24th September, 11:00–12:30 BST
The ever increasing industrial impact of climate change and the emergence of a regulatory environment to address high GHG emissions have made the circular supply chain one of the key strategic priorities for Multinational corporations. The supply chain transformation from linear design to circular design is a part of the next industrial revolution. Several economic benefits have been demonstrated, including resource efficiency, waste reduction, and product/process innovation apart from environmental and societal benefits. However, there are multiple challenges such as new materials, product redesign, localised sourcing, novel production and information technology, changing customer behaviour, limited financial resources. These are the barriers to achieving circularity as well, leading to a common assumption that developing a circular supply chain will negatively affect the business's bottom line. Academic institutions and Multinational Corporations are addressing this industrial supply chain conundrum – "Cost Vs Circularity".
This session explores emerging pathways for circular supply chains, taking both academic and industrial perspectives to develop a climate-neutral economy (Carbon Net-Zero). To facilitate discussions, the focused session will have introductory contributions from leading speakers to introduce their latest research and practice.
Speakers
Luciano Batista, Aston University
Xavier Houot, Schneider Electric
