A circular economy model that works beautifully in one country often fails when rolled out globally.
Not because the idea is wrong, but because organisations try to copy-paste execution instead of redesigning for scale.
We see this pattern repeatedly. A successful pilot with strong partners, supportive regulation, and engaged local teams. Momentum builds, the board asks for speed. The model is rolled out to other markets and quietly stalls within a year. Even if progress does not halt, a copy-paste approach erodes margins and reduces the ability to successfully scale and realise all potential benefits.
The reason is rarely technical. Circularity doesn’t fail at scale because organisations move too slowly, but because they scale the wrong things.
The myth of the global roll-out
Many organisations assume that if a circular model works in one geography, it should work everywhere with minor local tweaks. This logic holds for some linear processes. It breaks down for circular systems.
Circular models are:
- Deeply shaped by local regulation
- Embedded in regional infrastructure
- Dependent on ecosystems, not single suppliers
- Inherently cross-functional and behavioural.
They are systems, not templated processes or technology solutions.
Attempting to roll them out unchanged ignores the fact that context is not a constraint to be managed later; it’s a design input from the start.
The three challenges of scaling circular economy models across regions
- Regulation shapes the model, not just compliance
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), waste ownership, reporting requirements and liability differ dramatically across regions. A model that is financially viable in the UK may be structurally unworkable in parts of the US or EU. Treating regulation as a downstream hurdle, rather than a core design parameter, locks organisations into costly rework.
- Circular logistics are hyper-local
Linear supply chains optimise globally. Circular ones recover locally. Return flows, transportation economics, sorting capability and secondary markets vary significantly. Organisations that assume a single global logistics solution can support circular flows everywhere quickly hit scale limits. Furthermore, global scale requires local partners to share data back to the centre. That is a governance challenge, not just a logistics one.
- Local realities are underrepresented in central design
Perhaps the most underestimated challenge is this: Solutions are often designed centrally, while the operational consequences are felt locally. Without structured ways to surface local insight, assumptions made during pilot about costs, behaviours, incentives, or infrastructure quietly break at scale.
Top three failure modes in global circular economy model rollout
- The “policy-led” failure: Global targets are set, but regional teams are given neither ownership nor meaningful input into the model’s design.
- The “procurement-led” shortcut: Circularity is pushed onto suppliers, resulting in fragmented ecosystems, hidden risks, and loss of strategic control.
- The “pilot logic” hangover: What worked at a small scale (high engagement, manual processes, informal coordination) fails under operational complexity.
The internal programme for circularity at scale
Global circularity is less about technical capability and more about organisational readiness.
That requires a deliberate internal programme:
- Executive sponsorship beyond sustainability functions.
- Clear links to cost, resilience and growth, not just impact.
- Incentives aligned to long-term value creation.
- Feedback loops that continuously inform design, not just delivery.
Without this, circularity is perceived as ‘extra work’ rather than a new way of operating.
Reframing change management: Making it a circular design capability
This is where many organisations misunderstand the role of change management.
Change management is often framed as: ‘How do we help people adopt a solution we’ve already designed?’
At a global scale, that framing is insufficient. Strategic change management is not just about managing impact; it is about shaping the solution itself by acting as the voice of the local team going through transformation.
When done well, it:
- Surfaces the lived realities of regional teams, including the regulatory and cultural frictions.
- Provides a structured way to access local voice at scale.
- Informs not only how a circular model operates, but what it actually is.
In other words, change management becomes a design capability ensuring that global principles translate into locally viable models rather than brittle replicas.
What to scale for global consistency
Successful organisations don’t scale the pilot. They scale:
- Decision rights: What regions can adapt, and where consistency matters.
- Design principles: Shared intent, not identical execution.
- Governance: Linking sustainability, commercial and operational risks.
- Capability: Circular economics, trade-offs and system thinking.
- Ecosystem frameworks: Partnerships built for local realities.
Ironically, the physical solution often changes the most while the operating logic remains consistent.
What leading organisations do differently
Organisations that successfully scale circular models tend to:
- Design regionally adaptive operating models from the outset.
- Treat partnerships as managed ecosystems, not interchangeable vendors.
- Use change management to inform design, not just enable adoption.
- Accept that global consistency comes from governance, not uniformity.
They scale thinking first and execution second. Organisations such as IKEA and Apple embrace circular models and principles, but tailor their designs to each region they operate. IKEA has buy-back schemes that differ by country. Voucher value, eligibility and product categories and resale formats reflect local consumer behaviour, store designs and capacity and local regulations around resale and warranties. Similarly, Apple deploys localisation in its recovery and recycling partnerships, reflecting regulatory requirements and local infrastructure. Consumer-facing trade-in and take-back models also differ by region, taking into account local markets and economic conditions.
A short diagnostic checklist: Assess your readiness for global circular rollout
Before attempting a global roll-out, leaders should be able to answer ‘yes’ to most of the following:
- Have we defined what must be globally consistent vs what must be locally adapted?
- Do regional teams have a structured way to influence the model’s design?
- Are regulatory differences treated as design inputs, not compliance afterthoughts?
- Is ownership of circular performance clear across operations, finance and commercial teams?
- Do incentives support long-term circular value, not short-term margin protection?
- Have we designed for ecosystems, or just contracted suppliers?
- Is our change programme capturing insight and not just pushing messaging?
If several of these are unclear, the issue is unlikely to be speed. It’s structure and business readiness.
The question leaders should really be asking
The real question isn’t: ‘How fast can we roll this out globally?’ It’s: ‘What needs to change in our operating model to make this work everywhere?’
Circularity at scale is not a roll-out. It’s a transformation.
Ready to scale your circular model without copy‑pasting?
We help organisations redesign circular pilots into regionally adaptive, commercially viable operating models - combining sustainability expertise, operating model design and strategic change management so local teams can deliver at scale.
Get in touch with us to talk about scaling circularity.
