The inspiration book for businesses presents how companies can explore countless possibilities of working with circularity of batteries and battery-driven products through new business models and improved ways of using batteries more efficiently. New practices are needed in procurement, design and production departments, which can unlock innovative business potentials. The inspiration book describes five circular business models: Circular supplies supporting sustainability and circular economy looking upstream in the value chain and demanding sustainable materials; resource recovery via actions that can ensure reuse and recycling by applying actions downstream in the value chain; product life extension that includes all the actions consumers and manufacturers can apply to increase the lifespan of products and components during the use phase; sharing platforms that help to decrease the need for products by effectively sharing fewer amenities among more users, and products as a service where product ownership is never transferred to the consumer thus supporting maintenance, product life extension, and resource recovery.

The background for the guidebook is a project aiming at promoting the Nordic countries as a forerunner region in demanding and using sustainable design of batteries for consumer electronics and the transport sector, and to identify key opportunities, barriers and challenges in the transition towards a more sustainable use of battery technologies. The aesthetics of the design should meet with the overall sustainability: high quality, durability and smart assembly for refurbishing.

The project is funded by the Nordic Working Group for Circular Economy (NCE) under the Nordic Council of Ministers. The project has been carried out by Viegand Maagøe A/S (Denmark) and IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute (Sweden) in the period 20 October 2020 to 31 December 2021. A reference group with representatives from the Nordics has been established, who provided valuable input to the study.