For more than 40 years, a tremendous number of studies have empirically explored the relationship between Corporate Environmental Performance (CEP) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). This study considers the relationship from a new perspective—via a qualitative research approach based on expert interviews. First, practitioners are queried for their view on the link between CEP and CFP and how to measure it. Since the vast majority see a positive relationship, this study contributes with a new form of evidence that it pays to be green. The chosen qualitative approach also allows a more detailed analysis of underlying cause-and-effect mechanisms. For instance, interviewed practitioners emphasize a direct and indirect impact from CEP on CFP. Second, the study conducts interviews with experts from research and associations (non-practitioners) and compares the viewpoints of the two interview groups. One prevalent difference refers to the fact that non-practitioners do not focus on the two impact levels. Moreover, business experts perceive the link between CEP and CFP as much less complex and reveal more pragmatically oriented considerations. The study then discusses how the interview results and identified differences can be used to direct future research and to support corporations in their move towards sustainability.

Global consumption levels currently extend far beyond what planet Earth in terms of natural resources can regenerate in a sustainable manor and will by 2050 reach levels corresponding to what it would require three Earths to sustain. This overexploitation and unsustainable management of the Earth’s resources in combination with the necessity of mitigating climate change and reaching net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 require action across all sectors, not least the manufacturing industry. This thesis covers how large manufacturing enterprises can implement and utilize strategic targets and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to align with the principles of a Circular Economy (CE), and as a result, improve sustainability and business performance. Based on a case study conducted at Siemens Energy (SE) involving a literature study, interview study, and focus groups, a carefully selected set of strategic circularity targets and KPIs are presented to measure, evaluate, and drive circularity performance within large manufacturing enterprises. Since the thesis’ ambition was to provide valuable insights beyond SE, strategic circularity targets and KPIs specifically directed at SE were further generalized to be universally relevant for academia and other large manufacturing enterprises. Enterprises within the given sector share several key characteristics such as extensive material resource flows and complex value chains, hence strategic targets and KPIs emphasize material efficiency through decreasing virgin material dependency, increasing recirculation rates, and transitioning towards circular business models. While suggested targets and KPIs are universally directed at large manufacturing enterprises, individual organizations are recommended to conduct internal investigations and analyzes to further tailor and adapt strategic targets and KPIs towards the specific enterprise. In addition to strategic targets and KPIs, the thesis also presents an overview of opportunities, benefits, risks, and potential impacts for large manufacturing enterprises aspiring to increase circular initiatives, highlighting key principles to manage risk and capitalize on opportunities. The findings conclude that the main opportunity enabled by CE is to leverage synergies which align environmental, economic, and strategic corporate incentives, with key benefits including aspects such as decarbonization and reduced environmental impact, increased revenues and cost savings, risk management, and new business opportunities. Risks associated with CE include rebound effects, organizational insufficiencies, lack of material quality and safety, as well as a low product performance, which further can lead to potential impacts mitigating the positive effects of CE, or at worst setbacks causing a net negative output from implemented circular measures. In summary, the opportunities and benefits associated with CE are many, but implemented circular measures require risk awareness and continuous management to ensure efficiency.

Den här rapporten är en studie av textilindustrin. Rapporten ingår i kursen Examensarbete inom industriell produktion som ingår i Civilingenjörsprogrammet Maskinteknik. Studien är relevant i tiden då mycket forskning sker för att lösa de nuvarande respektive framtida problemen. Vi konsumerar mycket textilier, nästan 14 kg per person per år, varav 10kg är bara kläder. En stor mängd av dessa textilier, hela 73 procent, går till spillo istället för att återanvändas eller återvinnas. Samtidigt produceras också många nya textilier med icke-hållbara resurser som bland annat fossila energikällor och giftiga kemikalier, vilka i sin tur har allvarliga effekter på miljön. Produktionskedjan har således en väldigt stor miljöpåverkan. De aspekter som tas upp i studien är därför hållbarhet, återvinning, ekonomiska perspektiv såsom cirkulär ekonomi och konsumentsyn. Studien går även in på material och resurser. Syftet med studien är att delge läsaren kunskap om textiliers kretslopp och problemen som finns inom industrin med hänsyn till miljön. Frågeställningen fokuserar kring hur den ekonomiska lönsamheten bör uppnås inom företag för att ha ett hållbart och cirkulärt system. Litteraturstudie utfördes där det ingick bland annat organisationsrapporter och vetenskapliga rapporter med mera. För att få en verklig uppfattning intervjuades kunniga personer inom den textila branschen. En från Smart Textiles och en annan från Nordiska Textilakademin (NTA). Dessa intervjuer gav en verklig uppfattning om situationen inom textilindustrin. Efter slutförd studie är slutsatsen att problemen som finns är väldigt komplexa och det krävs mycket arbete för att lösa de för att få ett resurseffektivt, hållbart och cirkulärt system. Men trots det kan vi med största sannolikhet gå mot en mer hållbar textilindustri från ett miljöperspektiv genom att utveckla lönsamma återvinningstekniker, tillämpa rätt cirkulära affärsmodeller inom både etablerade och nya verksamheter, designa med hänsyn till produktlivscykeln, öka resurseffektiviteten och hanterar textilavfall på rätt sätt. / This report is a study about the textile industry. The report is a part of the bachelor’s thesis course in Industrial Production given at KTH Royal Institute of Technology as a part of the Mechanical Engineering program. The study is relevant in time, because a lot of research is currently going on to solve the current and future problems in the textile industry. We consume a lot of textiles, nearly 14 kilograms per person per year, of which 10 kilogram is only clothes. A significant amount of these textiles goes to waste (73 percent) instead of being reused or recycled. At the same time a lot of new textiles are also being produced with non-sustainable resources such as fossil fuels and toxic chemicals, which in turn has severe environmental impacts. Thus, the production chain has a very large environmental impact. The aspects that are addressed in the report are therefore sustainability, recycling, economic perspectives such as circular economy and the consumer perspective. The study also discusses materials and resources. The purpose of the study is to provide the reader with knowledge about the textile loop and the problems that exist in the industry with focus on the environment. The study tries to answer the question on how financial profitability could be achieved within companies in order to have a sustainable and circular system. A literature study has been conducted consisting of reports from organisational reports as well as scientific reports and more. People with knowledge about sustainability within the textile industry were interviewed to get an empirical ground on this case, one from Smart Textiles and another one from the Nordiska Textilakademin. These interviews gave an actual insight of the situation in the textile industry. The conclusion is that the problems which exist are very complex and a lot of work is required to solve them in order to have a resource-efficient, sustainable and circular system. Despite this, we can most likely move towards a more sustainable textile industry from an environmental perspective, by developing profitable recycling techniques, applying the righ tcircular business models in both established and new businesses, designing with regard to the product life cycle, increasing resource efficiency and handling textile waste properly.

Die Arbeit richtet sich an Personen der vorwettbewerblichen werkstofftechnischen Forschung und Entwicklung bzw. Personen, die mit einer Produktvorentwicklung betraut sind. Die Arbeit erhebt den Anspruch, für diese Phase eine Vorgehensweise aufzuzeigen, die durch die Nutzung einfach zugänglicher Kenngrößen verschiedenster werkstoff-, produktions- und produkttechnischer Kriterien eine umfassende Nachhaltigkeitsbewertung ermöglicht. In der Arbeit werden anhand identifizierter Strategien werkstofftechnische Maßnahmen zur Steigerung der Nachhaltigkeit in der Produktion aufgegriffen und diskutiert. Es werden Betrachtungsraumgrenzen im Werkstofflebenszyklus erörtert, sowie das Wirken werkstofftechnischer Maßnahmen im Kontext einer nachhaltigen, ressourceneffizienten Produktion diskutiert. Anhand der erarbeiteten Grundlagen werden Kriterien festgelegt, welche die Wirkung werkstofftechnischer Maßnahmen auf die Nachhaltigkeit eines Produkts oder Prozesses sichtbar machen. Im Anschluss wird ein formalisiertes Vorgehen vorgestellt, mit dem konkrete Maßnahmen innerhalb verschiedener Betrachtungsraumgrenzen bewertet und verglichen werden können. Schließlich erfolgt unter Anwendung dieses Vorgehens die Bewertung verschiedener Beispiele werkstofftechnischer Maßnahmen, die nachhaltige Produkte bzw. Produktionsweisen zum Ziel haben. Die Ergebnisse der Bewertungen bilden dabei zum einen Ausgangspunkte für die Anpassung und Weiterentwicklung der betrachteten Maßnahme. Zum anderen dienen sie als Basis für detailliertere Bewertungen unter Nutzung zusätzlicher ökologischer, ökonomischer und sozialer Nachhaltigkeitskriterien. Die bereitgestellte Vorgehensweise sowie die hinzugezogenen Bewertungskriterien orientieren sich vorrangig an den Aufgaben und Problemstellungen der metallverarbeitenden produzierenden Industrie. / The work is addressed to people involved in pre-competitive materials engineering, research and development, or to people entrusted with preliminary product development. It claims to demonstrate a procedure for this phase of production that enables a comprehensive sustainability assessment by using easily accessible parameters of various criteria from material, production and the product itself. The work uses identified strategies to address and discuss measures from material engineering that aim for an increased sustainability in production. The boundaries of the material life cycle are discussed, as well as the effects of material-related measures in the context of a sustainable, resource-efficient production. Basing on the developed principles, criteria are defined which make the effect of material engineering on the sustainability of a products or processes visible. Subsequently, a formalized procedure is presented with which concrete measures can be evaluated and compared with respect to different boundaries set to the product or material life cycle. Finally, this procedure is used to evaluate different examples of material-related measures. The results of the assessments form both, a starting point for the adaptation and further development of the measure under consideration, and a basis for more detailed evaluations using additional ecological, economic and social sustainability criteria. The introduced approach and evaluation criteria are thereby primarily oriented towards the tasks and problems of metalworking manufacturing industries.