Blog posts on circular transition

OOAKI (one-of-a-kind-living) is a Swedish sofa refurbishment startup that worked with RISE to develop its circular business model. In a conversation with RISE, OOAKI’s Chief Digital Officer, Lennart Svanberg, discusses how this shift was inspired by a closer relationship with customers.

A thought experiment on how we can turn the tax system upside down to meet contemporary challenges

If consumers had their way—according to research at RISE— we’d be living in a much more circular world. Unfortunately, circular utopia will not emerge overnight, but this doesn't mean we shouldn't work toward it. Below we speculate why… and the answer has to do with bridges.

For a long time, our industry has been built on linear flows – production, use, disposal. Now this way of thinking is being challenged by demands for resource efficiency, climate targets and new technology that makes it possible to recover and reuse existing components. Remanufacturing shows how this can be done in practice.

That was the central question when RISE gathered researchers and industry partners for a webinar on 25 September 2025. The focus was chemical recycling, a technology that can move the textile industry closer to circularity and reduce dependence on virgin raw materials.

Imagine a Swedish industrial company that has been actively working with sustainability for years. They've chosen recycled materials, placed clear demands on their suppliers and made an effort to stay informed about new regulations and guidelines. Still, keeping up is challenging – and it’s not always clear what applies.

We have created a system where those who try to do the right thing – in food, construction, automotive or the public sector – often have to pay more, face more obstacles and take greater risks. At RISE, we develop models that reverse the logic: where sustainability pays off and societal benefit becomes business benefit.

48 Swedish municipalities are aiming for climate neutrality by 2030. But how do we pay for the transition – and how do we avoid the costs of not doing so? Circular economy and new financing models can show the way towards both climate goals and economic resilience.

Water is both our most basic resource and one of the most vulnerable. Climate change, increasing resource demands and a growing global population are forcing us to rethink. It is no longer enough to simply reduce our water consumption - we need to start seeing water as a circular resource, something that can be reused and optimized at every stage.

Clean water has been taken for granted in Sweden, but climate change requires new thinking. With Unity4Water, RISE and industry are developing solutions for reusing process water - a step towards a water-wise future.

FairChain and the Bär i Bygden initiative show that it IS possible to create a fairer, more sustainable berry industry by using resources smarter. Through shorter value chains, efficient technology, and strong local engagement, we can build a model that makes each coin circulate multiple times within the region.

Every fourth year, Electronics Goes Green (EGG), shows the way in connecting industry leaders with the latest research and innovations in sustainable electronics, we from RISE were there...

Last week, it was time for Techtextil in Frankfurt, a major textile fair held every other year focusing on technical textiles. Material developers, fiber spinners, weavers, and machine manufacturers from various parts of the industry and the world were present to network and explore trends for the future. Of course, RISE was there to do the same. 

There is an increasing interest in introducing nutrition and health aspects in the assessment of the environmental impact of foods. A suggested method to do it is called nutritional LCA. Through nutritional LCA, it is possible for actors in the food system to include a more holistic sustainability perspective of foods.

Textile industry leaves a considerable footprint on our planet. One reason is its linear economy structure, where new raw materials pass through the production and use phases only to end up on ever-growing landfill sites. Technology development for the circular transition is a major focus in our R&D-labs at the moment.

With the introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), businesses are urged to conduct comprehensive assessments of their environmental impact, including the double materiality analysis. For many companies, this analysis will reveal a crucial finding: CIRCULARITY IS MATERIAL! The question immediately arises: Now what?

RISE part in the Swedish Innovation system comprises, among other things, a vast range of test beds aimed at accelerating the development of new materials and processes. Let's get to know Sara Wallstén and her research which is being transferred from the lab to a brand new pilot scale test bed at MoRe Research, a RISE subsidiary in Örnsköldsvik.

Can we design products that have the potential to become more profitable for producing companies, and less expensive for customers? We have showed its possible, and few business leaders would say no to that proposition. Join us on January 26 and learn about Future Adaptive Design and how to design long-lasting products for circular business models.

The changing EU policy landscape is a source of inspiration and creativity for us business developers when designing the resource efficient circular business models of the future. We warmly recommend you to review the EU Green Deal with the opportunity lens and take early measures to be ahead of the change.

We’re now calling the furniture industry into the Circular Business Lab at RISE. There will be a digital information meeting on November 17th 2023 at 13:00 to present the lab and how it can be of value to you on your circular journey. Please let us know if you’re curious to take part and would like an invitation! 

In August this year, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden opened its Circular Business Lab. A key success factor in the lab is how to cluster members to get the most out of their collaborative investment. In this post we will elaborate a bit on how we see the logic in eco-system clusters evolving. We hope this will open up the collaborative field!

Historically, sustainability issues have most often ended up on the environment department's table. It has been the section of the company that handles green initiatives and environmental issues while other departments have focused on the core business and profitability. But something inter

Have you ever felt uncomfortable when someone refers to you as a 'resource'? Perhaps you've associated it with a feeling of being replaceable or manipulable? Imagine that we could change that negative perception and instead see resources as something powerful and positive.

We are facing a major challenge. The automotive industry is working to transition to increased sustainability. It's about circularity and efficiency, but above all about creating attractive workplaces. Today, there is a shortage of assembly personnel and it will get worse. This week, the book Felkod kvinna is coming out and I have written a chapter

Textiles are the most exciting material one can possibly work with – or so some of us think! Starting from eternally long and super-thin fibres, we can produce fabrics that provide warmth, protection and make us feel good-looking. In addition, textile fibres are used in numerous technical applications, for example fishing nets.

Why are data centers important? The report "Energy Use in Data Centers and Digital System", written by us at RISE data center ICE, was recently released for the Swedish Energy Agency. Here we find out how a data center is structured and what it means to your life, as well as positive side effects of energy consumption.

Plastic is everywhere in our everyday lives and is in many ways a fantastic material. At the same time, plastic can be problematic, not least from a chemical perspective. Is plastic a hero or a villain, and how do we move towards sustainable plastic use?

Surely no parent would voluntarily put a toy containing carcinogens in the hands of their child. Nevertheless, there is a risk that we will do so, especially if the item in question comes from an online marketplace.