Tauranga City Council is supporting businesses to learn more about the circular economy by hosting a series of free workshops, in partnership with consultants Circularity and their XLabs circular economy training programme. The workshops will help any interested local business owners to learn more about the benefits of a circular economy, as well as how to reduce the impacts of their business on the environment.
Dan Smith, Manager of Sustainability & Waste at Tauranga City Council, says helping local businesses become more circular provides benefits for our local economy, environment and our community, now and for future generations.
“In a circular economy, less waste is created in the first place, along with less emissions resulting from that waste. Any resources used in production are used as efficiently as possible, for as long as possible, with any natural resources used also being restored or minimised,” says Dan. “New jobs and opportunities for local businesses are also created when we transition to more circular ways of operating, and in some instances, operating costs can be reduced through the efficiencies gained.”
Louise Nash, CEO of Circularity and creator of the XLabs programme will be running the one-day workshops to help businesses design out waste.
“Since 2020, 345 businesses from around New Zealand have taken part in our circular economy workshops, with 88% agreeing they came away with at least one thing their business could change or start doing in the next 6-12 months, including saving money,” she says.
Zespri Head of Sustainability – Global Grower and Supply Chain, Samantha Walmsley-Bartlett, says the XLabs programme offers a unique opportunity for businesses and organisations from New Zealand to work together with circular economy experts to build in low emission, resilient and circular solutions as part of the strategies they’re working on.
“Three kiwifruit industry teams took part in the XLabs: Future of Food programme in 2023 and collaborated on topics such as emissions reduction opportunities and challenges around food waste. It’s given them new skills and they continue to work together on the solutions that surfaced through the programme,” she explains.
“This year we’re looking forward to joining XLabs again to work on activities to support our ambitious decarbonisation goals. It will be a chance for industry-led teams to collaborate to understand the opportunity for carbon removals on orchards and design solutions to overcome the barriers we face.”
Any local business interested in taking part in the free XLabs workshops can sign up at: www.tauranga.govt.nz/circular-workshops
Examples of the circular economy in action, as well as more sustainable practices in general, can already be seen internationally and here in New Zealand. For example, offering free lifetime repairs on some products, selling replacement parts separately, or providing re-sale platforms to give products a second life after the first purchase.
The NZ government has shown its desire to move New Zealand towards a circular economy through the Te rautaki para waste strategy, published by the Ministry for the Environment in March 2023.
Dan says the Council’s role has been to “promote effective and efficient waste management and minimisation within our community. However, it’s becoming even more important for us to support our local businesses.”
Some of the ways the Council supports a transition to a more circular economy, over and above the free workshops offered, are through:
- Partnering with Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council to create the region’s first “Circular Economy Report”. The report covers the challenges and opportunities in transitioning to more circular practises. Visit:
www.tauranga.govt.nz/circular-economy-report - Offering free coaching through the Resource Wise® Programme for any local business wanting help to reduce their waste and resulting emissions. Visit: www.tauranga.govt.nz/resource-wise
- Supporting industry networking groups, such as the Circular Construction Collective, to explore circular options together.
- Awarding funding to local businesses with innovative solutions through the Resource Wise® Community Fund, to help our region become more circular (applications for funding are open to our community each year during June/July).
