Business & Regulations

There are many companies that would like to prepare for the circular economy, but have no idea where to start. Our goal is to make companies’ circular ambitions a reality, even if they have no idea how yet. This is why we offer three pathways for companies to take the first step towards a circular economy; Circular Introduction Demo, CIRCO Track and a Circular Transition Trail.

Circular Introduction Demo

At the Circular Introduction Demo, we will help you get started by introducing you to the circular economy. Where do you start? What benefits can it bring you? What are the first steps you can take? What data is important to collect and where can you find it? How to ensure sufficient ownership in your organisation. What does the EU expect from you as a company in this area, now and in the future? The Circular Introduction Demo is an introduction and kick-off to get started with a Circo Track or a Circular Transition Trail.

Circo Track

A CIRCO Track leads to a new (circular) business model for the entrepreneur that briefly and powerfully describes how the company creates, delivers and preserves value.

A CIRCO Track includes three half-day meetings, with each participant working on their own product(s). Together with a CIRCO trainer from Ecoras, participants will explore circular opportunities. This involves examining various issues, such as waste in the production process, but also the raw materials used. Perhaps there are more sustainable alternatives e.g. a bio-based raw material or a raw material from a waste stream, but we also look at broadening services. Can companies perhaps offer repairs, allowing products to be used again or for a longer time? In short, a CIRCO Track provides practical tools to get started with circularity. You develop your own business case into a specific plan, realisable in your company in the short term.

Circular Transition Trail

A circular transition journey is a complete journey through which you and your company make the transition from a linear to a circular economy. Ecoras guides you through this entire process. We start by identifying where the main environmental impact lies within your business operations. This immediately tells you where the opportunities lie. We do this using an LCA, a life cycle analysis. These come in different types and formats, so there is an environmental impact analysis for every business, product or situation. After we have mapped out the opportunities and possibilities, you can get to work. You don’t have to come up with all that yourself, we guide companies to actually take the steps needed to become a circular enterprise. After all, this requires a different way of thinking and acting. For instance, we regularly see that residual flows from production are labelled as waste. We want to give these streams value. After all, one person’s waste is another person’s raw material. Together with the companies, we look at what to change in, for instance, business-to-production processes, but also at bio-based alternatives for fossil raw materials by mobilising our broad network. Together with companies, governments and knowledge institutions, we realise circular ambitions. Tangible results for companies and society always are our main goal. Sometimes circular processes, raw material options for waste or a biobased alternative for your raw material do not yet exist. In that case, we work together with universities to find a solution.

Laws and regulations are a big part of the transition to a circular economy, but also a very difficult part for many companies and organisations. If you are a company wondering whether you comply with current environmental laws and regulations, you can ask Ecoras to assess this for you. Ecoras is on top of what the EU expects from companies in terms of sustainability now and in the future. For example, European regulations on the use of plastic packaging materials. A new European regulation for this purpose has recently been introduced, which each member state applies just differently. Therefore, it is not always clear exactly what is expected of you and you may find yourself either not complying or complying but paying way too much. There are also pending European laws and regulations you can already prepare for as a company, such as the future law CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive). This is the obligation as a company to report on sustainability in a broad sense. For example, from 2024, companies have to be able to prove the level of sustainability of their products. It is important to know what information you have to collect and where to get it from. A good start is half the battle!

Are you ambitious to become more sustainable but run into laws and regulations? It happens regularly, for instance, when you want to use waste as raw material. Despite this, all sorts of things are often possible within the existing legal framework. Together with the Hanzehogeschool, Ecoras has set up a Legal Platform for this purpose. On this platform, you will find information about what other companies have faced and how they have dealt with this. On this platform, these processes are described to support other companies It is also possible to submit your own case so students and affiliated organisations can help you. Another goal of the Legal Platform is to collect the ambitions that are held back by regulations so we can use them to show The Hague or Brussels which laws and regulations stand in the way of further sustainability.

Recycling waste offers a lot of opportunities. It is also a good starting point if you want to make your business more sustainable. In Groningen, the province and several municipalities mapped the waste streams of 15 business parks. Also, the economic potential of that waste has been investigated. Take the reuse of wood, for example: as residual waste, wood yields around €580,- per 1,000 kilos. If you reuse it, it can easily yield €1,400 -, Stec and New Economy’s research shows. One person’s waste is another person’s raw material. Selling waste or reusing it yourself in another product is good for the environment, but also lucrative now raw material prices have reached peaks. Want to know if your waste is worth more? Ecoras helps companies find a new purpose for waste streams.

During a CIRCO Track, participants are introduced to the circular economy and the benefits it can bring to a business. The term ‘circular economy’ is an abstract concept for many entrepreneurs. Where to start, what do you have to tackle and is it very expensive? Circularity is actually about practical issues such as using less energy, paper, packaging materials, cleaner transport and recycling all kinds of waste. The programme is not just idealistic. A CIRCO Track leads to a new (circular) business model for the business owner which briefly and powerfully describes how the company creates, delivers and preserves value.

A CIRCO Track includes three half-day meetings, with each participant working on their own product(s). Together with a CIRCO trainer from Ecoras, participants will explore circular opportunities. This involves examining various issues, such as waste in the production process, but also the raw materials used. Perhaps there are more sustainable alternatives e.g. a bio-based raw material or a raw material from a waste stream. But we also look at broadening services. Can companies perhaps offer repairs, allowing products to be used again or for a longer time? In short, a CIRCO Track provides practical tools to get started with circularity. You develop your own business case into a specific plan, realisable in your company in the short term.