Grand Challenge · Circular Economy

From sector excellence to shared circular pathways .

Swiss material circularity is ~7%. SIPI seeks to strengthen circular coordination across Swiss industries to enhance economic, geopolitical, and environmental resilience.

The Premise

Beyond linear value chains

Swiss watchmaking, pharma, machine tools and electronics each operate with extraordinary individual quality and limited cross-sector circular infrastructure. EU Digital Product Passport regulation is arriving. EPR architecture is fragmented. Industrial symbiosis is ad-hoc.

The Imperative

Systemic frictions in circularity

Switzerland’s circular transition is constrained by structural lock-ins that require new forms of stewardship and coordination.



Linear Lock-In

Linear Lock-In

Switzerlands industrial base remains structured around linear value chains, with material flows optimised for cost-per-unit rather than long-term resource sovereignty or regenerative outcomes.

Fragmented Coordination

Fragmented Coordination

Sector-by-sector excellence (watch, pharma, machinery, finance) lacks cross-value-chain coordination, leaving most circularity gains stuck inside firm boundaries.

Missing Infrastructure

Missing Infrastructure

Reverse logistics, recovery networks, and shared digital MRV remain underdeveloped, limiting the recovery rate of high-value materials in the Swiss economy.

The Workstreams

Three intentions, one orchestration .

Where SIPI intervenes

Policy. Demand. Industrial symbiosis.

  • Regenerative Policy Pathways

    Advocacy for market-shaping incentives such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and clean-tech subsidies to accelerate systemic regenerative transformations.

  • Sustainable Consumption

    DPP, interoperable with EU framework, but proactively developed as a differentiator for consumers who demand radical transparency for mindful consumption.

  • Shared Producer Responsbility

    Development of a playbook that turns extended producer responsibility into a strategic asset: valuing the loop, product lifecycle redesign, and innovative business model co-creation.

  • Industrial Symbiosis

    Cross-sector collaboration to build resilient, interconnected, and highly resource-efficient industrial ecosystem.

Accelerate circular transformation

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