From overripe banana to scrap rubble
As part of the Week of the Circular Economy, about 30 participants threw themselves last Tuesday to the question: how do I get more value from my company's raw materials? From consumer waste to demolition rubble; each participant had 'brought' his own residual flow. The workshop was led by Erik Hoeksema and Michiel Hondema from Milgro's innovation division Wastelab.
Since the backgrounds of the participants were very diverse - from producer to consultant to waste processor - they first received a crash course in 'valuing residual flows'. How do waste and squander arise within a company? How do you determine which residual flow is most likely to be valued higher? Which processing techniques already exist? And how do you build a promising business case?
Using the example of a banana importer who sends tons of unusable bananas to the digester every week, Erik Hoeksema showed how Wastelab helps partners to get more value from such a residual flow.
After a short coffee break, the participants set to work in small groups with their own example. Of course, an afternoon was too short to fully discuss all the cases. The discussion was therefore continued enthusiastically during a drink.
