Launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2018, the Coalition aims to help companies in the capital equipment sector transition to a circular “make-use-reuse” model to realize a better future for people and nature.
Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, in partnership with Philips and the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), today announced the expansion of the Capital Equipment Coalition (CEC) to the North American market. With participation from leading businesses involved in the servicing, manufacturing and distribution of durable goods known as “capital equipment,” the Coalition is eager to accelerate its transformation to a circular economy model where no materials or resources are wasted.
The open forum promotes shared goal setting, information-sharing and close collaboration in the supply chain, while addressing critical topics to enable circular practices. Participating companies will identify common challenges and opportunities and set industry-leading commitments and standards to advance circularity in the capital equipment they manufacture or manage.
The Coalition is supported through the recently launched PACE Action Agenda, a global overview of best practices and gaps along the capital equipment value chain, with concrete calls to action to make the impact that is needed and reduce the environmental footprint. Current members of the Coalition include Microsoft, GE Digital, SAP, and DLL in North America, ASML, Cisco, Damen, Dell, ENEL, KPN, Lely and Vanderlande in Europe, and Philips in both Europe and North America.
“At the U.S. Chamber Foundation, we believe in the power of business to solve our toughest challenges and the Capital Equipment Coalition is a prime example of how companies can lead the transformation to a sustainable future by coming together around common goals,” said Carolyn Cawley, President of the U.S. Chamber Foundation. “We are delighted to create the forum for that work in North America.”
“Public-private partnerships have proven very valuable to advance the circular economy, offering opportunities for business growth as well as being critical to the future of our planet,” said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips, and Chair of PACE. “The Capital Equipment Coalition has shortened the learning curve through the sharing of best practices with like-minded industry peers in Europe. The expansion of this coalition to North America with founding members Microsoft, GE Digital, DLL and SAP is a logical next step in our effort to scale adoption of the circular economy and deliver real global change. I am pleased that Philips is on track to deliver on its global ‘closing the loop’ commitment to responsibly repurpose all the large medical systems equipment that becomes available to us by 2025.”
Capital equipment refers to high-value products designed, built and acquired to last, often for 30 years or more. These include motor vehicles, machinery (e.g. elevators), equipment used in transportation and telecom (e.g. trains or antennas), datacenter infrastructure, medical instruments (e.g. MRI scanners), as well as office machinery and computers. Capital equipment is mainly used in business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) markets, with the exception of motor vehicles, which can be sold directly to consumers. To fully enable circular transition in the capital equipment sector, the entire ecosystem must work together – from procurement to financing to equipment maintenance.
Spanning a wide range of sectors and products, capital equipment makes up a large percentage of total global material use and waste generation, contributing to 6.5% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, capital equipment uses a significant amount of global metals and minerals, including more than half of the world’s ore production. Adoption of circular practices in the sector could produce long-lasting environmental benefits and offer important lessons to other industries.
“Microsoft is honored to be a part of the Capital Equipment Coalition North America. It is our goal to reuse 90 percent of servers and components in our datacenters by 2025 through Microsoft Circular Centers. We will share lessons learned and best practices with the Capital Equipment Coalition to benefit the global transition to a circular economy for the capital equipment industry. Together we will identify new opportunities to accelerate and leverage circularity and challenge one another to achieve more,” said Paul Clark, GM Cloud Supply Chain Sustainability at Microsoft.
To learn more about the Coalition’s efforts in North America, visit the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s website. The CEC North America is currently accepting additional capital equipment manufacturers and operators as Coalition partners. To discuss joining, please email the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s Sustainability and Circular Economy team at sustainability@uschamber.com.
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