Benefiting business and the environment – Hackney businesses sought to help build a circular economy

Deputy Mayor Cllr Guy Nicholson visiting Batch.Works in Hackney as part of Circular Economy Week 2022.

Hackney businesses are being encouraged to get involved in discussions about cutting waste, reusing materials and reducing pollution as part of Council efforts to help rebuild a greener Hackney by creating a circular economy in the borough. 

The conversations will focus on how a circular economy – in which materials are kept in use for longer by being shared and re-used among different businesses – can both benefit the environment and businesses themselves.

This will build on the £600,000 grants issued to support circular economy initiatives through the Hackney Central Impact and Ideas Grant Fund – including a project by Yodomo to connect businesses, makers and communities to find innovative solutions to reuse waste or surplus materials; and a scheme by Batch.Works to remanufacture waste plastic in Hackney using 3D-printing technology.

By keeping materials in use to deliver the highest value they can for as long as they can, businesses can save costs by using fewer materials, grow revenue through new services such as repairs or rentals, get ahead of future regulation changes, and strengthen customer relationships with eco-conscious buyers.

Hackney businesses are now being asked to complete a short survey about their business and the circular economy, which will help the Council determine how it can enable businesses to become part of the circular economy without having to change their business model. The Council will also use this information to design a future business engagement programme on the circular economy and how to achieve net zero in business operations.

The Council will be working with its partner PRD to run workshops with businesses involved in our grant funded circular economy projects in July. In the autumn the Council will roll out the sessions to a wider group of interested Hackney businesses. These workshops will delve into the subject with businesses in a group setting to aid understanding and definition of a circular economy journey.

Complete the survey now.

Further information: 

• ReLondon, a partnership of the Mayor of London and the London boroughs to improve waste and resource management and transform the city into a leading low carbon circular economy, explains that a “circular economy is one in which stuff is kept in use for as long as possible, delivering the highest value it can, for as long as it can. So rather than making, using and then throwing stuff away (a linear system), a circular economy means looking at each of those stages for new ways of cycling  materials and value back into the system - using materials and products again and again, in many different forms.”

• In 2019, Hackney Council declared a climate emergency and committed to reach net zero emissions by 2040, which means that the Council will not be a net contributor to climate change by 2040. In doing so, we pledged to rebuild a greener Hackney – helping to protect the planet for future generations, and build a borough with cleaner air, healthier lives and better neighbourhoods for all of our residents and businesses.

• Further details of Hackney businesses receiving Hackney Central Impact and Ideas Funding is available here.