At a Glance
- The circular economy aims to replace the take-make-waste model with one where materials stay in use as long as possible
- Circularity is now a measurable business driver: leading Dutch companies, Philips for example, report circular KPIs alongside emissions data
- There are five core circular business model strategies, and not every company needs all of them
- Dutch companies are early movers in manufacturing, retail, and construction
- EU regulation on circularity is expanding fast, covering raw materials, packaging, and mandatory disclosure requirements for companies
- The business case is clear: reduced material costs, supply chain resilience, and new revenue streams
Why Circularity Is Becoming a Business Strategy
For most European companies, circularity has lived in the sustainability report, filed near the waste data as a recycling rate or a passing mention of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan.
That is changing. The shift is visible on three fronts.
Regulatory pressure is sharpening, and much of it traces back to a single concern: Europe’s dependence on imported raw materials. The EU Circular Economy Action Plan set the direction in 2020, and the regulation that followed has been building on it since: the Critical Raw Materials Act sets EU extraction, processing, and recycling targets to reduce that exposure, the Net Zero Industry Act limits non-EU content in clean-tech tenders, and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation sets minimum recycled content and reuse targets to cut reliance on virgin inputs. ESRS E5 under CSRD adds a disclosure layer on top, requiring in-scope companies to report how they manage material use, waste, and circular economy opportunities. For supply chain companies, this pressure is already arriving through customer data requests.
Investor and procurement expectations are rising. EcoVadis assessments already include a dedicated circular economy module, and it is starting to factor into supplier and financing decisions, alongside the climate and biodiversity criteria that still dominate most assessments.
The financial case is strengthening. Raw material prices have been volatile for years. Companies that have reduced their dependence on virgin inputs are reporting lower procurement costs and better supply chain resilience. Some have opened new revenue streams by turning waste streams into products.
Circularity is strategic. Figuring out which model fits your business, and where to start, is what makes it real.
The Business Case for Circular Business Models in the Netherlands
Five developments make the strategic case concrete.
- The Netherlands updated its National Circular Economy Programme in October 2025. The original target of a 50% reduction in primary raw material use by 2030 has been replaced with three concrete 2035 targets: at least 82% of waste recycled (15% high-grade), a minimum 55% share of sustainable bio-based and secondary materials, and a 15% reduction in total material use compared to 2016. Full circularity by 2050 remains the end goal.
What it means: Regulatory requirements on material use will keep tightening, even as the specific targets evolve. Companies that act early are building capabilities ahead of mandatory requirements. - Dutch material resource use is already 22% below the EU average, according to the European Environment Agency’s 2024 Netherlands Circular Economy Country Profile.
What it means: The Netherlands is a frontrunner, which means Dutch companies are operating in a market where circular suppliers and infrastructure are more developed than in most European countries. - 86% of critical mineral refining capacity is controlled by three countries, with most growth concentrated in China, according to the IEA Critical Minerals Outlook.
What it means: European manufacturers face real supply concentration risk on inputs like battery materials and electronics components. Circular sourcing reduces exposure to a market few companies control. - Raw material prices, including virgin cotton and other commodity inputs, have shown significant volatility in recent years.
What it means: Companies dependent on virgin inputs carry direct exposure to price swings. Circular and secondary material sourcing protects against this volatility. - EcoVadis assessments now include a dedicated circular economy module, and some banks, including Rabobank and ING, have started tying sustainability-linked lending conditions to circularity indicators alongside climate metrics.
What it means: Circular economy performance is beginning to factor into supplier assessments and financing conditions, giving companies with credible circular strategies an edge in tenders and access to capital.
The financial case runs through procurement costs, supply chain resilience, customer qualification, and access to capital, not through the waste budget alone.
The Five Circular Business Model Strategies
These five strategies address different parts of the value chain and require different capabilities. Most mid-market companies find one or two that fit their starting position well.
1. Circular Inputs: Replace Virgin Materials at the Source
This strategy focuses on substituting primary raw materials with bio-based, recycled, or recovered inputs. It reduces exposure to commodity price volatility and positions the company ahead of mandatory recycled content requirements coming through EU product regulation.
Dutch example: DSM-Firmenich. The Heerlen-headquartered life sciences and ingredients company has built circularity into its input strategy through precision fermentation and bio-based chemistry. Its ingredient portfolio increasingly uses upcycled materials, including Firsantol, a fragrance ingredient derived from upcycled turpentine from the paper industry. The company aims to halve virgin plastics in its packaging by 2030 and has over 50 active synthetic biology projects targeting bio-based alternatives to conventional inputs. Bio-based and upcycled inputs reduce dependence on petrochemical supply chains, and they meet a level of customer demand for sustainable sourcing that keeps growing.
2. Resource Recovery: Turn Waste Streams into Secondary Products
Instead of paying to dispose of waste, companies in this model extract value from it. Organic waste becomes biogas. Construction rubble becomes secondary aggregate. Mixed commercial waste becomes recyclate sold back into manufacturing supply chains.
Dutch example: Renewi. Operating as the number one recycler in the Netherlands and Belgium, Renewi handled 10.4 million tonnes of waste in FY2024 and recycled 6.6 million tonnes of that into secondary materials. Its subsidiary Maltha transforms over a million tonnes of glass waste annually into high-quality raw materials. In September 2025, Renewi invested in upgraded sorting technology at its Nieuwegein construction waste facility, enabling recovery of an additional 2,500 tonnes of materials per year, including screened sand, rubble, and non-ferrous metals. For Renewi’s customers, that waste stream now shows up twice on the balance sheet: once as a disposal cost avoided, once as a secondary material available to buy back.
3. Product Life Extension: Design for Durability and Remanufacturing
Products designed for disassembly, repair, and remanufacturing stay in use longer. This reduces the demand for new production and, critically, keeps the manufacturer connected to the product throughout its life, creating ongoing service revenue.
Dutch example: Roetz Bikes. The Amsterdam-based manufacturer builds bicycles from abandoned bikes collected from Dutch cities, achieving 30-40% circularity in its standard collection and up to 70% when remanufacturing fleet bikes for NS (Dutch Railways). Its Roetz Life e-bike takes the model further: a modular frame designed to last indefinitely, with individual components that can be replaced, upgraded, or reconfigured rather than discarded. Roetz tracks each bike’s condition in real time and offers next-day service. Revenue comes from an ongoing service relationship rather than a single sale, and material use drops with every cycle the bike stays in circulation.
4. Sharing and Access Models: From Ownership to Access
When customers pay for performance or access rather than ownership, the manufacturer has a direct financial incentive to make products last as long as possible. Maintenance, repair, and end-of-life recovery become part of the business model rather than afterthoughts.
Dutch example: Bundles. The Amsterdam startup installs Miele washing machines in customers’ homes and charges per wash rather than per machine. Bundles retains ownership of the appliance, handles all maintenance and repair, and recovers the machine at end of contract for reconditioning and reuse. Customers save an average of 91 kWh of energy, more than 10 litres of detergent, and 3,000 litres of water per year through the connected app’s usage guidance. The model has also pushed Miele to design more circularly, since a machine that is easier to disassemble and upgrade reduces Bundles’ operating costs directly.
5. Circular Supply Chains: Close the Loop with Suppliers and Partners
This strategy redesigns procurement and production to ensure materials can return to the supply chain at end of life. It often requires working with suppliers to change material specifications, and with logistics partners to create return flows.
Dutch example: Auping. The Deventer-based bed manufacturer opened a dedicated circular mattress factory in February 2024, producing mattresses that can be fully disassembled at end of life using a click-unclick adhesive system developed with materials partner Niaga. All components (steel springs, polyester fibres, and ticking) are recovered and processed back into new mattresses without quality loss. Auping operates a take-back system and aims to be fully circular by 2030. The circular factory now produces one mattress per minute. In Europe, 35 million mattresses are discarded every year; Auping built its supply chain specifically to catch that volume before it becomes waste.
Where to Start with Circular Business Models
Most circularity strategies fall apart because the starting point is unclear. The five models above cover the full range of what is possible. Three questions help narrow down which one applies to your business right now.
Where are your biggest material costs?
If raw material procurement drives your costs, circular inputs or resource recovery are direct levers. Substituting virgin materials with secondary or bio-based alternatives, or capturing value from your own waste streams, addresses cost exposure directly. Start by mapping which materials account for the largest share of procurement spend and how volatile those prices have been.
Where do your customers face circular pressure?
If your customers are large corporates subject to CSRD, they are already collecting data on their supply chains. Circular performance is increasingly part of supplier qualification. If you supply into sectors like construction, food, textiles, or manufacturing, the pressure to demonstrate circular inputs or low-waste production is already arriving through procurement questionnaires. Understanding what your customers are being asked to report helps you prioritise which circular credentials matter most.
Where does your product go at end-of-life?
If you manufacture a physical product, the answer to this question often reveals the biggest untapped opportunity. Most Dutch manufacturers do not know where their products end up after use. If the answer is landfill or incineration, there is a recovery opportunity. If the answer is a third-party recycler, there may be a case for bringing that relationship in-house or redesigning the product for higher-grade recovery. Product life extension and circular supply chain strategies both start here.
Key point: You do not need to pursue all five strategies. The strategy that matches your biggest cost, your customers’ reporting needs, or your product’s end-of-life reality is your starting point.
The KPIs That Make Circularity Measurable
Circularity fails as a strategy when it stays vague. Specific, business-relevant indicators turn good intentions into measurable progress.
Three KPIs are worth tracking regardless of sector, drawn from the Global Circularity Protocol published by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development:
Circular inflow and outflow. What share of your material inputs, and what share of your outputs, are circular (recycled, reused, or bio-based)? Procurement teams, investors, and regulators increasingly ask for this number first.
Actual recovery rate. The percentage of your product that is actually reused, refurbished, or recycled once it reaches end of life, measured against its theoretical recyclability. Many companies find their circular claims don’t survive that comparison.
Circular revenue. Turnover linked to circular products or services, as a share of total revenue. Boards want to see this number before approving further investment. It reframes circularity as growth, not cost.
For companies with material exposure to packaging or fibre-based products, two additional KPIs matter directly: recycled content share, since PPWR sets binding minimums by 2030, and DPP-readiness, since Digital Product Passport requirements arrive in 2027 for an expanding list of product categories.
Tracking every available indicator dilutes the signal. Pick two or three that reflect where your business actually has material exposure, set a specific target and year, and report progress consistently.
How The Overview Effect Can Help
Translating circularity from concept to strategy requires clarity on where your business sits today, which model is most relevant, and what a credible first step looks like. An outside perspective tends to shorten that path considerably.
At The Overview Effect, we help mid-market companies work through exactly this. We combine strategy development with practical CSRD and sustainability reporting support, so the circular work you do connects directly to what you need to disclose and what your stakeholders are asking for.
If you are trying to figure out where to start or how to make the case internally, book a free consultation and see how we can support you.
Frequently Asked Questions
A circular business model is one designed to keep materials in use as long as possible, eliminating waste by recovering, reusing, or recycling resources rather than disposing of them after a single use.
The five strategies are: circular inputs (replacing virgin materials with bio-based or recycled alternatives), resource recovery (extracting value from waste streams), product life extension (designing for durability, repair, and remanufacturing), sharing and access models (selling outcomes or access rather than ownership), and circular supply chains (designing procurement and logistics to enable material return flows).
Companies in scope for CSRD must assess whether resource use and circular economy topics are material to their business under ESRS E5. Where material, they are required to disclose their circular economy strategy, targets, and performance. Many mid-market companies will face this requirement directly or through supply chain data requests from larger customers.
Recycling is one element of circularity, specifically the recovery of materials at end of life. Circularity is broader: it includes designing products to last longer, shifting to bio-based inputs, recovering value from waste streams, and rethinking ownership models so that materials stay in productive use across multiple cycles.
Start with the three diagnostic questions: where are your biggest material costs, where do your customers face circular pressure, and where does your product go at end of life. The answers will point to the one or two circular strategies most relevant to your business, rather than trying to address all five at once.