Organisations across London are being encouraged to contribute to the capital’s first Circular Economy Week, which takes place from 18-22 June, to inspire action and deliver a more resilient, sustainable and resource-efficient economy.
Led by the London Waste and Recycling Board’s Circular London programme, Circular Economy Week aims to encourage the strong community of businesses, charities and social enterprises already working to deliver a more circular capital to take action on built environment, plastics, food, textiles and electricals.
Kicking off the week on Monday 18 June, Circular London will be hosting Collaborative London, an event designed to spark collaborations and action by showcasing projects and pitches from creative small businesses across the capital.
Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues – “Circular Economy Week will help raise the profile of these important issues, encourage people across London to support the transition to a circular economy and help make London a zero-waste city.”
It will also feature interactive panel discussions, including insights from Borough Market and Plan Zheroes about their redistribution of surplus food from market traders to local beneficiaries over the past four years. Clarion Housing Group and Loop will also explain how Clarion’s major housing regeneration project in Merton will enable the re-use of demolished materials by passing them on to community groups or social enterprises.
The event will include an update from the Circular London programme team on the progress one year on from publishing London’s circular economy route map, and they will launch their plan to encourage more collaboration across the city.
Wayne Hubbard, Chief Executive at London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB), said: “London is one of the most vibrant business hubs in the world, and Circular Economy Week provides a great opportunity to celebrate and showcase the great efforts already underway, and inspire new action to help us lead the way on the circular economy.”
“Collaboration is vital if we want London to be the global leader in the delivery of circular economy, sharing learning and good practice with other cities around the world. We’re calling on organisations of all shapes and sizes to get involved to help us achieve this.”
Shifting Models
London is a hot bed of opportunity for entrepreneurs and established businesses who want to create value through better resource management and innovative approaches to product design, manufacturing and services.
Circular London, supported by QSA Partners and the University of Leeds, are already working with fashion retailer ASOS to develop collaborative new circular business models, and LWARB has now received further funding to replicate this activity with more retailers.
As one of the food businesses taking part in the event, Costa is also taking on new circular business practices.
Victoria Moorhouse, head of sustainability at Costa, said: “At Costa we believe it is important that we shift from the current model of ‘take, make, use, dispose’, and work towards a circular model where materials are reclaimed, re-used or recycled. The work that we’re doing in Costa is exactly for this purpose – to make us a more circular business – and London’s first Circular Economy Week gives organisations across all sectors a fantastic chance to find out how they can take action too. We’re delighted to be part of it.”
Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues, said: “In his London Environment Strategy, the Mayor is clear about his ambition for London to become a low-carbon circular economy – the city’s economic and environmental future depends on it.
“Circular Economy Week will help raise the profile of these important issues, encourage people across London to support the transition to a circular economy and help make London a zero-waste city.”
“At the moment, our economy is geared towards using resources in a linear way, but this is inefficient and unsustainable. The Mayor also wants to prevent materials from becoming waste in the first place by promoting more sustainable, circular business models across the capital.
“Circular Economy Week will help raise the profile of these important issues, encourage people across London to support the transition to a circular economy and help make London a zero-waste city.”
This week Circular London is also launching a range of interactive resources to help businesses find partners to reach their circular economy aspirations. Organisations will be able to share challenges through a new Circular London website, where solutions, case studies and insights into those challenges can then be provided by members of the existing circular economy community.
To make it easy for individual Londoners to get involved in circular economy activity, the Circular London programme has published a list of challenges to try during June. The 15 challenges include simple ideas such as:
- Donating unwanted items to a local charity shop or clothing bank
- Carrying a refillable water bottle or coffee cup
- Saying ‘no straw, thanks’ next time you order a drink
To find out more, click here and follow #CEweekLDN to see what’s going on and sign up to be part of London’s developing circular economy community.
