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

Challenges to scaling circular supply chains FIGURE 4 Number of mentions (in % of respondents)5 4 3 2 1 0 0 10 20 30Weighted importance (based on average rank from respondents) 40 50 60 70Common yet non-critical challenges for most organizationsCritical challenges for most organizations Critical challenges for some organizations/industries only Secondary challenges Challenge 3: Technology, data and infrastructure Challenge 4: Regulatory Challenge 5: OrganizationalChallenge 1: Operations/logistics Challenge 2: Business opportunity and profitabilityHigh operating costUncertain demand/off-take High upfront cost Insufficient revenues Skill gapsCross-border restrictionsPartner incentivization Cultural/internal resistance Conflicting standardsDifficulty finding the right partners Weak infrastructure Poor data systemsVarying return quality Processing complexityLow availability of secondary materials or used products Complex reverse logistics Source: Global market survey by Bain & Company and the CTI initiative of 491 top executives (July 2025). 1.1 Challenge 1: Getting products back Four of the five most-cited barriers are operational: low availability of secondary materials or used products, varying return quality, complex reverse logistics and processing complexity. The greatest hurdle is motivating customers to return products. Incentives such as payments, vouchers or loyalty points are being tested, but adoption depends on convenience – if processes are cumbersome, returns collapse. Quality is also unpredictable: items may be obsolete or damaged, requiring costly assessments, repairs and refurbishments. Even when returns are usable, flows are volatile, creating inventory peaks and cash-flow strain. Some firms partner to manage this complexity. For example, Renault and Suez developed the Future Is Neutral initiative to recover end-of-life vehicles and recycle materials. Renault brings its automotive expertise as well as factories for remanufacturing, while Suez provides its network and know-how for collection and dismantling. Circular Transformation of Industries 8