What lies ahead for the future of sustainable Australian business? And how will global megatrends shape this future?
James Bradfield Moody believes that a circular economy is vital for sustainable futures. As a leading thinker in innovation and sustainability, Moody spoke as part of the Canon Inspiration Series, which this year focuses on change-makers in innovation.
The Canon Inspiration Series was initiated by a group of Canon employees a few years ago. Hosted by Canon every quarter, the series provides employees with the chance to listen and interact with an inspiring speaker, walk away with some life lessons, get motivated, mull over larger issues, spark change and foster discussions.
As the CEO of sharing community TuShare and former executive director of development at the CSIRO, Moody explained how a circular economy is an approach to business that supports sustainable and prosperous futures.
The next megatrend
Resource efficiency is the next megatrend, Moody said, and the companies that adapt to it will be the most successful.
“We are moving from an old mode of operation to a new one,” Moody said. “Previously we were harvesting resources, but now we’re going to be managing resources that are scarce. The rate of change we are going to see in the next 10 years will be so much more than what we’ve seen in the last decade.”
Companies that are thriving on this trend include sharing services like GoGet, Uber and Airbnb.
Australian company GoGet, which launched in 2003, is a car sharing service that charges members an annual fee to use its fleet of vehicles when they need it.
Based on the insight that cars sit idle for 95 per cent of the time, Moody said GoGet is a prime example of how businesses are seeing success in managing existing resources, rather than producing more material products.
Airbnb is another example of using existing assets in a resourceful way. While hotel chains typically have a large turnover of materials, Airbnb properties aim to more efficiently use existing resources to reduce environmental impacts.
“These companies have found ways to tap into assets we are not using to their full capacities – whether they be cars or homes. There is hidden value all around us. It is a massive business opportunity for us to manage resources that we aren’t using.”
What is a circular economy?
A circular economy is a way to create more value out of existing resources, according to Moody.
“Until now, we have had a very linear model where we’ve taken stuff out of the ground, stuck it into a product, sold it to a company and stuck it back into the ground at the end of its life. But if you start closing those loops, there is no such thing as waste.”
The circular economy is the future of economic growth, Moody explained, and by 2030 businesses will be heavily involved in recycling, re-using and managing resources.
Businesses will become more innovative in how they source materials and will look to make connections with other companies on how they can use existing resources for their own goods and services.
This is already becoming common practice with companies today. For example, Australian business Interface uses discarded fishing line from the Philippines to make its carpet range. It also rents the carpet to its customers and then takes it back to create new carpet for future customers.
From product to purpose
We are now seeing a shift in business models where value is being placed not on the product but on its service, and how customers experience and draw meaning from it.
Airlines are innovators in this area, with companies like Qantas and Etihad offering services such as frequent-flyer lounges and chauffeured cars from homes to airports.
“They realise that the service they offer of getting you from A to B is pretty simple, but it’s about the experience of all these services put together. Companies that can actually sell purpose and meaning, then successfully translate that into a series of experiences – that’s where you catch more and more value.”
If companies can understand the idea of services and experiences being valued higher than products, Moody said, they will benefit from greater long-term customer buy-in.
“Customers today don’t buy what you do – they buy why you do it,” Moody said. “We are in a period of change, and as they say – if you are not at the table, you might be on the menu!”
Innovation and sustainability at Canon
Canon sustainability manager Janet Leslie highlighted Canon’s sustainability policies and achievements at the Inspiration Series talk.
As part of its aim to reduce the environmental impact of its products at each stage of their life cycles, Canon’s product teams have a frontrunner environmental product in each of their categories.
“Since 2008, when Canon introduced the life cycle design process, it has reduced the greenhouse gas emissions of the product life cycle per product by 30 per cent,” Leslie said.
Nic Fulton, a research engineer at Canon’s CiSRA research wing, said Canon is a quiet innovator transforming the user experience.
“Our computer vision product is a system that can process and identify objects, which is starting to go down the road of getting deeper into what the eye does,” Fulton said. “Humans are always going to want to see. Canon is going to be part of that in capturing and displaying images.”
As we approach 2030, sustainability initiatives and innovation should be top of mind for companies.
Businesses who offer a strong service model for their customers while using existing goods and resources will be the most successful, as the world increasingly grapples with limited materials and environmental concerns.
Whether your business sells printers or carpets, it’s clear that the economy and market is rapidly evolving. Weaving innovation, sustainability and forward thinking into your operations and objectives will be the key differentiator for those companies that wish to play an active role in this new circular economy.
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