Materials & Circular Economy Highlights from SystemiqDear friends, partners and collaborators,
Materials are back. Good old-fashioned gigatons are once again at the geopolitical and industrial top table alongside gigawatts and gigabytes.
The IRP's Global Resources Outlook 2024 showed that our insatiable demand for materials is stretching the safe ecological boundaries of our planet. Global primary materials consumption has surpassed 100 billion tonnes (tripled since the 1970s), contributing almost half of global GHG emissions and straining natural ecosystems where materials are extracted or disposed. Left unchecked, plastic pollution in oceans and rivers is projected to quadruple by 2040.
Yet materials are also vital for prosperity and the net-zero transition – critical raw materials powering renewable energy, plastics supporting safe supply chains for food, medicines and consumer products, and steel/cement for infrastructure and urbanisation worldwide.
Systemiq has been working with many of you to navigate this complex materials landscape, through analytical system modelling, strategic advisory services, convening, and action initiatives across multiple sectors. We share our insights openly where possible and welcome feedback and challenges.
This newsletter highlights a selection of the resources and projects from the last few months and gives a flavour of upcoming insights and opportunities. Reach out if you are interested to find out more.
Ben Dixon, Partner and Head of Materials and Circular Economy
Janez Potočnik, Partner and Co-Chair, UN International Resource Panel
Sophie Herrmann, Partner and Head of Systemiq Germany
Yoni Shiran, Partner and Plastics & Packaging Lead |
Six predictions for plastics and packaging in 2025 |
With new regulation the world over, uncertainty on the plastic treaty outcomes, rapid technological advancements, and geopolitical risks, it may be harder than ever for organisations to plan ahead. To help navigate this landscape, Systemiq’s Yoni Shiran, Manuel Braun and Paula Petersen share six predictions that may shape the plastics and packaging landscape in 2025. |
Revolutionising packaging data |
Making informed decisions to address the packaging waste crisis effectively requires harmonised, high-quality data. Existing efforts by companies along the value chain to gather system data are fragmented, duplicative, costly, and often yield siloed datasets that are not sufficiently credible or granular.
For this reason, Systemiq and Earth Action are developing the Packaging Data Hub, a global data platform designed to fill critical data gaps, harmonise datasets, and support leaders in private and public sector with decision making. |
The programme is being developed in strategic collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, WWF, The Consumer Goods Forum, GPAP, CDP and several consumer brands to be announced soon.
The Hub will enable better decisions across the system: companies can design better packaging, reduce cost on data collection, streamline reporting and reduce legal risk of mislabelling; governments can prioritise infrastructure and policies; and all players can rely on harmonised data for impact measurement.
Contact us to learn more about this initiative and explore the benefits of becoming a founding member. |
Clean Rivers joins Project STOP as Scale-up Partner |
Project STOP welcomes Clean Rivers, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to transforming river systems into catalysts for sustainable development, as Scale-Up Partner and funder for Phase 3 of the Project STOP Banyuwangi Hijau programme. This is a significant boost to the programme’s ambitions to establish Indonesia’s first Regency-wide waste management system in the Banyuwangi Regency (East-Java).
Co-founded by Systemiq and Borealis in 2017, Project STOP has pioneered its long-term ‘system enabler’ approach to create effective circular waste management systems in high-need areas of Southeast Asia. Working in partnership with national ministries, local governments and other local partners in Indonesia, the initiative has grown from city-level partnerships into a large-scale programme. It aims to provide access to waste management services for nearly 2 million people across all Project STOP locations and create up to 1,000 full-time jobs. An innovative waste management app, developed with local governments and Accenture and launched in 2024, is also a key part of this scale-up. |
Global Resources Outlook 2024 |
In 2024, with support from the SUN Institute, Systemiq supported the UN International Resource Panel in launching its flagship report Global Resources Outlook 2024, and in deepening its cooperation with WBCSD, the International Chamber of Commerce, World Economic Forum and several leading governments (see for example Germany’s new National Circular Economy Strategy, setting clear targets for material consumption).
In 2025, the programme will work on cutting-edge scientific modelling to understand globally sustainable levels of material use, and continue to leverage its network of close supporters to bring sustainable resource perspectives to WCEF2025 and COP30 in Brazil. |
Grounded in rigorous analysis, our study Plastic Treaty Futures compared the economic, environmental, and social implications of four treaty scenarios. It showed that only a global, legally binding agreement covering the entire plastic lifecycle can significantly reduce plastic pollution by 2040. To make this actionable, we released two complementary free tools :
- The Scenario Explorer lets users customise treaty scenarios by adjusting assumptions regionally.
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A Living Income for the Informal Waste Sector |
In partnership with the Fair Circularity Initiative, we published A Living Income for the Informal Waste Sector. This study presents a new methodology for assessing living incomes in informal waste-picking communities and highlighted gaps in earnings across Brazil, Ghana and India. |
In a second phase, we conducted 11 case studies, revealing systemic barriers and offering actionable solutions to policymakers, companies, and the plastic treaty process to ensure a just transition. We are now expanding this work to at least 12 new locations, working with new NGOs and in new regions. |
Driving change in the fashion sector |
In 2024, we continued our longstanding collaboration with The Fashion Pact, a CEO-led coalition uniting nearly a third of the fashion industry, on the topics of scaling innovation and circularity.
We also worked intensively with an asset manager on assessing the ability of different circular solutions to reach a tipping point in the next five years.
Circularity will remain a top priority for our fashion work this year. Last month, we kicked off a large multi-stakeholder project in which we closely examine the economics of recycling polyester waste in Europe and how to drive this solution from incremental to exponential growth. The objective is to directly influence European policy on extended producer responsibility (EPR) and eco-design for textiles, and to drive ambitious private-sector action on demand and supply chain integration. |
Securing critical raw materials for Europe’s clean energy transition |
It identifies a set of seven key technologies from a longer list of twenty with high potential to sustainably boost supply of the top six critical raw materials for the energy transition in the EU and strategic partner countries over the next 10-15 years. The project team will discuss the findings from the analysis with high-level representatives from the European Commission. |
Guiding organisations to get ready for the EU’s battery passport |
Led by Systemiq, the Battery Pass consortium had a successful second project year, delivering to our goal to enable industry to respond efficiently to the EU battery passport mandate. So far, we have:
- launched the world’s first industry standard on digital battery passports, DIN DKE SPEC 99100, covering all data requirements mandated by EU Battery Regulation;
- turned the data requirements into a machine readable data model on GitHub
- defined the requirements for industrial and light means of transport (LMT) batteries;
- analysed how companies can achieve EU market conformity;
- and finalised the first EU Regulation-compliant battery passport software demonstrator.
These resources have laid the foundations for the EU standardisation process for DPP, JTC 24. We will end this three-year project with a live streamed closing event in Brussels on 25 February and a stand on the BMWK booth at Hannover Messe 2025. |
Further automotive- and batteries related analyses include
- Eight thought pieces on global policy interventions to support circular and low carbon automotive industry for the Circular Cars Initiative at the World Economic Forum, comparing EU, USA and China – on topics such as low carbon steel, digital product passports, circular materials and more.
- For WWF Germany, a study on the likely environmental impacts of onshoring battery manufacturing to Europe. Our findings suggest that while local CO2 emissions increase somewhat, EU batteries are expected to be greener than internationally sourced ones, and the emissions would be more than off-set by the additional EV put on EU roads.
- Commissioned by the Open Society Foundations, we investigated which topics divide stakeholders across the EU, hampering the energy turnaround – and what interventions could be taken to improve discourse and build trust to unlock progress.
Alongside this, the Mobility+ team delivered several ambitious advisory engagements, ranging from analytically substantiating a fully circular vehicle business model for a European premium automotive OEM, to supporting a globally leading battery cell manufacturer in their response to EU battery passport requirements, and advising a top-5 Tier 1 automotive supplier on their Circular Economy Strategy. |
Transforming PET packaging and textiles in the U.S. |
PET and polyester account for 30% of the United States’ plastic packaging and textiles use, contributing significantly to plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
In collaboration with Closed Loop Partners, Eunomia, and The Recycling Partnership, we released a study on transforming PET packaging and polyester textiles in the U.S. into circular, low-waste and low-emissions systems by 2040. It highlights that scaling proven, complementary circular economy solutions could cut non-recycled waste by ~50%, reduce packaging GHG emissions by ~60%, and create up to 46,000 new U.S. jobs, provided U.S. policymakers and industry leaders take swift and bold action. |
Circular business models:
Moving from the 'what' to the 'how' |
In 2024, Systemiq saw increasing interest in circular business models that strengthen customer relationships while reducing environmental impact. Our work included market assessments for reuse platforms, developing a circular vehicle business case with an automotive manufacturer, and helping a footwear brand refine its circular strategy. We also advised a large retailer in estimating the value of scaling circular models by 2030.
In partnership with Circularity and the Fraunhofer Institute, we released research on circular consumer electronics in Germany. A second report, planned for April, will share our methodologies for assessing circular offerings for broader adoption. |
- €733 billion in annual economic benefits by 2035.
- Addressing 90% of housing needs while saving 250 million tonnes of materials annually.
- Emissions reductions equivalent to removing 12 million cars from the road
Strategies include redeveloping brownfield sites, expanding green spaces, and using sustainable materials. We are now working with corporates, institutional investors and real estate funds to implement these opportunities, focusing on urban regeneration projects. |
© Systemiq 2025.
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