THE CHALLENGE
Circular economy has historically been treated as a voluntary activity with carbon emissions reduction prioritised by companies and governments. The recent announcement of sustainability
and circular economy regulation in the EU has made it mandatory for companies to disclose various environmental and social impacts of their product and services and comply with stricter product design standards.
In light of this, the client required the guidance and support from a consultancy who would conduct a policy and industry landscaping/ benchmarking activity. Using this data, the consultancy would then advise them on their sustainability and circular economy strategy in light
of these new requirements.
This project included three key client objectives:
- Reducing legal risk through compliance with regulations.
- Promote the company’s brand and attract customers.
- Optimise company assets and strategies to outperform competitors.
This is on top of international policy assessment as well as industry benchmarking. Due to the
recent adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), many businesses have found it crucial to assess their readiness to various European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) requirements as well as emerging policies in the EU.
THE SOLUTION
The client worked with Gemserv to conduct a full-scale review of their sustainability and circular economy strategy.
First, Gemserv oversaw a policy analysis, looking at circular economy regulations internationally,
benchmarking their likely impact on the client and their readiness to respond.
Next, we worked with the client to compare them against their industry competitors. To do this, we analysed sustainability data across industry competitors, ranking them in terms of their performance against key circular economy standards.
After this, we completed a gap analysis, summarising the readiness of the client to respond to both regulatory and market challenges.
Finally, Gemserv offered recommendations to address these gaps, focusing on priority actions implementable across their manufacturing, compliance, and public affairs and influencing strategies. This has allowed the client to assess their competition, identify
strengths and challenges.
THE IMPACT
Gemserv has provided the client with a range of recommendations across significant areas of the business. They have a series of implementable actions with specific action plans for each area of concern and identified weakness.
This has influenced the client’s overall circular economy strategy, and opened the door to future
partnerships between Gemserv and the client to inform further sustainable strategies and practices.
