Circular Transformation of Industries The Art of Scaling Circular Supply Chains 2025

020406080100 Collection Logistics Sorting and triageOn-site client repair/retrofitRemote/ repair/retrofitRemanufacture/ refurbishmentAs-a-service operations or leasingDismantlingWhich supply chain steps would typically be managed internally for most of your portfolio? Fully or mostly in-house Hybrid or mostly outsourced Not applicable/I don't knowPercentage of respondents22%75% 32%67% 33%63% 28%59% 21%65% 33%59% 23%52% 12%69%3% 1% 4% 13% 14%8% 25%19%Most circular supply chain steps use external partners FIGURE 9 Source: Global market survey by Bain & Company and the CTI initiative of 491 executives (July 2025). CASE STUDY 3 Vestas and Renewable Parts – a win-win partnership Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas partnered with Renewable Parts for wind turbine services. Renewable Parts specializes in refurbishing used turbines, enabling Vestas to reduce new turbine production, cutting cost per turbine by 30-60% and limiting waste.Survey results show that most supply chain steps in circular models use outsourcing or hybrid set-ups. The highest internal control is in sorting/ triage and remanufacturing, where quality control and technical expertise are critical. Yet, there is variation across sectors; over 40% of machinery, heavy industry and medical technology companies manage remanufacturing internally, compared to 18% in apparel. Collection and dismantling are outsourced by 80% of organizations, reflecting their scale intensity and cost sensitivity. Access to materials: partnerships and incentives Choose the right partnership type: Partnership strategies accelerate circular initiatives across three approaches: securing material access, gaining data and predictive capabilities, and accessing circular customers through marketplaces and technology providers. Local partnerships can be useful when there are infrastructure or emissions constraints. For more about the role of partnerships, please refer to Circular Transformation of Industries: The Role of Partnerships,5 an earlier publication by the World Economic Forum, Bain & Company and the University of Cambridge. Set partner selection criteria: Effective partnerships require more than technical fit. They depend on data transparency, traceability, alignment with circular key performance indicators (KPIs), partners’ ability to scale, their capacity to operate at the right level of centralization (central hubs versus local networks), and system compatibility. Survey respondents indicate that technical expertise and cost are their top selection criteria for partners, while circular-specific factors such as KPI alignment and data sharing are secondary. Incentive models: Specific incentive models that ensure every player captures benefits are essential for scaling circularity. The most common mechanisms are joint innovation (79% of respondents), long-term contracts to secure feedstock (52%) and service fees (45%). Circular Transformation of Industries 19