The circular economy is going to be big. Industrial manufacturers should start small.

For industrial manufacturers, it’s not a question of whether the circular economy will change how business is done, but when. The industrial sector accounts for about a quarter of global carbon emissions. Consumers already prefer sustainable end products. Major manufacturers who buy industrial-manufacturing equipment have announced net-zero carbon goals and will continue to press for sustainability down their supply chains. And governments will demand stringent sustainability improvements as increasingly stark impacts of climate change force action toward concrete emissions-reduction targets. Hitting those targets will, over time, involve tracking and reducing both direct and indirect emissions (classified as Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions) throughout supply chains in which industrial manufacturers play such central roles.