Circular Economy

Circular Economy

A circular economy is based on renewable resources – either grown or circulated within the economy at high-value. The circular economy has no waste: only resources designed to be feedstock for other products.

We at Green Gain, think that the circular economy is an exciting and inspiring vision of how we can we make, use and dispose of products in a resource-limited world. We believe that the economy will become much more circular as the costs of raw materials and environmental controls escalate and we are seeing early adopters – new entrepreneurs and big businesses alike – beginning to make great commercial successes from new products, new business models and new strategies based on circular economy opportunities. We expect many of these innovators to become the future market-leaders.

Some key features of circular economy thinking are (with credit to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation):

Whole system design: An effective circular economy for a product is much more likely to be achieved if all, or everyone involved in the product’s design,

manufacture and use, are incentivised towards the same outcome.

Design for end-of-life recovery: Repair, refurbishment and re-manufacturing becomes much more commercially viable and prevalent when products are designed with this in mind.

New business models: Selling the function of a product rather than the product itself means that the supplier retains ownership of the product and is incentivised to design for durability and end-of-life recovery. Other business models, based on sharing products between different consumers - and based on diverting end-of-life products before they reach a wheelie bin or skip - are rapidly gaining ground.

Diversity: A wide variety of circular economy solutions applied at different scales will provide a resilient and adaptable foundation.

Bio-mimicry: Copying systems used in nature – seeing ecosystems as a template for a circular economy and its elements.

Innovation: A mass migration from a linear to a circular economy will begin with a lot of invention, creativity, experimentation, entrepreneurship and collaboration. We are already seeing this happening and it’s inspiring!

How we supported innovative start-up Revive Eco

Revive Eco is a multi-award-winning waste rejuvenation eco-prise, specialising in the collection and recycling of Used Coffee Grounds (UCGs) to create a range of environmentally beneficial products. Over 95 million cups of coffee are consumed in the UK each day, generating over half a million tonnes of UCG waste every year. The Revive Eco business model involves a UCG collection service, charging a small collection fee per kg, or a gate fee. The UCGs are then recycled to initially extract high-value bio-chemicals. From the residual grounds, Revive Eco creates bio-fertiliser and biomass pellets for sustainable energy.

This business model disrupts the linear (take, make, dispose) approach inherent in coffee consumption and, through reprocessing, redirects the UCGs into raw materials for valuable new markets. With business planning support from Green Gain, Revive Eco secured over £235,000 from Zero Waste Scotland. The funding allowed them to start to commercialise their process.

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Green Gain has helped reduce our wastage, reduce our costs and more importantly allowed us to become more sustainable in our day to day operations...thank you for all your work, you guys rock!

- Emma Jenkins, Creative Director, EJ Catering Ltd.

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I would highly recommend the work of Green Gain and would not hesitate in employing them again.

- Jeanine Willoughby, CO2Sense.

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Our requirement was quickly understood and an excellent piece of work ensued. It was refreshing working with a team if people who clearly have a strong grasp on what they deliver.

- Jane Fowler, Marketing Director, Crompton Controls.

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Gree Gain's work was carried out very diligently and with utmost professionalism. I cannot recommend them enough.

- Ray Saunders, Operations Manager, Just Perfect Catering Ltd.

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I find Green Gain an absolute pleasure to work with. They bring a high level of quality management to our tendering processes but more importantly they produce results!

- Tony Sharkey, Director of Future Developments, Yorwaste.

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Green Gain used their knowledge of the industry to provide comprehensive and robust market information to feed into our business plan. We were impressed with the quality of their work.

- Jane Abson, Managing Director, Plastics Trading Ltd.

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Green Gain has helped reduce our wastage, reduce our costs and more importantly allowed us to become more sustainable in our day to day operations...thank you for all your work, you guys rock!

Emma Jenkins, Creative Director, EJ Catering Ltd.

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I would highly recommend the work of Green Gain and would not hesitate in employing them again.

Jeanine Willoughby, CO2Sense.

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Our requirement was quickly understood and an excellent piece of work ensued. It was refreshing working with a team if people who clearly have a strong grasp on what they deliver.

Jane Fowler, Marketing Director, Crompton Controls.

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Gree Gain's work was carried out very diligently and with utmost professionalism. I cannot recommend them enough.

Ray Saunders, Operations Manager, Just Perfect Catering Ltd.

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I find Green Gain an absolute pleasure to work with. They bring a high level of quality management to our tendering processes but more importantly they produce results!

Tony Sharkey, Director of Future Developments, Yorwaste.

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Green Gain used their knowledge of the industry to provide comprehensive and robust market information to feed into our business plan. We were impressed with the quality of their work.

Jane Abson, Managing Director, Plastics Trading Ltd.

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Green gain has consistently delivered thorough and comprehensive resource efficiency audits across a range of small and large SMEs across the Leeds City Region. The audits have always been delivered in a very timely and professional manner

Vincent McCabe, Resource Efficiency Programme Manager, West Yorkshire Combined Authority

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Green Gain has supported us to develop a sustainability strategy for the company as well as lead us throughout ESOS compliance. The work has always been of the highest quality and it has been instrumental in us winning a sustainability award with one of our most important customers. It has really helped gain that competitive edge!

David Green, FreshPak Ltd

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The work that Green Gain has undertaken on our behalf in Oman has been outstanding. They have undertaken various waste mapping exercises and options appraisals for the fisheries across the country which has really deepened our understanding of potential fish-waste processing opportunities

Paul Frobisher, Strategic Innovation Ltd

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Green Gain has helped reduce our wastage, reduce our costs and more importantly allowed us to become more sustainable in our day to day operations...thank you for all your work, you guys rock!

I would highly recommend the work of Green Gain and would not hesitate in employing them again.

Our requirement was quickly understood and an excellent piece of work ensued. It was refreshing working with a team if people who clearly have a strong grasp on what they deliver.

Gree Gain's work was carried out very diligently and with utmost professionalism. I cannot recommend them enough.

I find Green Gain an absolute pleasure to work with. They bring a high level of quality management to our tendering processes but more importantly they produce results!

Green Gain used their knowledge of the industry to provide comprehensive and robust market information to feed into our business plan. We were impressed with the quality of their work.