Our current economy is based on a system of Take-Make-Waste: we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste. This is a linear process and problem that has increased dramatically over the past century, depleting our Earth's resources ever faster as well as polluting what remains through the ineffective disposal of waste.

The circular economy in contrast is a system where we stop waste being produced in the first place by it being reused as a resource elsewhere, giving nature the opportunity to restore and regenerate.

By pushing the economy up the waste hierarchy as much as possible, keeping it in circulation through either repairing or reusing, we can extract the maximum benefits from materials and generate the minimum amount of impact on our environment. Remember - your waste could be someone else's treasure!

Here's some of examples of a circular economy in action:

1. Clubzero provides reusable packaging that is then returned in exchange for points, rewards and discounts

2. Community Furniture Stores accept household and electrical goods donations and make available for reuse

3. Too Good to Go provide a platform for shops and restaurants to sell food at a discounted price to consumers that would have otherwise gone to waste

4. Freegle provide a platform that is 'like online dating for stuff,' where you can give and get items for free

Here at Optimo we believe that a circular economy is the only way forward and we can all play a part. Whether it be adapting your current business model, starting a new initiative or encouraging the behaviour changes we all need to move to a circular world.

And we're here to help!

We specialise in supporting businesses with ensuring they have robust foundations in place, have streamlined their operations as much as possible and can implement and adapt to change. We believe that for any business to operate effectively, there are four elements of an operation that need to be at their optimum individually, but also need to work in harmony together. These elements are People, Process, Technology and Information and this looks like:

1. Improving your processes to be as effective and efficient as they can be so you can ultimately increase your positive impact

2. Ensuring your technology is fit for purpose and workflows are as automated as possible

3. Ensuring you have access to the internal and external information you need to be successful

4. Ensuring you can retain your talent with robust values aligned to your purpose, employee engagement initiatives and clear roles and responsibilities

If you would like our help to support you on your journey to circularity, contact us at info@optimobusiness.co.uk