About & how to use

What this tool is, and how to get the most out of it:

The Circularity Case Builder helps CSR and sustainability teams turn a circular initiative into tailored business cases for the departments they need to convince.

What it's for

Most circular initiatives don't fail on the idea — they fail in the boardroom. Finance hears "investment", Operations hears "disruption", Marketing hears "story", HR hears "change". This tool generates a stakeholder-specific pitch for each of them, anchored in recognised Circular Economy frameworks and platforms (sources include the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Circle Economy, World Economic Forum and the European Commission) so the language lands in their world.

The output can be used as input for your own pitch — a structured starting point you can edit, challenge and combine with what only you know about your organisation.

How to use it (≈ 5 minutes)

1
Describe your initiative
One paragraph. Clear is more important than complete — the form will guide you on archetype, value-chain stages and stage of maturity.
2
Pick the stakeholders you need to convince
Leadership, Finance, Operations, R&D, Marketing, HR, Supply Chain, Legal — choose only the ones that actually decide. Mark the most important as high priority.
3
Add any numbers you have
Even rough ranges (current waste %, target reduction, expected pilot cost) sharpen the ROI framing dramatically. Skip what you don't have.
4
Generate, then edit
Read each pitch critically. Regenerate any that feel off. Copy, email or download a PDF, then share with your team, or rewrite in your own voice where needed.

Tips for stronger pitches

Be specific in the description. "Reusable packaging for our DTC skincare line in NL/BE" beats "circular packaging".
Pick the Value Hill position honestly. Pre-use vs in-use vs post-use changes which value drivers matter most.
Regenerate per stakeholder, not the whole set. Each tab has its own refresh — cheaper, faster, and you keep the pitches you already like.
Treat it as a draft. Check names, numbers and claims before anything leaves your organisation.

Can I use it for non-circular sustainability work?

Short answer: partially. The framing engine (stakeholder-specific value drivers, ROI language, objections, KPIs) transfers well to most sustainability initiatives — energy efficiency, Scope-3 reduction, biodiversity, social impact. The grounding knowledge base, however, is built around circular economy frameworks (e.g. CE Value Driver, Value Hill, 9R Framework). For non-circular initiatives the structure will still be useful, but some references and pitfalls won't be the right fit — read those sections critically and remove what doesn't apply.

A dedicated "broader sustainability" mode is on the roadmap (see below).

FAQ

Is my input shared or used to train AI models?+

Your inputs are sent to the AI provider only to generate your pitch and are not used by us to train models. We do not sell your inputs or pitches. Saved initiatives are stored in your account and you can delete them at any time. See the Privacy Notice for the full picture.

How accurate and trustworthy are the pitches?+

The pitches are directional, not authoritative. They are generated by a large language model on top of your inputs and a curated knowledge base of public circular-economy sources. Expect:

Solid framing, structure and stakeholder language;
Reasonable but generic ROI logic — your real numbers will sharpen it;
Occasional inaccuracies, outdated facts or claims that don't apply to your market — always validate before using externally.

Treat every pitch as a strong first draft, not a final document.

Should I send the PDF straight to my CFO?+

No. The PDF is meant to support your conversation. Read it, edit it, add your organisation's specifics, and present it in your own voice.

Can I save and come back to my initiatives?+

Yes — create a free account and your initiatives and pitches are saved to your workspace. Without an account, pitches live only in the current browser tab.

What happens if I regenerate a pitch?+

Only that one stakeholder's pitch is rebuilt. The others stay exactly as they were. Your initiative inputs are unchanged.

What's next (roadmap)

Directional, not promised dates. Feedback shapes priorities — use the feedback widget on the pitch pages.

Slide / PowerPoint export of the main pitch summary per stakeholder, ready to drop into a deck.
Broader sustainability mode (energy, scope-3, biodiversity, social impact) with its own grounding sources.
Numbers-aware ROI & payback horizon — when you provide cost / revenue inputs, generate a quantified Year 1 / 3 / 5 payback view with explicit assumptions.
Shareable pitch links for read-only review by colleagues without an account.
Editable pitches in-app, so you can tune wording and KPIs without copy-pasting elsewhere.

A note from the founder

We hear it everywhere now: sustainability has to earn its seat at the table like any other business case. And there's truth to that. If a circular initiative can't be explained in the language a CFO or CEO understands, it won't get funded. That's the reality this tool is built for.

But I think it's worth saying the now quieter half out loud:

A business case built only on strategic metrics and financial return is a business case that is as easy to cut as any other investment with a failing ROI. Yet unlike most other business practices, sustainability is not just about driving results for any individual business, but also for the system it depends on. Assessing sustainability with a purely business-oriented value frame isn't wrong — it's incomplete.

Financial metrics measure what you put into a system versus what you get out of it. What they don't measure is what you're quietly eroding in the process: the quality of the ecosystem itself. And unlike most inputs, the health of that system — your supply chains, your material flows, your license to operate — determines whether your business model works at all.

So yes, the Circularity Case Builder helps you make both the financial argument and the strategic one for your circular business case. But it also recognises that, in essence, sustainability isn't there to make your business money. It's there to future-proof our world's ecosystem, our economic system and your business within it.

— Lian van Leeuwen

Founder and Creator | Circularity Case Builder

A note on use. Pitches are AI-generated and directional — a starting point for internal discussion, not financial, legal, regulatory or strategic advice. You are responsible for any decision or claim made on their basis. Full terms and privacy details are in the Terms & Privacy page.

Ready to try it?

~5 minutes. No sign-up needed to generate your first set of pitches.

Build my pitch