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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
Global circularity is less about technical capability and more about organisational readiness.
That requires a deliberate internal programme:
Without this, circularity is perceived as ‘extra work’ rather than a new way of operating.
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:
In other words, change management becomes a design capability ensuring that global principles translate into locally viable models rather than brittle replicas.
Successful organisations don’t scale the pilot. They scale:
Ironically, the physical solution often changes the most while the operating logic remains consistent.
Organisations that successfully scale circular models tend to:
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.
Before attempting a global roll-out, leaders should be able to answer ‘yes’ to most of the following:
If several of these are unclear, the issue is unlikely to be speed. It’s structure and business readiness.
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.