Circularity for Business
A five-week live programme for professionals who want to identify where value leaks from a linear business model, uncover circular opportunities, test their economics and build an execution-ready plan.
Alka Upadhyay
Lead FacultyAlka has more than 30 years of leadership experience across the Tata Group and EY. She led enterprise sustainability strategy across the Tata Group, was a founding member of the Tata Group's Climate Change Centre of Excellence, and contributed to the Circular Economy Vision for India through FICCI and CII. As a Partner at EY India she advised boards and CEOs on decarbonisation and ESG strategy.
Enrollment
Why This Programme
Resource volatility, supply-chain fragility, carbon constraints, regulation and changing customer expectations are reshaping the economics of the linear model. The strategic question is: Where are we losing value and how can we recover or create more of it?
Map Where Value Is Lost
Find where materials, products, energy, water and embedded value are lost across the entire value chain.
Translate Into Tangible Gains
Translate circular opportunities into cost savings, resilience, revenue, risk reduction and strategic advantage.
Build the Ecosystem & Plan
Move beyond ideas: prioritise, build the ecosystem, assign owners and create a credible implementation plan.
From Circular Concepts to Business Decisions
Four integrated capability pillars covering foundational theory, opportunity mapping, financial economics, and operational scale-up:
- Systems thinking in enterprise strategy
- Linear vs circular value creation
- Butterfly diagram and circular strategies
- Resource productivity and value leakage
- ReSOLVE and other opportunity-identifying frameworks
- Circular product and service design
- Reuse, repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing
- Circular business models
- Cost-benefit and total value assessment
- Financial, strategic and resilience value
- Circularity KPIs and selected Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) concepts
- Circular procurement principles
- Reverse logistics and secondary markets
- Partnerships and industrial symbiosis
- Governance, ownership, roadmap and scale-up
What Makes It Different
Business-first
Circularity is treated as a route to competitiveness, not as a waste-management topic.
Integrated business cases
Every module builds on a couple of business cases, so participants see how decisions connect.
Economics
Ideas are tested for value, feasibility, risk and strategic relevance before they become priorities.
A tangible playbook
Participants leave with five linked tools that can be reused in their own organisation.
Learning by Doing, with Practitioners
Built around practice and execution. Five live online sessions led by industry veterans who have driven circular transformation.
WHAT YOU DO
Learning by doing: work through real business cases each week, test circular economics, and build an execution-ready plan.
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
Circularity Playbook with 5 linked tools that can be immediately reused in your own organisation.
HOW IT RUNS
Five live Saturday sessions (10 AM to 2 PM), interactive case work, cross-functional cohort discussions.
YOUR COMPLETED CIRCULARITY PLAYBOOK DELIVERABLES:
The Practitioners
Learn directly from a veteran practitioner who led sustainability across the Tata Group and advised India's top corporate leadership on circular economy strategy.
Alka Upadhyay
Former Partner, EY India · Former AVP, Tata Sustainability Group
Alka has more than 30 years of leadership experience across the Tata Group and EY. She led enterprise sustainability strategy across the Tata Group, was a founding member of the Tata Group's Climate Change Centre of Excellence, and contributed to the Circular Economy Vision for India through FICCI and CII. As a Partner at EY India she advised boards and CEOs on decarbonisation and ESG strategy.
CAREER TIMELINE
RECOGNITION
- Sherpa for the Tata Group on WBCSD, Natural Capital Coalition and Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition
- Young Metallurgist Award, Ministry of Steel, Government of India
- Author of 25+ technical papers
EDUCATION & LEADERSHIP
- Harvard Business School, Senior Executive Leadership Program
- Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Sustainable Business Strategy
- IIM Ahmedabad, General Management Program
- BIT Sindri, Bachelor of Engineering (Metallurgy)
Concept & Impact
Why This Matters Now
Resource volatility, supply-chain fragility, carbon constraints, regulation and changing customer expectations are reshaping the economics of the linear model. The strategic question is 'Where are we losing value and how can we recover or create more of it?'
The Skills Gap It Closes
Circularity is treated as a route to competitiveness, not as a waste-management topic. Most organisations struggle to translate circular ambitions into rigorous business cases with clear economics and execution roadmaps. This programme builds that cross-functional capability.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the programme, you will be able to:
Identify where material, energy, water and embedded economic value leak across a company's operations and supply chain.
Apply ReSOLVE and circular design frameworks to generate high-leverage interventions across products, packaging and business models.
Evaluate circular initiatives on financial return, operational feasibility, risk mitigation and strategic resilience.
Define circularity KPIs and benchmark performance using Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) concepts.
Map reverse logistics, secondary markets, circular procurement and industrial symbiosis partner networks.
Formulate a boardroom-ready Strategic & Implementation Plan complete with governance, milestones, accountability and review mechanisms.
What You Walk Away With
You build an actionable ESG Playbook and capstone case across the six weeks:
Current State / Baseline Map
Map current material, product and waste flows to identify value leakage and establish a diagnostic baseline.
Opportunity Map (ReSOLVE)
Use circular strategies, design lenses, and business-model innovation to generate intervention opportunities across the value chain.
Prioritisation Matrix + KPIs
Test economic value, feasibility, risk, and circularity impact (CTI) to select actionable high-priority opportunities.
Ecosystem Map
Map procurement, collection, recovery, secondary markets, industrial symbiosis partnerships, and enabling data infrastructure.
Strategic & Implementation Plan
Build the executive business case, governance structure, phased roadmap, ownership matrix, and milestone review mechanisms.
The Course Modules
Interactive modules covered in this workshop.
MAP: Where are resources and value leaking?
Objective: Map current material, product and waste flows; identify value leakage; establish the baseline.
Key Topics Covered
- •Linear vs circular value creation and systems thinking
- •Mapping material, product, energy, water and waste flows
- •Identifying value leakage across supply and operations
- •Establishing the diagnostic baseline and current state metrics
Group Activity
Current State Mapping (group). Teams map material, product, and waste flows for an assigned business case to identify where embedded value is leaking.
IDENTIFY: Where can we intervene?
Objective: Use ReSOLVE, circular strategies, design and business-model lenses to generate opportunities across the value chain.
Key Topics Covered
- •The ReSOLVE framework (Regenerate, Share, Optimise, Loop, Virtualise, Exchange)
- •Circular product and service design principles
- •Reuse, repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing loops
- •Circular business models and value proposition innovation
Group Activity
Opportunity Generation (group). Apply circular lenses and ReSOLVE frameworks across procurement, design, and operations.
PRIORITISE: Which opportunities are worth pursuing?
Objective: Test economic value, feasibility, risk, circularity impact and strategic relevance; select KPIs.
Key Topics Covered
- •Cost-benefit and total value assessment (financial, strategic, resilience)
- •Evaluating technical feasibility, operational risk, and regulatory drivers
- •Circularity metrics and Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) concepts
- •Structuring a decision matrix to rank and select priority circular initiatives
Group Activity
Prioritisation Matrix Exercise. Score circular interventions against ROI, feasibility, and impact to establish executive priorities.
ENABLE: What ecosystem will make it work?
Objective: Map procurement, collection, recovery, secondary markets, partnerships, data and enabling infrastructure.
Key Topics Covered
- •Circular procurement guidelines and supplier collaboration
- •Reverse logistics systems, take-back schemes, and secondary material markets
- •Cross-industry partnerships and industrial symbiosis networks
- •Digital traceability, material passports, data systems, and enabling infrastructure
Group Activity
Ecosystem Architecture Mapping. Design the partner network, reverse logistics, and enabling data systems for circular execution.
ACT: How do we turn it into a business plan?
Objective: Build the business case, governance, roadmap, owners, milestones and review mechanism.
Key Topics Covered
- •Building an executive-ready circular business case and investment pitch
- •Cross-functional governance, ownership allocation, and incentives
- •Designing the implementation roadmap: quick wins vs long-term scaling
- •Milestones, monitoring dashboards, and executive review cadences
Group Activity
Capstone Synthesis & Presentation. Synthesize all 5 Playbook tools into a comprehensive Circularity Strategic & Implementation Plan and present live.
What Cohort Leaders Say
Rajani Kumari Ch
Managing Director, EIA & ESG Consultant
SSMNT Group
"The interactive sessions, quizzes, and breakout sessions provided me with valuable real-time experience in applying the topics covered."
"Dear Earth Inherited Team, thank you very much for the exceptional course. The program provided great insights and illustrations from the experts, and I truly appreciated the high quality of the instruction. In particular, the interactive sessions, quizzes, and breakout sessions were highly effective. These components provided me with valuable real-time experience in applying the topics covered throughout the curriculum."
Subrat Debata
Manager, Wildlife Conservation
Tata Steel Foundation
"Learning through relatable real-world cases, what worked, and what didn't work made the concepts practical and directly relevant to my work."
"One of my key takeaways from Earth Inherited was how to think systematically. What I found particularly valuable were the relatable case studies, including examples of what did not work, and the corrective actions businesses took. Learning through these real-world cases and discussions made the concepts practical and relevant to my work."
Ravichandran
Founder
Verdiqor Pvt Ltd
"The team has hands-on experience, they are subject matter experts. The use cases articulation and guide questions put understanding into muscle memory."
"I am completely depending on Earth Inherited for direction, content. The team has hands-on experience, they are subject matter experts. The use cases articulation and guide questions puts the understanding in the muscle memory. I am convinced of the value I received learning and the network/connect."
Who is this for?
- Sustainability and ESG Leaders & Analysts
- Strategy and Business Transformation Teams
- Operations and Manufacturing Managers
- Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders
- Product Design, Packaging & R&D Professionals
- Corporate Leaders evaluating resource resilience & new revenue models
Designed for Working Professionals. Built for Real Decisions.
Spot value leakage, choose the right interventions, build the economics, mobilise the ecosystem and execute.
What You Need
No prior circularity experience required. Designed for cross-functional professionals looking to spot value leakage and build circular advantage.
Certificate of Participation
Earn an industry-recognized credential awarded jointly by Earth Inherited, The Indian Express, and Ecube upon successful programme completion.
Have Queries?
Have questions about the curriculum, custom/group corporate training, schedule, or fit for your career? We are here to help.
New to circularity?
Circular Economy: What It Means for Your Business
Circularity is moving up the business agenda across manufacturing, supply chain, procurement, product and packaging teams, but what it actually means, and what it's worth, isn't always clear. Join this live session with experienced practitioners for the introduction, and see how circular thinking creates measurable business value.
We will also walk you through the Circularity for Business 5-week practitioner programme and answer your questions on the curriculum, learning outcomes, Circularity Playbook, faculty, schedule and fee.
An introduction to circularity: what it is, what it isn't, and why it's more than waste management.
Where circular thinking creates real business value: cost, resilience, revenue and risk, with examples from real companies.
Walk through the 5 weekly modules, the Circularity Playbook you build, faculty, schedule and fees.
Circular Economy for Business: Live Session & Course Q&A
Interactive 60-minute introduction followed by dedicated open Q&A with our practitioner faculty
Limited seats per session · Link will be emailed after saving your spot