What is the Circular Economy Implementation Framework?
Under the REFRAME project the IO3: CE Transition Framework specifically for small and medium businesses in the construction, manufacturing and crafts industries has been developed, which helps them become friendlier to the environment. It provides the EU construction & manufacturing SMEs and micro-enterprises’ employees and future employees with practical knowledge on implementing CE transition in their business. The CE Framework includes a set of methodology concepts, tools and measurement instruments that guide the execution of CE strategy adoption.
The CE Framework includes:
- Analysis of the following factors as per REFRAME target groups: Organizational, Financial, Political, Legal, Social, Environmental, Technical and Knowledge and Supply Chain Factors
- Implementation Framework Process Model
- Risk and Opportunities Management Process: Any change in a business environment may cause risks that might threaten an SME’s existence if not identified at an early stage, like changes in business processes, products and services, suppliers, business model etc. Such risks should be identified, assessed, evaluated and treated for SMEs to monitor CE transition and meet its predefined objectives.
- A Sector-Specific Circular Economy Strategy per Target Group (Construction, Manufacturing and Crafts), which will help SMEs & micro-enterprises to:
- Re-design a Circular Business Model: This needs to be done mostly because regular business models are based on a linear economy where a basic principle is adding value to a particular product whereas in a CE the principal is to maintain each product’s value.
- Re-design a Circular Business Processes: Once an SME implements a CE, it shall modify its processes for fundamental CE principles to be satisfied (e.g. reuse potential and recyclability of industrial and other products). Circular Processes aim to assist construction and manufacturing SMEs and micro-enterprises in fundamentally rethinking how they do their work to improve Circularity.
- Re-design Circular Products and Services: Re-design of existing products and services shall occur for new products to be easy to maintain, repair, upgrade, refurbish or remanufacture.
- Prioritisation Model, with prioritised activities that need to be done to succeed in the above.