Stena Circular Consulting

Why should you start on ESPR compliance now? The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is coming, and while full implementation might still be a few years away, now is the time to start preparing to stay ahead of the competition. Here's a couple of more reasons: 🔍 Data Audit  For many companies, especially OEMs, a huge knowledge gap exists when it comes to their own supply chains. ESPR requires precise data on everything from materials to product origins. 🏗️ Building a data ecosystem with suppliers takes time The earlier you engage with suppliers to collect detailed sustainability data, the better positioned you will be. For smaller companies, the pressure will mount as OEMs (your customers) begin demanding this data. ESPR will hit the largest players first, but the ripple effect means that eventually, everyone will be required to provide this level of transparency. ⏳ Complexity requires early action The complexity of ESPR compliance mandates early preparation. By starting now, you can ensure your Bill of Materials is detailed and ready for compliance checks, setting the foundation for mandatory Digital Product Passports. 🚀 Early action creates competitive advantage A fully functioning Digital Product Passport (DPP) ecosystem would allow for a transformative shift. Imagine a world where companies have full visibility into their supply chains, where consumers can make informed choices based on material transparency, and regulators can ensure compliance through seamless data integration. Bottom Line: Don’t wait—by preparing for ESPR now, you're not just complying, you're leading. Reach out if you want to discuss how to create YOUR competitive advantage.

Discover your strategic advantage with Product-as-a-Service In times of supply chain disruptions and economic uncertainty, companies with long-term customer relationships and recurring revenue models tend to have a competitive advantage. Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) is one of the business models that offers exactly that and more. With the EU increasing regulatory pressure to transition to the circular economy and produce in a more sustainable way, PaaS can be a solution for some product groups. For companies in industrial electronics, PaaS has the potential to yield 36% in cost savings by 2035, compared to traditional models, a recent study by PwC has shown. Yet, for businesses built on product sales, transitioning to PaaS marks a significant operational and strategic shift. At Stena Circular Consulting, we have conducted extensive research into the challenges of PaaS and the business strategies for overcoming them. Our aim? Helping more businesses navigate the transition and stay ahead of the competition. Ready to Dive Deeper?  Together with Leneo we are hosting a webinar on how to develop an attractive Product-as-a-Service offering and digital tools that can simplify invoicing and contract management. 📅 Date: November 7, 2024 ⏰ Time: 13:15 The registration link is in the first comment.

🌿 Meet the experts leading our Circular Product Design Webinar! Join us for the webinar on "Circular Product Design: Insights from Our Projects on Recyclability," featuring a panel of practitioners working at the forefront of sustainability and circular design practices. 🔹 Oskar Mikaelsson - Circular Metrics Specialist at Stena Circular Consulting Oskar brings a wealth of knowledge in quantifying sustainability and circularity. With a background in design engineering and over a decade of experience in using circular metrics, he helps organizations measure and reduce their environmental impact. His insights are crucial for companies aiming to integrate circular principles into their business models. 🔹 Emma-Louise Gustafsson - Product Developer at Silva Sweden AB Emma is an experienced engineer and product developer who has always had sustainability close to heart. At Silva, she champions circularity, overseeing products designed for durability and recyclability. Her approach combines user-centric design with environmental considerations, making her a leading voice in sustainable product design. 🔹 Liv Andersson - Circular Design Expert at Stena Circular Consulting With over 15 years in sustainable product development, Liv is a seasoned industrial engineer committed to reducing environmental impacts. At Stena, she leverages her expertise in life cycle thinking to help clients create circular product flows and business models, having previously spearheaded circular initiatives at Accus AB. 📅 Date: 10 October ⏰ Time: 13:15 CET 📍 Link to register is in the first comment Don't miss the opportunity to learn and discuss insights from the real-world experience shared during the webinar. Whether you’re a product designer, sustainability officer, or business leader, this session will provide you with practical knowledge and inspiration to drive your sustainability initiatives forward. 💬 Engage with Us: Drop your questions for our speakers below or share what you hope to learn from this webinar!

Recycled plastics play a crucial role in reducing CO2 emissions, producing 70-90% less CO2 than virgin plastics. Many of our clients are working on introducing recycled plastics in their products, despite facing challenges such as price fluctuations, quality variations, and pushback from suppliers resistant to change.   To kickstart your journey towards using recycled plastics, consider these insights from our Design-for-Circularity projects: ♻ Begin with commonly recycled plastics such as ABS, PP, PE, PS, and PET 🔍 Initially focus on non-visible and non-structural components 💎 Focus on parts/products with textured surfaces rather than high-gloss ones ⚠ Avoid substances on the 'SIN list' to future-proof your products (For example, avoid the use of any Brominated Flame Retardants, e.g. PBDEs, TBBPA, PBBs, HBCDs)   And by the way: The price fluctuations of recycled plastics mirror those of virgin plastics. (See graph, ABS as example)   Is recycled plastics part of your company's sustainability strategy? 🌳 Stena Circular Consulting #recycledplastics #designforcircularity #productdesign #productdevelopment #sustainablemanufacturing

Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will significantly impact the furniture industry.    ESPR will introduce more stringent environmental performance criteria for most of the products, including furniture. All products will need to have a Digital Product Passport to allow for information sharing and traceability, the regulation will enforce a ban on the destruction of unsold goods, among other changes.    Möbelriksdagen, an annual conference by Interior Cluster Sweden, gathered key players in the furniture industry in Sweden. Riccardo Paccaloni, Senior Project Lead at Stena Circular Consulting took part in the first panel of the day discussing responsible production and sustainable materials.    "We’re seeing a clear shift with many producers already incorporating recycled materials, including recycled aluminum from our colleagues at Stena Aluminium. Using renewable energy, recycled materials and green steel are no longer optional but essential hygiene factors for sustainable furniture design. Yet more can be done, as demand for recycled is still limited", says Riccardo.   The Ecodesign Regulation (ESPR) & Delegated Acts will play a pivotal role in setting circularity standards in furniture, including durability, repairability and resource efficiency. They will apply to all items sold within the EU, whether they were produced locally or imported.    Digital Product Passports that will be introduced for most products, including furniture, will provide customers with transparency and added value enabling manufacturers to offer after-sale services and proper handling after use.   A big thank you to Interior Cluster Sweden for hosting such an insightful event, and a special thanks to our colleague Tommy Karlsson for giving us the chance to represent Stena Recycling AB. Looking forward to the next event! 

Circular product design: insights from our projects on recyclability Clients often ask us to find out what happens with a specific product when it is discarded. With access to the primary data from large-scale recycling operations in 7 countries, we are well-positioned to answer this question. But what we also tell our clients is how important it is to use this knowledge already at the design stage of a product or service. After all, how well a thing can circulate is to a large extent determined at the design stage. Over the years we have developed a proprietary methodology to assess recyclability from a design perspective and make recommendations on small and big design tweaks that can make a difference. During the webinar, we will: • Introduce best practices for recyclability and how to integrate them in the design process • Present the Design for Recycling framework • Answer any questions you might have   ESPR, CSRD, EU taxonomy and other regulations are strong reasons to review product design and increase the share of recycled materials, as well as recyclability at the end of life. The webinar will be of particular interest to the R&D teams, designers and managers. Link to the registration is in the first comment.

🪑 Why does most disposed furniture end up incinerated? Did you know that out of 10 million tons of furniture discarded every year in the EU, only 10% is recycled? Join us on 19 September in Värnamo, Sweden at Möbelriksdagen, the flagship conference of Interior Cluster Sweden, where Riccardo Paccaloni from our team will address this pressing issue. Alongside Jenny Hörberg from Kinnarps Group, Alexander Westerlund and Sean Barrett from Interesting Times Gang, and Magnus Johansson from SSAB the panel will explore how circularity and sustainable materials can transform the furniture industry and reduce emissions. The discussion led by Emma Olbers will cover: ✅ The impact of designing furniture with recycling in mind ✅ Strategies to minimize waste sent to incineration through improved re-circulation and durability ✅ The need for a new mindset and collective action in the furniture industry ✅ Examples of how Stena Recycling recovers materials and harvests reusable parts Riccardo and our colleagues from Stena Recycling AB will also be at the event, ready to answer any questions, feel free to stop by!  

How to measure circularity of a product?  In the last few years, the regulatory landscape has moved tremendously fast, with emerging directives such as the CSRD, EU Ecodesign Regulation, the Waste Framework Directive and more, leaving many companies and their sustainability departments overwhelmed with requirements and regulatory pressure. The new ISO family of standards on circular economy provides detailed guidance on HOW to measure and report circularity and helps to comply with most regulations. Additionally, since it is a standard, it is possible for 3rd party experts to review your work, giving you confidence in your delivery.   The standard uses a wide range of indicators to measure circular performance, with the following 6 being mandatory.   During production: - Average reused inputs (for instance a refurbished laptop can include up to 90% reused components) - Average recycled inputs (e.g. recycled plastics or aluminum) - Average renewable input (e.g. paper) At the end of life: - Actual reused products and components derived at the end-of life - Actual recycled materials derived at the end-of life - Actual recirculation of biological materials   The wording “Actual” means you must measure the recovery rates of your product, and not only rely on industry averages. Our Principal Louise Eriksson comments: "Just because a material is “recyclable”, it doesn't mean that it gets recycled. For example, while glass packaging is highly recyclable, glass elements in electronics are not". We have developed and tested with clients a methodology to trace the actual material flows at the end of life. Would you like to know more? 

How to close the demand-quality gap for recycled plastics? On the one hand, using recycled plastics is crucial because: - There's obviously lots of end-of-life plastics produced every day that could displace virgin (fossil-based) plastics and reduce reliance on oil and gas, if processed and reintroduced appropriately - It's a very good idea to use recycled vs. virgin plastics from a CO2 footprint point of view (reductions in the range of 20-80%) - The new #ESPR regulation in Europe will start requiring products to include certain amounts of recycled content. Some producer responsibility legislation, like the draft #ELV directive, are already requiring it. - It's good for the brand. In its annual consumer survey Stena Recycling AB found that 76% of respondents believe it's important for companies to use recycled materials. (link in comments) On the other hand, recycled plastics are of lower quality due to challenges in collection, sorting and reprocessing, but also owing to the initial additive load. Combined with a demand-boosted price premium, we have the perverse situation where recycled plastics are often of poorer quality AND higher price than it's virgin counterparts. Making better recycled plastics is part of the solution. Yesterday I participated in a webinar on technical advancements of chemical recycling, with insights from Perstorp Group, SÖDRA CELL AKTIEBOLAG, and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. A few notable take-aways: ⚗ Using solvents and reagents to depolymerise or extract the basic polymer while removing additives and contaminants is less energy-demanding than thermochemical processes (like pyrolysis) 👚 Applied to textiles, it offers a good avenue to recover polyester, polyamides, and polyurethane (c.f., Syre). 🛡 However, the blend of materials is a major challenge. 💡 Luckily, refined methods to recover the good stuff and enable recovery of high-quality recyclate are in development. Even a 'solid-state' purification of PE/PP-type plastics is possible, which can be applied to, for example WEEE plastics. 💸 None of this changes that virgin plastics being dirt cheap in comparison. (PET is at roughly $1/kg at the moment!) The speakers seemed fairly unanimous that this factor is holding back investment in these technologies in Europe, and that stakeholders are waiting for more regulatory forcing mechanisms to come. 🤔 It's true that with quantitative targets for recycling and recycled content across many plastics-exposed products, it's kind of hard to solve the equation without some mechanism to level the playing field in pricing. ✂ A final thing, mentioned repeatedly throughout the conversation, was the need to also design for circularity. These novel recycling technologies work better for less complex materials, but struggle when there is a lot of other things mixed in. In other words, we need to find better ways of making that super-comfy activewear than an impossible fabric mix destined for the furnace or landfill.

Every year 150,000 – 200,000 cars reach their end-of-life in Sweden. What happens next? Main steps involve: 1️⃣ The owner / dealer / insurance company hand in the car to an authorized dismantler / scrap yard 2️⃣ Hazardous substances are removed and valuable parts are dismantled and sold by the authorized dismantler / scrap yard, e.g., as spare parts  3️⃣ The car body and remaining parts are shredded, sorted and recycled by a material recycler  4️⃣ Recycled scrap is used as input in new materials, e.g. by metal smelters Some data points: 🚗 Out of ~12 M cars leaving the EU market each year only about half are scrapped through official channels in Europe - the rest is scrapped through unofficial channels or exported to developing countries   🚗 Sweden has ~300 active car disassembly facilities across the country 🚗 >85% of an internal combustion engine car is typically recycled or reused, ~10% is incinerated (mainly plastics) and the remainder is landfilled 🚗 Stena Recycling's largest shredder tears a car into fist-sized pieces in 3 seconds Would you like to know what happens with your products at the end of life? Get in touch!