The latest meeting of the ESG Alliance expert club, “Natural Capital Fridays,” focused on the link between the circular economy and the preservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Participants discussed how reducing the consumption of primary resources, developing recycling, improving supply chain traceability, and responsibly managing natural resources can help businesses address production challenges while simultaneously reducing pressure on ecosystems.
The overall conclusion of the discussion was that the circular economy today goes far beyond waste management. For companies, it is increasingly a matter of resource efficiency, supply chain quality, and managing their impact on nature.
Daliya Safiullina, Head of the Circular Economy Transition Business Line at Kept, highlighted the resource foundation of the transition to a circular model. Reducing the demand for virgin raw materials can help decrease pressure on natural ecosystems as early as the resource extraction stage.
“The limited availability of resources requires a new approach to our relationship with the environment, one that involves a transition to a circular economy. The global shift to a circular economy could reduce the extraction of virgin materials by 39%.”
The practical implementation of this model requires not only recycling technologies but also transparency throughout the entire chain of secondary resource management. Maxim Remchukov, Director of the Secondary Recycling and Sustainable Solutions Division at SIBUR, noted that traceability is becoming one of the key conditions for the further development of the recycling market.
“Traceability across the entire chain — from waste generation to the production of finished goods from recycled materials — will sooner or later become a mandatory requirement for recycling. This is critically important for bringing greater transparency to the waste management industry, which, in turn, will pave the way for private investment in waste processing and disposal projects.”
Anna Bobrova, Director of Sustainability at Lemana PRO, spoke about how circular solutions are already being implemented through specific business models. Drawing on the company’s experience, she demonstrated the conditions under which circular services can develop viable business models and how such solutions can simultaneously reduce a company’s resource footprint and its impact on biodiversity.
Polina Asoskova, Head of Sustainable Development Projects at X5 Group, presented the company’s approach to developing the circular economy as part of X5’s ESG Strategy through 2028. The discussion focused on practical measures to promote more environmentally friendly packaging and integrate circularity principles into product management and supply chains.
A separate part of the discussion focused on forests — one of the clearest examples of why preserving natural capital cannot be reduced solely to preventing the direct destruction of ecosystems.
Nikolai Shmatkov, Director of the Forest Standard system, emphasized that the key challenge is not only deforestation but also the gradual loss of the quality of forest ecosystems.
“Degradation, rather than deforestation, is the main problem facing our forests. According to the Russian Academy of Sciences, more than 80% of Russia’s forest area has already undergone degradation. It is important to inform businesses and consumers about forest certification as a potentially powerful tool for curbing forest degradation.”
The discussion demonstrated that the circular economy and biodiversity conservation are increasingly becoming interconnected agendas rather than two separate areas of focus. Reducing the consumption of virgin raw materials, developing secondary resources, ensuring transparency regarding the origin of materials, and responsibly managing supply chains directly determine the scale of a company’s impact on ecosystems.
For companies, this means a gradual shift from individual environmental initiatives toward a more integrated model in which decisions about materials, suppliers, packaging, recycling, and the use of natural resources are viewed as interconnected elements of natural capital management.
The latest meeting of the ESG Alliance expert club, “Natural Capital Fridays,” focused on the link between the circular economy and the preservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Participants discussed how reducing the consumption of primary resources, developing recycling, improving supply chain traceability, and responsibly managing natural resources can help businesses address production challenges while simultaneously reducing pressure on ecosystems.
The overall conclusion of the discussion was that the circular economy today goes far beyond waste management. For companies, it is increasingly a matter of resource efficiency, supply chain quality, and managing their impact on nature.
Daliya Safiullina, Head of the Circular Economy Transition Business Line at Kept, highlighted the resource foundation of the transition to a circular model. Reducing the demand for virgin raw materials can help decrease pressure on natural ecosystems as early as the resource extraction stage.
“The limited availability of resources requires a new approach to our relationship with the environment, one that involves a transition to a circular economy. The global shift to a circular economy could reduce the extraction of virgin materials by 39%.”
The practical implementation of this model requires not only recycling technologies but also transparency throughout the entire chain of secondary resource management. Maxim Remchukov, Director of the Secondary Recycling and Sustainable Solutions Division at SIBUR, noted that traceability is becoming one of the key conditions for the further development of the recycling market.
“Traceability across the entire chain — from waste generation to the production of finished goods from recycled materials — will sooner or later become a mandatory requirement for recycling. This is critically important for bringing greater transparency to the waste management industry, which, in turn, will pave the way for private investment in waste processing and disposal projects.”
Anna Bobrova, Director of Sustainability at Lemana PRO, spoke about how circular solutions are already being implemented through specific business models. Drawing on the company’s experience, she demonstrated the conditions under which circular services can develop viable business models and how such solutions can simultaneously reduce a company’s resource footprint and its impact on biodiversity.
Polina Asoskova, Head of Sustainable Development Projects at X5 Group, presented the company’s approach to developing the circular economy as part of X5’s ESG Strategy through 2028. The discussion focused on practical measures to promote more environmentally friendly packaging and integrate circularity principles into product management and supply chains.
A separate part of the discussion focused on forests — one of the clearest examples of why preserving natural capital cannot be reduced solely to preventing the direct destruction of ecosystems.
Nikolai Shmatkov, Director of the Forest Standard system, emphasized that the key challenge is not only deforestation but also the gradual loss of the quality of forest ecosystems.
“Degradation, rather than deforestation, is the main problem facing our forests. According to the Russian Academy of Sciences, more than 80% of Russia’s forest area has already undergone degradation. It is important to inform businesses and consumers about forest certification as a potentially powerful tool for curbing forest degradation.”
The discussion demonstrated that the circular economy and biodiversity conservation are increasingly becoming interconnected agendas rather than two separate areas of focus. Reducing the consumption of virgin raw materials, developing secondary resources, ensuring transparency regarding the origin of materials, and responsibly managing supply chains directly determine the scale of a company’s impact on ecosystems.
For companies, this means a gradual shift from individual environmental initiatives toward a more integrated model in which decisions about materials, suppliers, packaging, recycling, and the use of natural resources are viewed as interconnected elements of natural capital management.
