{"id":3580,"date":"2025-10-31T15:38:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/positiveimpakt.eu\/the-shipping-container-of-circularity-how-data-standardisation-will-scale-the-circular-economy\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T15:47:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:47:54","slug":"the-shipping-container-of-circularity-how-data-standardisation-will-scale-the-circular-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/positiveimpakt.eu\/fr\/the-shipping-container-of-circularity-how-data-standardisation-will-scale-the-circular-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shipping Container of Circularity: How Data Standardisation Will Scale the Circular Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where is the The ‘Shipping Container’ of Circularity?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Data and standardisation, Not Design, Will Scale the Circular Economy<\/p>\n\n\n\n


In 2017, while examining how value is created along continuous circular supply chains<\/strong>, I realised a critical bottleneck: circularity<\/strong> was struggling with the same friction that logistics once faced. Each company tracked product circularity<\/strong> differently, each sector relied on its own reporting formats, and every system spoke its own language<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reminded me of the pre-container shipping era<\/strong> – when goods were reloaded, repackaged, and delayed at every port due to incompatible standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The solution was never<\/strong> more ships or better design. It was one standardised box<\/strong> – a universal framework for interoperability across the supply chain<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t need more pilots. We need a protocol.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circular economy has become one of the most overused phrases of the decade.
We celebrate circular strategies, circular business models, circular materials – and yet the system itself isn\u2019t circular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the element that made globalisation scalable – standardisation and interoperability<\/strong> – is still missing in the circular economy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are building smart factories, digital twins, and sustainability dashboards, but we have not yet implemented the one thing that transformed global trade: a standard framework for circular data<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The box that changed the world<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1950s, global trade was chaotic. Goods were handled differently at each port, repackaged for every ship, and delayed for weeks.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the shipping container<\/strong>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One box. One format. Infinite interoperability<\/strong>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It sped up logistics and redefined what was possible.
It enabled nations to collaborate, companies to scale, and entire supply chains to synchronise<\/strong> efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the circular economy<\/strong> faces the same challenge logistics once did: friction at every handover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Every company tracks product circularity<\/strong> using its own indicators.
Every system relies on a unique file format.
Every certification uses a distinct vocabulary.
Every platform collects separate circular data<\/strong> along the supply chain.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet we wonder why circularity measurement<\/strong> fails to scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hidden cost of fragmentation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circular data<\/strong> is generated everywhere. In sensors, factories, procurement tools, and product lifecycle assessments<\/strong>, yet almost none of it connects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We collect it, but we rarely compare or standardise it<\/strong>. We discuss circularity, but we do not measure product circularity consistently<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the best initiatives (including digital product passports, blockchain pilots, and material databases<\/strong>) often create new silos instead of shared frameworks.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, circularity fails<\/strong> because we lack interoperability and standardised circular data<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If every country still used different box sizes, barcodes, and loading standards, global trade would remain local, slow, and expensive. That is exactly what is happening in the circular economy today<\/strong>! Billions are invested, thousands of pilot projects are launched, and no shared data infrastructure<\/strong> is generated. We cannot build circular systems on linear data habits<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transformation loop<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circularity will only scale when data becomes a shared language<\/strong> – a true \u201cshipping container for circularity.\u201d<\/strong>
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This requires a single, open dataset<\/strong> that defines the circular characteristics of a product<\/strong>, including repairability, durability, adaptability, and reuse potential<\/strong> – enabling all actors along the circular supply chain<\/strong> to interpret, verify, and improve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once this foundation exists, a feedback loop<\/strong> emerges:
Circular data \u2192 Insights \u2192 Design Decisions \u2192 Long-term Viable Circular Business Models<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circularity stops being a compliance exercise<\/strong> and becomes a learning system powered by standardised, comparable data<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From chaos to containers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shipping container<\/em> didn\u2019t change what we traded, it changed how we coordinated<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circular data containers<\/em><\/strong> could achieve the same impact: making circularity measurable, comparable, and actionable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we can measure product circularity<\/strong> as easily as we move goods, we unlock the next phase of the circular economy<\/strong>, where interoperability and standardisation<\/strong> drive sustainable growth at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Good News: The Solution is CircularTracker<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Standards like ISO 59040<\/strong> define the shared language of circularity<\/strong>, but organisations still need practical tools to implement them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is where CircularTracker<\/strong> <\/a>comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CircularTracker<\/strong><\/a> is a circularity measurement tool<\/strong> designed to help companies and public institutions measure, compare, and showcase the circular characteristics of their products<\/strong> in a standardised, transparent, and efficient<\/strong> way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Built on the Product Circularity Data Sheet (PCDS)<\/strong>, now formally recognised as ISO 59040<\/em>, it converts complex circular data<\/strong> into clear visual dashboards<\/strong>, making product circularity performance<\/strong> accessible and actionable for teams, clients, and regulators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key advantages include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n