Why do circular business models fail to scale? Don’t think too small

What makes circular business models fail to scale? In this new four-part series, we’ll be exploring the common mistakes businesses make on their journey towards circularity. Based on the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s new report: How not to fail: Avoiding 10 common pitfalls when scaling circular business models , Pippa is joined by Maddy Oliver and Ella Hedley, who led the research on the paper. You’ll hear about the experiences of pioneering companies, and learn about the practical steps that businesses can use to avoid common pitfalls and enable circular business models to reach transformative scale. In this episode, we explore: What opportunities circular businesses can offer How the report came about, and why it focuses on failure Why lacking a plan of scale from the outset is the first pitfall and some solutions to consider What happens when circular business models don’t align with the existing strategy of the business, and how to avoid this Explore the report If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review or a comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy.

You can listen to Why do circular business models fail to scale? Don’t think too small online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Why do circular business models fail to scale? Don’t think too small is an episode from The Circular Economy Show by Pippa Shawley.

This episode is 00:16:27 long.

This episode was published on Oct 14, 2025.

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