Communicating about the circular economy is not easy. Too often, corporate communication comes up against greenwashing (overstating the merits of your activities) and greenhushing (keeping quiet about them to avoid being criticiseds). Both can be due to one overriding difficulty: how to be transparent when environmental issues are so complicated.

This is why the French Agency for Ecological Transition and Circul’R have developed this guide. Intended for communication and marketing professionals, CSR managers and business leaders, it aims to give companies the keys to communicate - accurately, transparently and meaningfully - about the circular economy.

It provides:

• benchmarks to enhance the circular approaches described,
• a shared framework to align narratives, the reality of operating a business and stakeholder expectations, and
• a pragmatic approach that uses transparency, proportionality and sincerity as the guiding principles for communication.

The main findings are:

• communicating about the circular economy must make a good case for it and engage the general public;

• transparency and proof are crucial for boosting trust and enabling people to distinguish between pretty words and genuine commitments;

• proportionate, consistent communication has the most impact;

• if you acknowledge that a given approach has limits, people are more likely to believe you and not to have unrealistic expections;

• you need a tried and tested circular product before you start talking about it;

• people must be brought to see that the circular economy is a good thing, not just a necessary one.