By Janus Boye
Katrine Sundbye is currently a self-employed advisor, focusing on the circular transition and cross industry collaboration for a sustainable future. Previously partner at The North Alliance and Head of Digital Channels at DNV.
While sustainability is not a new topic in our member calls, we've mostly talked about how to create low-carbon websites, how to be smart about cloud computing and somewhat more technical angles.
Recently, Oslo-based digital leader Katrine Sundbye joined one of our local peer group meetings as a guest speaker and took a different angle in her session:
“We can not meet the sustainability goals without data and smart digital solutions!”
In a recent member call, Katrine shared her thoughts with the community. She introduced us to the green growth model and the ReSOLVE framework by McKinsey. She also shared examples of how data and digital solutions are key enablers for keeping resources in use more and longer.
Before we got to reusing construction material and saving whales, Katrine started by outlining what steps businesses can take to become more sustainable.
The green growth model
Using a simple model as shared below, Katrine illustrated that there’s much companies can do to make an impact.
You could argue that outreach is the start and if outreach is all you are doing, then you can easily be accused of greenwashing.
Many companies start with external engagements, where they support initiatives that have a positive impact, such as participating in beach cleaning events or sponsoring non-profit sustainability projects. While this is a good start, there is a fine line between greenwashing and talking about your do-good projects.
To improve your own organisation’s footprint a natural step is to get some basic housecleaning done, like looking at waste management, food consumption and other internal procedures. Going further into your business, there is much to gain from reconsidering your procurement, vendor requirements and your company’s work processes. Where you really start to move the needle is when you look at your product portfolio and business models in order to move towards more sustainable production and circular business models.
Many organisations have already climbed the latter and are doing much more than outreach. At the Royal Danish Library they have a sustainable procurement policy and they are far from the only one to integrate sustainability into procurement.
Katrine also touched on the principles of the circular product model. A model where your products can regenerate and be used again. Citing The Circularity Gap Report from 2020, she shared these numbers on the state of circularity.
World average: 8.6%
Norway: 2.4%
The Netherlands: 24.5%
According to Katrine, the big difference between Norway and the higher number in the Netherlands is due to legislation that requires more thoughtful use of resources.
Finally, staying on the topic of circularity, Katrine points out that smart digital solutions are also a key enabler for the circular economy, as achieving this requires insights into demand, supplies, location and other details. Details which are available in IT systems.
We then moved onwards to the ‘how’ and a framework towards circularity.
The ReSOLVE framework
To help organisations move forward with sustainability, McKinsey developed the ReSOLVE framework. This identifies the key elements that will guide businesses towards achieving a circular economy model.
ReSOLVE is an acronym. Below I’ve spelled it out using a few examples mentioned in the call:
Regenerate, which could be using digital in farming to ensure that you don’t use too much water or fertiliser
Share, as in car sharing or sharing of other resources
Optimise, using data and insights to avoid producing more than the market will buy
Loop, which is when products are put to new use, like on digital marketplaces
Virtualise, is what we did for the member call as we avoided moving around. Could also be virtualising cloth before shipping it.
Exchange, which is also the powerful right-to-repair movement and 3D printing locally instead of sending parts.
We then moved onto some more specific examples on how digital helps us meet sustainability goals
Digital solutions as the key to a sustainable future
It’s already happening and digital is already in place with a big positive impact. Here’s a few that was mentioned in the call
Too Good To Go, a service with a mobile application that connects customers to restaurants and stores that have surplus unsold food.
Material Mapper, a platform which gives you an insight of all buildings to be demolished, rebuilt and newly built. These are connected to the available re-use reports in addition to estimates of the materials these buildings consist of.
Blue Corridors, an initiative by WWF on challenges and solutions for migratory whales navigating national and international seas.
The environmental cost of free shipping. Digital solutions, like Sizer, which captures customers' body measurements and translates them into highly accurate size recommendations can help reduce unnecessary back and forth shipping.
Learn more about environmentally sustainable digital leadership
The conversation naturally continues in our peer groups and conferences, where we also look at the roadblocks and challenges faced on the journey.
Interested in reading more? We’ve written extensively about this topic during the past years. Here’s just a few posts to get started:
Climate change and carbon accounting in the cloud (February 2023)
Finally, you can also download slides (PDF) or lean back and enjoy the recording from the call.