CSR has become essential for French and European companies. But all too often, CSR policies remain nothing more than statements of intent.
The circular economy offers something more tangible: measurable operational levers that transform CSR into a genuine strategic advantage.
This article provides a step-by-step guide to building a robust CSR strategy by incorporating the principles of the circular economy.
CSR and the circular economy: What is the connection?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a comprehensive framework that encompasses an organization’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.
The circular economy, on the other hand, is a strategy for transforming economic models: it aims to extend the lifespan of resources, reduce waste, and create value at every stage of a product or service’s life cycle.
The two are complementary but not identical. CSR addresses the "why" (reducing environmental impact, engaging stakeholders, and ensuring accountability). The circular economy addresses the "how" from an environmental perspective: by redesigning material flows, rethinking business models, and securing supply chains.
How the circular economy contributes to a CSR approach:
- Concrete and measurable actions (extending product lifespans, using recycled materials, reducing waste)
- A focus on creating value, not just reducing impact
- Direct solutions to regulatory requirements (CSRD, AGEC Act, European Taxonomy)
- Enhanced credibility among stakeholders
Step 1: Conduct a circular assessment of your operations
Before developing a roadmap, you need to know where you stand. A good CSR assessment that incorporates circularity answers three questions:
- Where are the vulnerabilities? The linear model exposes organizations to growing risks: dependence on critical resources, commodity price volatility, geopolitical exposure, and regulatory risks. Identifying these vulnerabilities is the starting point for a robust strategy.
- What’s already in place? Many companies are already implementing circular economy initiatives without even realizing it: sourcing secondary materials, repackaging products, and reducing packaging. Conducting an assessment allows companies to build on these efforts and highlight their value.
- What are the opportunities? This is where circularity creates value. The four-pillar framework—creating value, maintaining value, recovering value, and facilitating the circular economy—allows you to identify opportunities relevant to your sector and specific activities.
What we see in the field: during workshops held in the luxury goods and fragrance industries, companies have identified more than 50 to 70 circular economy opportunities in just a few hours—opportunities they had not yet formalized. The potential is often far greater than teams realize.
Step 2: Collaboratively develop a CSR and circular economy strategy with quantifiable goals
An assessment without objectives is merely a snapshot. The value of a CSR strategy that incorporates the circular economy lies in its ability to establish specific, measurable commitments that are championed at the highest levels of the organization.
The characteristics of a good circular strategy:
- It has been approved by the Executive Committee. Circularity is not a niche CSR issue; it is a matter of economic performance and strategic resilience. Decisions regarding procurement, business models, or investments in eco-design cannot be driven solely by the CSR department. Without support at the executive level, these commitments remain ineffective.
- It translates ambitions into quantifiable goals. For example: reducing the overall environmental footprint of products by one-third, ensuring that 100% of products are eco-designed within five years, and implementing a risk mitigation plan for critical raw materials. These figures serve as a guide for all teams and form the basis for non-financial reporting.
- It covers the entire value chain. An effective circular strategy involves every department in the company, from procurement to logistics, and from marketing to legal. It cannot be limited to the sustainability department alone.
The eight areas of expertise to draw upon:
Depending on your industry and stage of development, your circular strategy may rely on all or some of these levers:
- Comprehensive Circular Strategy : Link the transformation to a quantifiable ROI and present it to the Executive Committee
- Securing the supply chain: identifying critical dependencies, anticipating geopolitical risks
- Eco-design : Adapting products and packaging to circular models starting from the design phase
- Circular business models : secondhand, rental, repair, refurbishment
- Reuse of packaging: establishing sustainable shared systems across the value chain
- EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility): Understanding and Implementing Legal Obligations
- Circular Communication : Highlighting commitments with evidence-based narratives, without greenwashing
- Circular finance: integrating circularity into financial models and business cases
Step 3: Develop the operational roadmap
The strategy tells you "where to go." The roadmap tells you "how to get there and in what order."
Organize the roadmap into phases:
A good circular economy roadmap generally distinguishes between three time horizons:
- Short term (0–18 months): quick wins—high-impact, low-friction initiatives that build internal momentum and deliver initial tangible results. Optimized waste sorting, supplier audits, and initial eco-design pilot projects.
- Medium term (18 months to 3 years): structural transformation—review of procurement processes, implementation of new business models, advanced regulatory compliance (CSRD, AGEC Act, green taxonomy).
- Long term (3–5 years): a shift in business model, repositioning of the product offering, new circular revenue streams, and systemic integration into the extended value chain.
Prioritizing projects systematically:
Not all projects are created equal. A rigorous prioritization method must take two factors into account: potential impact (environmental and economic) and feasibility (technical, economic, and organizational).
High-impact, highly feasible projects are the priorities on your roadmap.
Step 4: Incorporate regulatory requirements (CSRD, ESRS E5)
CSR initiatives are no longer developed in a regulatory vacuum. Since 2024, the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has required a growing number of companies to publish a non-financial report structured according to specific standards.
What the CSRD actually changes:
ESRS E5 is the standard specific to resource use and the circular economy. It requires companies to describe their circularity policy, action plans, key performance indicators (KPIs), and quantified targets.
To ensure compliance, companies must therefore shift from isolated initiatives on circularity to a structured and strategic approach, with data collection protocols and indicators defined in advance.
How to align CSR and CSRD initiatives:
The CSRD is not just a reporting requirement; it is an opportunity to establish a genuine circularity policy. The circular CSR roadmap forms the basis of the non-financial report. The objectives set by the Executive Committee directly inform the KPIs required by the directive.
Best practices: Align existing initiatives with the CSRD framework from the outset, define key indicators in line with ESRS E5, and involve ESG teams from the initial stages of strategy development to ensure cross-functional consistency.
Step 5: Communicate without greenwashing
Communication is often the first instinct. That's a mistake.
Circular communication should not be the starting point of a CSR initiative; rather, it is the result of one. Communicating about commitments that are not yet backed by actual changes exposes the company to significant legal and reputational risks.
The principle is simple: first the evidence, then the story.
This means: validated quantitative targets, measured results, and documented methodologies. It is on the basis of this tangible evidence that a credible narrative is built for clients, investors, regulators, and internal teams.
The most common mistakes to avoid
- Confusing general CSR with a circular strategy: a CSR policy that merely lists actions without a systemic approach is not a circular strategy. The circular economy requires an examination of resource flows and economic models, not just negative externalities.
- Sticking to the internal scope: In many industries, the greatest impacts—and the greatest opportunities—lie within the extended value chain: suppliers, customers, and end-of-life products. An effective circular strategy extends beyond the company’s walls.
- Underestimating the economic dimension: the circular economy is not a CSR expense. It is a driver of economic performance: reduced procurement costs, new revenue streams, and protection against raw material price volatility. Failing to model the ROI means missing out on the most powerful argument for winning over finance departments and executive committees.
- Neglecting skills development: The circular transformation requires new ways of thinking about products, processes, and business models. Training business teams (purchasing, product, marketing, etc.) in the circular economy is not optional.
For further reading
Transforming your organization to embrace CSR and the circular economy isn't something you can do alone. Circul'R supports you every step of the way, tailored to your needs and level of readiness:
Training : Are you looking to build internal expertise or train your employees in the circular economy? Our training programs enable your teams to master the concepts, tools, and methodologies needed to identify and implement concrete circular economy opportunities within their specific business context.
Consulting Tip: Do you need strategic support to develop your assessment, co-create your circular roadmap, or meet CSRD requirements? Our specialized consultants will guide you from the initial assessment to implementation, using an approach grounded in the economic realities of your industry.
Coalitions : Are you convinced that certain circular economy challenges can only be solved at the industry-wide level? Circul'R facilitates sector-specific coalitions to build collective momentum, overcome technical and economic barriers, and transform entire value chains.
Club Circul'R : Want to accelerate your transformation by leveraging a network of committed peers? The Circul'R Club brings together more than 100 major companies to share experiences, industry benchmarks, and exclusive resources to turn circularity into a competitive advantage.
