Circular economy on the rise

On March 20, Nordea and SB Insights published a study on circular economy (pdf, 7 MB), a concept that turned out to be relatively unknown to many. In Sweden, Norway and Denmark over 50% of those asked claimed never to have heard of it, while only 16% of the Finnish were unfamiliar with the concept. Awareness of circular economy has, however, been on a steady rise in all Nordic countries from 2017 to 2019 and the trend to recycle and buy second hand fashion and goods appears to be here to stay. 

The study was conducted on the Nordic consumer market between 2017 and 2019 with the purpose of finding out what the interest and knowledge look like in terms of circular economy in the Nordic markets Finland is undoubtedly at the forefront and in all the Nordic countries more men than women are familiar with the concept.  Women are also heavily overrepresented when it comes to a desire to decrease consumption and many of those asked are even open to a tax increase on goods and consumer products in return for a decrease in tax on services. 

Circular economy is important at Nordea. As an example, Nordea visited our corporate customer Inrego at their factory in the outskirts of Stockholm to learn more about their circular business model: giving life to used computers. Nordea Business Banking’s mission includes being a business partner offering leading financial advice and guidance on matters beyond banking. This customer story shows how business enables the transition towards a sustainable future.