Waste Is a Design Flaw: Building the Circular Industrial Economy

Too often, circularity is reduced to recycling. But for industry, real circularity is much broader—and far more transformative. Hear from leaders from Bain & Company, Envetec, Haddy, Volkswagen, and Siemens as they explore how organizations are rethinking product design, material flows, asset performance, and value creation across the full product lifecycle. From modernization and refurbishment to remanufacturing, resource recovery, and new service-based business models, circularity is fundamentally reshaping how industrial companies create value. In this two-hour forum, speakers will explore what circularity looks like in practice for organizations designing, manufacturing, operating, and recovering complex products and materials at scale. Bringing together perspectives from across the ecosystem, the conversation will connect Bain's cross-industry insights, Haddy's circular-by-design manufacturing model, Envetec's innovative approach to transforming waste streams into reusable resources, Volkswagen's experience advancing circularity across global operations, and Siemens' digital and industrial expertise. Together, they will challenge the notion that circularity begins and ends with recycling, demonstrating how industrial leaders are redesigning products, operations, and value chains to keep materials in use, eliminate waste, and unlock new sources of economic value. From start-up innovation to enterprise-scale transformation, the discussion will provide practical insights into what it takes to make circularity not just possible, but profitable and scalable.