The Glasgow Chamber of Commerce initiative has been shortlisted for the World Economic Forum’s Public Sector Award for cities, nations and regions at The Circulars, with the winner set to be announced at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2019.
Other finalists in this category include: City of Toronto; European Commission; The Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark; The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of The Netherlands and Shandong Association of Circle Economy.
In its fifth year, The Circulars celebrate individuals and organisations across the world that are excelling in leadership, innovation and value creation within a circular initiative.
In partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, Glasgow City Council and Circle Economy, Netherlands and funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce’s Circular Glasgow plays an increasing role in helping the city to achieve its ambition to become one of the world’s first circular cities.
Through inspiring businesses of all sizes to innovate and become future-proof by adopting circular strategies, Circular Glasgow has been helping to increase revenue streams and make financial savings, enable new partnerships, increase competitive advantage and also greater customer loyalty using a range of practical tools.
From new collaborations between Glasgow-based bakeries and breweries, and soil made from waste coffee grounds, to bespoke construction and finance summits and a range of events, the team has already engaged over 650 businesses to date.
The range of practical tools already used include one to one Circle Assessments, workshops, open forum information events, specific sector summits and stakeholder engagement conferences – both locally and internationally.
The city’s major event and conferences scene was also targeted with Glasgow being the first city in the world to launch a Circle Lab challenge.
Created by the Circle Economy in the Netherlands and in partnership with the SEC and Glasgow Convention Bureau and Major Events team at Glasgow Life, Circle Lab explored how local businesses can improve the legacy of major events and conferences.
With a reach of over 600,000 across 13 participating countries resulting in more than 200 ideas being submitted, three winning solutions are now being developed directly engaging with 17 businesses across the city.
Alison McRae, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce senior director, said: “Our business community in Glasgow has taken bold steps to begin the movement towards helping Glasgow to become a leading circular city, with many businesses exploring new ideas and partnerships that will benefit both the individual organisations and support the economic growth of the city in a sustainable way.
“Being a finalist in The Circulars is a great recognition of the work being led by the business community in Glasgow alongside our city stakeholders.
“Through our pioneering Circular Glasgow partnership, we will continue to raise awareness of the opportunities of adopting circular business models within the business community and take engagement to the next level.
“We expect this work will help to deliver a range of benefits for Glasgow including improved product quality, inclusive economic growth and jobs creation and ultimately a more future proof, more resilient city.”
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