Michael UngarCEO of the Industry 4.0 Club

Supply Signal: Revolutionizing Circular Material Marketplaces Explained

17 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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1:24

In this monologue, the speaker introduces the idea of a "supply signal"—a proactive advertisement of available materials that flips the traditional demand‑driven procurement model. By broadcasting what materials are "up for grabs," other supply‑chain participants can express interest directly, streamlining matches in circular material marketplaces. The speaker notes that this model is already emerging across various platforms and predicts rapid growth, especially as European Union policy—specifically the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)—begins to levy hefty tariffs on high‑carbon imports. CBAM creates two possible corporate responses: (1) collaborate with suppliers to produce lower‑emission, greener materials, or (2) keep materials circulating within the EU to avoid the levy. Both pathways are expected to accelerate the development of EU‑focused circular material marketplaces.

Chapters

If we can find clever ways to put out what I call a supply signal out into the world to say, this is what I have up for grabs. And then to have a way for other supply chain to say, look, I would actually love that. It flips it on its head a little bit instead of saying, here's what I need. Can somebody come and tell me if they can fulfill that? And we're seeing this across different circular material marketplaces. And that space I predict will grow pretty considerably, especially when we start thinking about some of the movement from the EU, particularly one directive they have in place called CBAM, which is the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which basically says for high-carbon materials coming into the EU, eventually there will be a tax or a tariff or a levy on those materials, and I predict they'll be quite hefty in order to change behavior. And the behavior could go one of two ways, I think. One could be companies working with their suppliers to have that steel, for example, created in a way that's lower emissions and greener. Or it says, look, don't cross the border, keep your materials within the EU, circulate it within the EU, and then you don't ever have to pay that. And so that should inspire circular materials marketplace inside the European Union.