable business strategies can:**

 **·	Reduce costs** through lower material, emission, disposal or energy costs
 **·	Maximize revenues** through competitive products and credible price premium
 **·	Minimize risks** through reduced commodity price, supply or regulatory dependency
 **·	Retain customers** through long-term sustainable leasing, repair or recycling relationships
 **·	Motivate employees** with clear attitudes, organizational goals and measurable effectiveness.
 **·	Support societies** through safety, fair training and payment along the supply chain.
 **·	Regenerate Planet Earth** through air and water purification, soil enhancement, and species conservation.


It is no longer a matter of having to do everything that makes money. No, what is increasingly being done is what moves us forward sustainably as responsible companies. Whether it's "cradle-to-cradle" or circular business models: Take a completely new perspective on the offering and the associated added value for your customer.
 In the future, SMEs will think in terms of customer solutions instead of corporate products. After all, it has long been clear that we actually need mobility instead of cars. We want clean laundry instead of washing machines. Less is often more right. For example, we can offer customers cars or fashion that are brand-new, produced in a recycled state or already used.

To be able to define sustainable business models more precisely, we divide them into three different impact levels of sustainable circularity. You can read more about what these are and what they entail in our article on **[the three impact levels of sustainable circularity](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)** nachlesen.

The modern entrepreneur does not merely act for profit, but balances material, human and planetary performance. We call this new pursuit of "Useful Performance" Ultrapreneurship.

 **Conclusion**
 Become part of the solution, especially in times of crisis. Trade in an entrepreneurial way. Re-prioritize and unleash the energy in your team to make a difference together. Discover that sustainable business models are fun and profitable.
 

 **Start doing it now!**

Have you read the examples of circular business models in our **[Blog](https://kup.id/en/up)**?
 Want to take entrepreneurial action, reset your priorities and make a difference?
 Want to see the status of your business at a glance?
 Take 20 seconds and use the free RAMP test. **[RAMP Test](https://kup.id/en/ramp)**.

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How companies can understand and benefit from sustainability

### Think everything together.

Shortage of skilled workers, climate change, corona crisis, Ukraine war, raw material prices, inflation, recession...
 How do I save my company?
 Is it enough to solve cost issues?
 How do we open up new sources of revenue?

The crucial step: remember, you are the CEO, the entrepreneur and yes, also the creative destroyer (J. Schumpeter).

 **Your first and only question: Who or what do you want and where should your company be in ten years?**

 So, especially during the recession, develop a strong vision, a picture of where you want your company to be. To do this, leave familiar paths and ask yourself what you can, want, need to do for your customers, employees and planet. Break through your silos and invite all your stakeholders into your vision to translate it into a strategy together with us and our **[CORING Process](https://kup.id/en/coring)**.

**How to transform your vision into your new mindset?**

Take advantage of the opportunities of circular business models and adopt a completely new perspective on your core business and customer promises.

Ground the constant pressure to grow, de-invest in old markets and themes, and focus on your incremental transformation.

Unleash the energy in your team to make a difference together. Balance material, human and planetary performance. In doing so, go beyond boundaries by striving for seemingly impossible goals. Do things that sustainably advance the planet and, in turn, you.
This energy is what modern entrepreneurship is all about. We call it **Ultrapreneurship**.

 **Start doing it right now!**

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Ultrapreneurship now

MUD Jeans offers a **jeans leasing model** including repair service for a monthly fee. After one year of leasing, the jeans are paid off and can be kept or traded in for a new leased pair. Returned jeans are either resold as vintage jeans or recycled to make new MUD jeans in a process that reduces the use of toxins and resources.

The business model extends the **product lifecycle** so that high value products are retained within the company, and reduces environmental impacts (e.g. water and raw material consumption) by recycling resources.

We distinguish in three **[impact levels of circularity](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**. As an innovative business model, ON is a good example of Impact Level 2.

### [Mud Jeans](https://mudjeans.de/)



 Photo © Unsplash Maude Frederique Lavoie

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Mud Jeans - Jeans for lease

Whether recycling economy, the "cradle to cradle" approach or the "product as a service" business model - they all have in common that they are attributed to the sustainable circularity or circular economy. And these existing approaches or business models will be followed by others.
 Because they offer solutions on many levels: For supply chain systems that are becoming more complex, for rising costs of dwindling resources, for customer loyalty and, last but not least, for the upcoming EU-wide regulations (e.g. the Net Zero program). In the future, economic activity will increasingly correlate with the extent to which value creation is decoupled from linear consumption. We show you how this can be done with inspiring examples in our Circularity **[Blog](https://kup.id/en/up)**.

In contrast to linear value chains, the model of circularity - in simplified terms - focuses in particular on the extension and intensification of product use. A product that circulates and thus remains in the economic cycle longer retains its functional value, saves resources, reduces emissions and pollution, and in turn promotes the regeneration of ecosystems.
 Innovative business models are needed to best circulate products with the functional values conveyed, to meet customer needs, and to be economical at the same time.

A company can achieve different impact for planet, society and its long-term business success with sustainable circularity. We basically distinguish three impact levels of circularity. They provide an orientation on how to approach the topic step by step:
 
 

##### Impact Level 1: First circular products and services

·	Transparency of the value chain and impacts
 ·	Resource efficient & fair production
 ·	Waste reduction
 ·	Enterprise at departmental level
 ·	Support of sustainable consumption behavior of customers

The first step is often innovation to close material loops for specific products and services that make production processes more efficient and consumer behavior more sustainable. Often, the initial focus is on a small target group.
 
 

##### Impact Level 2: Business model innovation

·	New, integrative services for a broader customer group
 ·	Preservation of product value (product life cycle)
 ·	Project involves various departments in the company

A higher impact can be achieved with innovations at the business model level, which provides new services and added value for customers beyond the physical product. Such changes are often associated with behavioral changes in the organization, such as breaking down silo thinking and increasing cross-departmental collaboration and strategic linkages between economic, environmental and social sustainability aspects.
 
 

##### Impact Level 3: Circular and sustainable ecosystems

·	Products close value, material and information loops
 ·	Inclusion of diverse societal stakeholders (politicians, infrastructure, public, other sectors)
 ·	Systemic change is envisaged
 ·	Developing innovative solutions for the broader society

The greatest impact is achieved through sustainable, circular ecosystems involving diverse stakeholders (often including policy makers as well as infrastructure). Circular ecosystems provide inclusive, sustainability-focused services to drive broad system change. This system change is often characterized by a full integration of economic, environmental, and social sustainability aspects.


 In her article **['From circular products and business models to circular ecosystems'](https://www.sgieurope.com/circular-economy/from-circular-products-and-business-models-to-circular-ecosystems/99081.article)** our partner **[Dr. Diana Born](https://kup.id/shoulders/diana-born)** delves further into circular business models.


Have you read the examples of circular business models in our **[Blog](https://kup.id/en/up)**?
 Want to take entrepreneurial action, reset your priorities and make a difference?
 Want to see the status of your business at a glance?
 Take 20 seconds and use the free RAMP test. **[RAMP Test](https://kup.id/en/ramp)**.

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The three efficiencies of sustainable circularity

Getting from A to B with an app that combines public transportation and sharing services to find the best route. That's the business model of the Finnish company MaaS Global. Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) is a functional approach that wants to give users the same freedom that only their own car can provide: to be able to **go anywhere at any time**.

They use an open ecosystem approach that allows mobility providers to integrate and cooperate with the app. Sharing services and public transportation are displayed on the map and the fastest or cheapest way to get to the destination is calculated. With its Tripguide, Whim not only supports sharing services and public transportation, but primarily serves as a means to **get around cheaply**.
 Together with the MaaS Alliance, an international MaaS association of diverse stakeholders, they are working closely with infrastructure and policy - on a regional to international level to be able to make mobility sustainable for the wider society.

We distinguish in three **[impact levels of circularity](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**. As a circular ecosystem, Whim App by MaaS is a good example of Impact Level 3.

### [MaaS Global](https://whimapp.com/)



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MaaS Global - Mobility that replaces your car

Berlin-based startup Circular.fashion has developed a curated platform offering **sustainably produced and recycled source materials**. This platform is called Circular Material Library and provides the fashion and textile industry with recycled materials so circularity can be directly considered in the design phase of products. 

Furthermore, the startup has developed the "circularity.ID® Open Data Standard": a database that stores information about materials used, their origin and manufacturing processes and is attached to the finished product as a QR code label. This also offers users the opportunity to find out about care and repair.
 In addition, circular.fashion cooperates with sorting and recycling facilities in order to be able to use the ID optimally for the end of the product’s lifecycle. Circular.fashion works on holistic solutions that can help the entire textile and fashion industry to become more **circular and transparent**.

We distinguish in three **[impact levels of circularity](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**. As a circular ecosystem, ON is a good example of Impact Level 3.


### [Circular.fashion](https://circular.fashion/en/)



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Transparent statt fast fashion

Circular.fashion - Transparent statt fast fashion

Circular.fashion - Circular Material Library

A **high-performance running shoe** made from two fully recyclable biopolymers and only available by subscription. This business model from ON combines several sustainability aspects to close the material cycle as best as possible.
 A special feature of the shoes is that they can only be rented by subscription, which increases the probability that the shoe will be returned and effectively recycled. At the end of the shoe’s lifecycle, at least 6 months, they can be returned and used 100% to manufacture new products and you get new pair of Cloudneo shoes. 

We distinguish in three **[impact levels of circularity](https://kup.id/en/article/the-three-efficiencies-of-sustainable-circularity)**. As an innovative business model, ON is a good example of Impact Level 2.


### [ON](https://www.on-running.com/de-de/cyclon?g_adtype=search&g_acctid=981-546-0205&g_campaign=%5Bn:GSN%5D%5Bm:GER%5D%5Bl:DE%5D%5Bi:Brand%5D%5Bc:Shoes%5D%5Bcat:Shoe-Model_Cyclon%5D&g_campaignid=11096183974&g_adgroupid=105615424981&g_adid=463625567654&g_keyword=on%20cloudneo&g_keywordid=kwd-1535139656520&g_network=g&gclid=Cj0KCQiAg_KbBhDLARIsANx7wAzZTkl8SbqVGDuTidw_ruRvhecHH6zmhhQhMGLdg8zpZNRdd2Xup70aAtahEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds)



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Fairphone - Nachhaltigkeit in der Elektroindustrie

ON - The circular running shoe

# Does planetary intelligence exist?

###### In the first part of this essay, we talked about the striking similarity between human addictive behaviour and the growth addiction of modern societies and whether it could be treated analogously to a substance addiction. This now is a theoretical attempt to break free from the addictive spiral by daring to be more planetary intelligent.

Addiction usually has two drivers. One is qualitative: New, different states of intoxication are always sought. The other driver is quantitative: more and more is demanded from the addictive substance.
In the case of modern consumerist societies, this applies to both the production side and the consumption side.

The beginning of every addiction therapy lies in the insight into the addiction and its harmfulness. The growth addiction of our economic system presents a heterogeneous picture here.
Due to direct disadvantage experiences of the climate crisis and closely timed economic crises, the view of our economic system is indeed becoming more critical.
However, it is still not entire societies that are questioning their addiction to growth, but at best parts of individual societies, while others are even increasing their addictive behaviour.
In addition, we are also dealing psychologically with an asynchrony.
The insight - yes, we have to renounce - that is shown at the moment of the theoretical discussion of the topic breaks down at the moment of the concrete, often non-public admission of consumption or growth.*

Thus, there is a double hurdle to overcome: the Janus-faced dependency and that of hidden addictive tactics.

**Expectation of scalability as the driving force of addiction.**

On the production side, our economic system is addicted to ever new, in many cases expendable, products. Innovation in high technology may often make sense. In the area of mass production, it usually is not. As a rule, it leads to ever new masses of superfluous products. The textile and food industries are only the most obvious negative examples. An outstanding one is the international beverage industry, which abolished the functioning glass bottle deposit system to increase profits and has since been destroying the earth with 440 billion plastic bottles every year. Bottles that contain mostly products that are harmful to health.
 We have also fallen intellectually into a scalability trap. Only products and services that could be marketed in large numbers are thought of and developed at all. The seemingly indispensable product masses for mass consumption are the destructive factor of our mode of production. Along the way, this scalability addiction is suffocating small-scale production approaches that could cure us of the addiction and that are often gentler in regional cycles.
Non-profit concepts such as tapping and gently using latent commons are ignored. Our greatest commons, the oceans, for example, are being ruined before our eyes by nationalistic and literally predatory capitalist greed.

As we know from addicted individuals in acquisitive crime, addicted industrial societies will stop at nothing to destroy long-term relationships with the planet's resources in order to drive their short-term production and consumption frenzies to new heights. A current example is the uncritical revival of liquefied natural gas extracted by extremely polluting fracking. Another is the notorious destruction of rainforests for livestock feed crops or pseudo-ecological fuels.
This is not new. But it is interesting to look at the connection from the perspective of addiction maintenance. If we shut down one source of addictive substances, e.g. Russian natural gas, another one will be developed immediately, as well as Central American resources will be developed rapidly after the Colombian cocaine cartels have been curbed. And vice versa.

The idea of renunciation is not thought, the addictive substance must be extracted, because there is the insatiable addiction. In the case of modern societies, we call this energy security, for example; it is now to be temporarily secured by a change of the addictive substance producers, then by addictive substance substitution therapy (so-called alternative energies), which in turn are only made possible with considerable amounts of material polluting the environment.
 The liberation from dependence, the end of addiction, seems a long way off. The fact that with solar energy we are also becoming dependent on China is similar to the relationship between a drug user and his criminal supplier.
The situation is similar with wind power and battery technology. The solution is obvious. Exit the addictive cycle by gradually weaning ourselves off consumerism and the associated energy addiction.


 **Politics are too slow. Industry must lead the way**

Since government guidelines are often marked by time-consuming compromises, industry must lead the way here in view of the planetary emergency and at the same time set impulses for action that are taken and reinforced by government and societal actors.
 Is it illusory to demand that producers produce less and do so in cycles? That oversized status products be abolished, and the lifespan of everyday products be significantly extended?
 Perhaps. But maybe not, if the alternative is to be unable to produce anything at all because the planetary foundations no longer exist. Product categories from necessary to dispensable to harmful would have to be introduced. What is necessary would be provided with a high product life span and reparability as well as recyclability. The harmful category would be reduced to zero through pricing policy. In the middle remains the segment dispensable or "nice to have", whose strategic weight would presumably fluctuate with the ecological and economic framework conditions but would also have to be reduced in the long term.
All this sounds utopian and planned at the same time. One could think the old spectre of unfreedom and dysfunctionality on the horizon.

Here are three questions.

 **First question:**

If the preservation of our planetary livelihoods is at stake, might this perhaps be the only way out of the vicious circle of production and consumption addiction, because an unguided continuation of market dynamics cannot lead to a rapid reduction of product masses?
 This is because the expectation of scalability ensures that product masses are maintained.
 They are modified in the sense of trendy sustainability, often nothing more than greenwashing. But the product masses will increase exponentially in view of the catch-up movements in the living standards of the global South.
 Even if they were produced in a noticeably more sustainable way, the rapidly growing quantity would be fatal for the planet.
 To enable the consumption level of the so-called western industrial societies, which produce a footprint of their citizens up to 32 times larger than so-called underdeveloped societies, to reach this level for the soon 9.5 billion inhabitants of the earth, we would need the planetary resources of 80 earths (J. Diamond/Crisis). We would use up all planetary resources at the latest on the fifth day of the year. Anyone who still relies on "business as usual" here is frankly not quite sane. Also, all sustainability efforts are here only drops in the ocean.

Meaning: Extraction & devastation, the principle of taking, the principle of growth-addicted economy (not just with raw materials, but also towards humans and animals) are outdated.
Aggressively holding on to it is cutting off the water for yourself and mankind. Even so-called clean energy is only an alibi here: "Clean energy may be a help when it comes to emissions; but it has no use in reversing deforestation, overfishing, soil depletion, and mass extinctions. A growth-obsessed economy, even if powered by clean energy, will still plunge us into ecological disaster" (J. Hickel/The Tyranny of Growthism.).


 **Second question:**

Isn't it the democracies duty to determine what level of renunciation is reasonable, through science-based understanding of people and fair questioning of citizens, since dictatorships and autocracies would only order renunciation arbitrarily, if at all?
Answer: YES. The second question is immediately followed by another:


 **Third question:**

What does man actually need for a good life?
Before we turn to this question in detail, let me give you a more pointed answer: for a good life, man does not need excessive consumption. In the course of the last 150 years, so-called Western man has been trained to do so by an industrial society caught up in expectations of scalability. Thus, addiction to consumption and production became the norm.
 But we now know that the contribution of material well-being to a good life, embodied in GDP, rises only to a certain, relatively low point. After that, it's about factors like easy access to social goods, community and health-promoting, low levels of continuous stress, humane development opportunities. This has been known for a long time:
"GDP neither measures our intellect nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our education, neither our compassion nor our love for our country. [...] In short, it measures everything except what makes life worth living." (Robert Kennedy)

But the realization is far from being taken to heart. Quite the opposite. The warning issued early on by its inventor, Kuznet, not to make material GDP the measure of our social development under any circumstances, has been systematically ignored and thwarted under the primacy of economics, and has propelled us directly into the consumerist addiction from which we find it difficult to extricate ourselves today.
 The GPI/Genuine Progress Indicator attempts to correct this aberration. It sets income inequality and social and environmental costs against personal consumption expenditures. Since the mid-1970s, it has flattened against rising GDP and then actually reduced. The GPI evokes the desirable condition of a society not yet completely dominated by addictive behavior. Thus it is closer to what we should understand by a good life. If it is favourable, the addicted society has fewer addictive substances in its blood.

If we orient ourselves to it, the negative consequences of excessive material growth, such as inequality, planetary ruin and health problems, will foreseeably be reduced. This could be another way out of the addiction spiral, in addition to the change on the production side (see above). Ideas like the One Health Concept also contribute by thinking about the health of humans, animals and the planet equally. If such approaches are taken seriously, they can help to curb the prevailing naive entrepreneurial actionism that keeps adding new addictive substances to the consumerist addiction cycle and is celebrated for it in the media.

From the right perspective and compared to the extensive loss of our planetary foundations, production and consumption renunciation is a small step. For it would correct something man-made by human action. But human action would be powerless in the face of planetary ruin once it had occurred.

 **There are ways of therapy and they must be taken immediately**

There are promising tools for addiction therapy. The Genuine Progress Indicator can be used to determine the extent of addiction, lowering our scalability expectations can correct addictive attitudes, and the One Health Concept can be used to address prevention and follow-up treatment. Many other approaches should be able to contribute as well.
 However, the all-important factor is time. Therefore, the benchmark for addiction treatment will be whether we can get the most influential players in the industry to see the destructive addiction spiral and correct it quickly. For while government actors are reluctantly transforming themselves into advocates for the planet, swift action by industry well beyond sustainability considerations to a strategic renunciation of potential monetary value creation is the prerequisite to seizing the temporary opportunity for transformation.

The renunciation of an aspired or already achieved level of prosperity is not considered seriously anywhere today. The leading media and politicians continue to celebrate growth rates and new triumphs of the partly green-washed mass producers. Knowingly doing the wrong thing is human and such an old behaviour pattern that even the Greeks coined the term "akrasia" for it.
 Even the UN's environmental organization is already warning of the collapse of planetary systems, but it still seems illusory that Coca Cola will return to the deposit bottle system, or that any of the major car companies will voluntarily reduce their production capacities. Legitimized by e-car production, they are more likely to be increased. Bogus sustainability even functions as a qualitative addiction driver. Catch-up effects of dynamic economies potentiate planetary devastation, wantonly instigated wars generate civilization damage and further environmental destruction in addition to human casualties.


 - Will we be too slow to forestall collapse through wise abandonment?
 - Do we even have the minimal prerequisites for a strategic renunciation of our habitual addictive substances and behavior patterns?
 - Are industry and society intellectually agile enough?


 **The 3rd revolution: Rights of nature and on nature become law**

The answer to these questions remains open. In order for it to be promising, we need an ecological constitution with mutual - i.e. also subjective for every citizen enforceable - and not just unilateral rights to an intact planet.
 Property will also be ecologically binding then. In rapid steps, ecology conforming to the market will become a market conforming to ecology. Rights of nature and individual ecosystems will be incorporated into the Basic Law - as it already was in Ecuador in 2008.
 The author Kersten calls this the 3rd revolution in his plea for an ecological basic law. In it, we will have to prove that we are intelligent enough to prevent our own extinction. Which also outlines the most important requirement for a planetary intelligence.
 

 **In the third part of the essay we will try to draw conclusions for a delimitation of planetary intelligence against our present behavior.**

 
 
 
 

* Internet consumtion/internal growth rates in companies

Photography © L.v.Wangger

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priorities

WHAT ARE
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