Circular manufacturing industry
What was the question?
The circular economy requires close collaboration between businesses, research institutions and public authorities. Yet initiatives often get bogged down in isolated projects and good intentions. The Province of North Brabant and BOM were looking for an approach that goes beyond one-off collaboration: a movement in which businesses develop sustainable circular solutions on an ongoing basis, even without direct guidance.
What have we done?
For three years, we developed and facilitated the Circular Value Centre Fast Forward programme. We brought together companies from Brabant’s manufacturing sector to form circular supply chains.
What were the results?
They moved from a shared ambition to concrete innovation projects, using a proven five-step approach. At the same time, we worked to build a community, foster knowledge-sharing and develop a transferable methodology, so that the movement continues to grow.
Circularity thus became a joint development challenge, rather than merely an individual business issue. Vanderlande developed a circular solution that was nominated for the international Digital Engineering Award; HQ Pack, in collaboration with ASML, Vink and Mitsubishi Chemical, produced a 100% recycled plastic for cleanroom applications; and Neways integrated circular revenue models into its strategy.
