Move a food-packaging business from take, make, dispose toward a circular model, and find out whether it pays.
You have just taken charge of Box to the Future, a mid-size firm that makes the boxes, trays and wraps used by food brands. Today most of what you make is linear: raw material in, packaging out, thrown away after one use. That model is getting more expensive, and the food brands you supply are starting to ask for something greener.
A circular model is different. It designs out waste and keeps materials in use: recyclable and reusable packaging, sustainable sourcing, take-back schemes, and using recycled material to make new packaging. Your job over the next four years is to decide how far, and how fast, to move Box to the Future around that circle.
Marisa has seen firms rush this and trip over the cost, and seen firms leave it too late and lose their biggest customers. She will brief you before each decision and give you her honest read afterwards. The calls are yours.
Three things move as you act. Watch them, because each year brings pressure that tests them.
You also get a Budget each year to spend on moves. That is the catch: going circular costs money up front, so you cannot do everything at once.
The businesses, people and clients in this simulation are invented for teaching. The regulatory backdrop is real and used only for neutral context.
Example data, as of June 2026. Figures are approximate and used for neutral, illustrative framing only.
Pick the moves you want. The dial and bars show what your moves would do. What each year's pressure does to you stays hidden until you commit.
A record of what you did, to keep or hand in. Add your name if you like, then copy or download the summary.
Going circular is not just "recycle more". It is a change to the business model, so you weigh it like any strategic choice, over time.