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Harald FRIEDL

🌀 The hidden cost of “Green Growth” ♻️ [3 min read]

Published 8 months ago • 2 min read

A few days ago, I was on a call with a CEO of a large manufacturing company.
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He proudly told me:

“We’ve doubled our recycling rate this year. Our ESG rating is up. Investors are happy.”

But when I asked: “How much less raw material did you buy this year?”
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He went silent.

That’s the hidden cost of today’s “green growth.”
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We celebrate recycling, reporting, and shiny ESG scores 🚀…

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…while the real problem remains untouched: we keep extracting, producing, and wasting more every year.

🌍 Reality check:

What this means for you

  • Recycling ≠ Circularity. True circularity is about using less in the first place.
  • Growth without efficiency is like running on a treadmill — lots of effort, no progress.
  • The winners of tomorrow aren’t those who “look sustainable.” They’re the ones who redesign their business models around circular value creation.

What I’ve learned

In my work wit companies, I see first-hand:
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Companies that thrive aren’t the ones ticking ESG boxes.
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They’re the ones asking tougher questions:

  • How do we make money by selling fewer new products?
  • How can our waste become someone else’s input?
  • How do we create resilience, not just compliance?

That’s where circular economy stops being an environmental cost center and becomes a competitive advantage 💡.

The bottom line

The real danger isn’t “doing nothing.”
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It’s doing a lot of the wrong thing — and calling it success.

My advice:
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🔍 Measure what matters.
🌱 Focus on less, not more.
💪 Build models where profit and sustainability reinforce each other.

Because the world doesn’t need more recycling bins.

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It needs leaders willing to redesign the game.

Stay circular, stay kind. 🌀

Harald

Where to find me and others:

24 September 2025: Sirknorge Annual Conference, Oslo/Norway​
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​26 September 2025 : Green Film and Media Festival /Stuttgart​

21 October 2025: Circular Horizons Masterclass, Helsinki/Finland

23 October 2025: Camacol Summit, Barranquilla/Colombia

10-20 November 2025: COP 30, Belem/Brazil

Whenever you are ready, here are 5 ways I can help you:

​The Circular Advantage: If you're a corporate or a startup struggling with the lack of clarity on where to start or Building & funding circular business cases — my FREE 5-day email course is for you.

​Inspire Your Audience: From TED to Zero Waste Conferences, I've been invited as a keynote speaker to talk about circular economy, leadership, and innovation. Book me to start making an impact.

​Educate your team with a Circularity Masterclass: Partner up with me to create immersive experiences to make the Circular Economy feelable.

​Get inspired: My TEDxTirana talk on how we can hack a broken system while building a better one.

​Go deeper with my book: "The Customer is the Planet: A handbook for sustainable business" which I co-authored in 2024. ​
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Harald FRIEDL

Circular Economist

Harald is an internationally renowned circular economist. He is advising the United Nations in several countries and and is working with top companies on their road towards circularity. Harald has co-iniatied the global yearly “Circularity Gap Report”, one of the most referenced publications in the field of circular economy. Harald has extensive consulting experience as  CEO of the the do-tank Circle Economy in Amsterdam. And he spearheaded the circular transition in his home country Austria when he served as Circular Economy Accelerator for the Austrian Government in 2022.

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