The circular economy (CE) represents a fundamental shift in how organizations design, operate and renew their built environment. Moving away from the traditional "take-make-waste" linear model, the circular approach seeks to eliminate waste, extend the life cycle of materials and assets, and regenerate value across operations. For the facility management (FM) profession, this shift offers both a strategic opportunity and a practical challenge: how can FM inspire cross-functional collaboration to embed circular thinking across the organization?
This question formed the foundation of IFMA’s 2025 Executive Summit, which brought together senior FM leaders and cross-sector experts to explore the role of FM in enabling whole-organization circularity. Building on IFMA’s 2024 research report “Circular FM: The Role of the Circular Economy in Facility Management,” the Summit moved the conversation from theory to action, examining not only what circularity means in FM, but how it can be operationalized in collaboration with key departments across the business.
METHODOLOGY
To surface rich, practical insights, the Executive Summit used a Knowledge Café format, based on the World Café[1] methodology. Participants rotated between discussion stations themed around core organizational functions:
C-suite
Finance & Procurement
Information Technology
Marketing
Real Estate (CRE)
Other Functions (e.g., HR, Health & Safety, Government Affairs, Occupants)
C-suite
Finance & Procurement
Information Technology
Marketing
Real Estate (CRE)
Other Functions (e.g., HR, Health & Safety, Government Affairs, Occupants)
At each station, participants responded to five key prompts:
- What challenges could this department face?
- What role does this department play in supporting a circular economy transition?
- How can FM teams inspire collaboration with this department?
- What specific tools, training or capabilities are needed?
- What metrics or KPIs should be used to track progress?
Each group built on the ideas left by the previous participants, generating cumulative, diverse and collaborative input that reflected both strategic vision and operational insight.
OVERVIEW OF KEY FINDINGS
The Knowledge Café revealed that circular economy goals cannot be achieved in isolation. While every department plays a unique role in shaping circular outcomes, from capital planning in Finance, to storytelling in Marketing, to asset reuse in Real Estate, FM emerges as the integrating function best positioned to drive coherence, momentum and cross-functional alignment.
Key themes that emerged across all functions include:
- The need for role-relevant CE framing that aligns with each department’s goals and logic
- A shared call for data, tools and dashboards to track life cycle value and CE progress
- The importance of cultural and behavioral change, supported by HR, Communications and Leadership
- A growing interest in alternative financial models (e.g., as-a-service, OpEx-based strategies) that challenge traditional ownership and CapEx thinking
- FM’s strategic role as the circular orchestrator, able to bridge silos, build coalitions and translate circular vision into operational reality
- The deep dives that follow in this report present the detailed, department-specific findings from the café sessions, followed by a cross-functional synthesis and final reflection on the implications for the FM profession.
- The need for role-relevant CE framing that aligns with each department’s goals and logic
- A shared call for data, tools and dashboards to track life cycle value and CE progress
- The importance of cultural and behavioral change, supported by HR, Communications and Leadership
- A growing interest in alternative financial models (e.g., as-a-service, OpEx-based strategies) that challenge traditional ownership and CapEx thinking
- FM’s strategic role as the circular orchestrator, able to bridge silos, build coalitions and translate circular vision into operational reality
- The deep dives that follow in this report present the detailed, department-specific findings from the café sessions, followed by a cross-functional synthesis and final reflection on the implications for the FM profession.
International Facility Management Association (IFMA) supports over 25,000 members in 140 countries. Since 1980, IFMA has worked to advance the FM profession through education, events, credentialing, research, networking and knowledge-sharing.