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Sustainability is no longer just a nice-to-have - it’s a decisive competitive factor. In particular, the circular economy offers companies a promising strategic approach to remain both ecologically and economically viable for the future.
Less waste, more efficient use of resources, longer product lifecycles: The circular economy challenges the traditional linear “throwaway model” and opens up new opportunities. That’s why corporations like Siemens and the BMW Group are investing specifically in these concepts.
One example is Circular Republic, founded in 2023. The initiative aims to actively drive the transformation toward a circular economy – through knowledge transfer, networking with startups, and testing scalable solutions.
Circular Republic brings together players from business, academia, and the startup scene – a kind of Silicon Valley for circular business. At KUKA, we are also deeply engaged with the principles of the circular economy. In our Sustainability Insights, we examine the circular economy from various perspectives – and deliberately look beyond the KUKA horizon.
We spoke with Tobias Grimm from Siemens and Britta Kempf from the BMW Group, both experts in sustainability and the circular economy. In the interview, they share insights into the opportunities and challenges and explain why digital technologies play a key role in the transformation toward a circular economy.
Tobias Grimm: "The circular economy is more important than ever today, for several reasons. First, we are facing increasing resource scarcity:
Many raw materials are only available in limited quantities, and geopolitical tensions are intensifying dependencies and risks in supply chains. At the same time, regulatory pressure is growing. New legal requirements set clear frameworks for sustainable business and force companies to rethink their strategies. Additionally, demand for environmentally friendly products and processes is rising sharply among both customers and investors. But companies benefit in several ways: They not only save valuable materials and resources, and thus costs, but also become more independent from fluctuations in global raw material markets and fragile supply chains. And last but not least, new sustainable technologies and business models strengthen their own innovative capacity."
Britta Kempf: "I can only agree with Tobias: Sustainability and the circular economy are of great importance. Every year, humanity consumes more than 100 billion tons of newly extracted raw materials - and the trend is rising.
The processing of many primary raw materials, such as metal ores or crude oil, is very energy- and therefore CO₂-intensive. That’s why our long-term vision at BMW Group is to keep raw materials in a closed loop for as long as possible."
Britta Kempf: "When it comes to implementing circular economy projects, we face several challenges. We need to secure access to critical raw materials and recycling capacities, especially in light of geopolitical developments. Of course, financing measures or introducing and implementing new processes within the company are also important topics."
Tobias Grimm: "Economic viability must also be considered: Recycled materials and reprocessing are often more expensive than classic new production, which has become efficient and cost-effective through highly automated processes.
In addition, the necessary infrastructure for a functioning reverse value chain - that is, the return of products into the supply chain for reprocessing or recycling - is still lacking in many places. We are trying to solve this through strong cooperation within the ecosystem. Another point is energy efficiency: Especially for electronic products in drive technology, over 90% of CO₂ emissions occur during the usage phase. New products are often more efficient than refurbished alternatives, which makes the ecological balance more complex."
Tobias Grimm: "Digital technologies play a key role in the transformation toward a circular economy. A good example is digital product passports - they enable seamless, transparent tracking of materials and product information throughout the entire lifecycle. Another important building block is digital twins. They help efficiently plan and optimize reprocesses - meaning take-back, reprocessing, and reuse. This allows circular processes not only to be simulated but also specifically improved."
Britta Kempf: "There are a number of projects we are closely monitoring at BMW. We are investing in research and innovation projects to implement closed material cycles for specific product groups.
The Circular Republic initiative by UnternehmerTUM and BMW Group focuses on knowledge transfer between academia and business to promote the circular economy. In plant engineering and robotics, the focus is on extending plant lifecycles and closed material cycles. Here, certain materials are collected after use, recycled, and processed into new products of the same quality, instead of being disposed of."
