Delivering Future Change through Circular Procurement

We look forward to the opportunities on offer in the new year

After a difficult 2020, we round up the year with a hopeful look forward to the opportunities 2021 has on offer.  In the year ahead Scotland has a unique opportunity to influence change as we gear up to welcome the leaders from across the globe to COP26 in November.  Procurement has a vital role to play in leading the ‘switch to circular’ and we look forward to working with our partners and networks to inspire action.

This newsletter shares the latest updates in circular procurement, including exciting insights from EGG Lighting’s latest project, key takeaways from the industry and a look at the events you can join us for in 2021.  We’ve also provided our hints and tips to cut the waste and keep the joy this Christmas!

Wishing everyone in our Circular Procurement network a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Guest Blog: EGG Lighting

Making Circular Lighting Feasible

If you haven’t heard of EGG before, we are a lighting SME based in Glasgow who specialise in making energy and material efficient lighting affordable. Doing this in the most socially and environmentally friendly way possible is what drives us and we want to take this opportunity to share our approach to the circular economy.

We are also looking for a pilot site for a circular lighting feasibility assessment funded by Innovate UK, if you think your business would be interested please contact us!

Our approach to circular lighting is built on 3 core principles:

• Remanufacture – where viable, we can upgrade your existing luminaires
• Upgradable design – when new luminaires are needed, we install luminaires which are modular and futureproof
• Lighting as a Service – Contracts where we retain ownership of the luminaires enable us to perform preventative maintenance and extend asset lifetime by decades.

Remanufacture

Many of the lights which enter the waste stream carry with them a residual value – we believe using remanufacturing to recirculate used lights is the best way to keep this value in the system. Light fittings need specialist treatment to bring them up to our high safety and performance standards but through this process we can install the latest efficiency components and offer an ‘as-new’ warranty. An independent PhD researcher has estimated that our lighting remanufacturing reduces carbon emissions by over 50% compared to replacing the whole fitting!

Upgradeable Design

If existing luminaires aren’t feasibly upgradeable, we will replace them with luminaires that are. Future repairs or upgrades to the latest efficiency can be as simple as changing one component; the LED strip. Unfortunately, most luminaires on the market are not designed to be upgradeable, meaning once the LEDs are exhausted or more efficient LEDs are available, the entire luminaire is obsolete. We carefully specify luminaires which are designed for repair and remanufacture, thereby minimising your future upgrade costs and preventing waste.

Lighting as a Service

Finally, LaaS is built on the principle that if EGG retain ownership of the luminaires, we can overcome obsolescence and asset depreciation, using preventative maintenance, modular upgrades and remanufacturing.

EGG Lighting’s Bluetooth Mesh system is the digital enabler which allows our LaaS projects to maximise energy and material savings. The Bluetooth Mesh system brings benefits such as self-learning wireless lighting controls or automated emergency light testing and failure detection. Bluetooth mesh turns your lighting into an IoT backbone for your building, making future improvements available via “over the air” downloads.

Are you interested in working with us?

EGG Lighting have secured funding to further develop, measure and verify the benefits of our circular offering and are looking out for a partner passionate about the circular economy. Our funding covers us to perform a feasibility assessment for luminaire remanufacturing and LaaS in a pilot site, with the potential to cover installation in a second phase. If successful, the project could be presented as a case study for Scottish sustainable innovation at COP26.

If you are interested in going on this journey, please get in touch!

How to choose and use tools for your circular procurement project

A recent webinar on the importance of choosing tools at the right time for your circular procurement project. ProCirc toolbox 2.0 (in development) was presented and all pilots participating in ProCirc were asked to test at least one of these tools and provide feedback. In two break-out sessions tool owners pitched their circular procurement tools and answer questions from the audience. The recording is available here.

The European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP)

A number of ProCirc partners presented at an ECESP workshop aimed at guiding policymakers and decision-makers through the procurement process, sharing some of the challenges and process involved for project commissioners and procurers in shifting an organisation’s purchasing practices from linear to circular. The workshop contains insights from speakers, covering the pre-tender, tender and post-tender phases of a project.  The recording is available here.

Product Design and Procurement

The Scottish Ecological Design Association

An article on product design and procurement was recently published in the Scottish Ecological Design Association’s (SEDA) winter magazine. The issue is full of interesting articles on the subject of the Circular Economy from various staff at Zero Waste Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland and other contributors. SEDA was formed in 1991, with the aim of sharing knowledge, skills and experience of ecological design. Members include academics, architects, artists, builders, planners, students, ecologists, landscape designers, materials suppliers, woodworkers, and many more whose work or interest is concerned with design for a sustainable future. If you are interested in joining the network as an individual or corporately, please email.

Upcoming Events

We have a range of workshops and events coming up in 2021.  To keep up-to-date with our latest events, join our community on LinkedIn.

The Climate Emergency Summit 7: Procurement - ONLINE

22 January 2021, 09:30 - 13:00

Take part in the Climate Emergency Summit looking at “Procuring for the future”, exploring how responsible production and consumption can help to reduce carbon impact.

The summits are fast paced, interactive events focussing on action in our response to the climate emergency. The expert networks of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society provide motivated individuals opportunity to propose practical solutions to the climate emergency. Request your delegate place.

Train to become a CPD-certified

Green Champion - ONLINE

4 February 2021, 10:00 - 12:00

Our online Green Champions training course is already helping organisations across Scotland prepare for this challenge by providing knowledge, tried-and-tested techniques, best practice examples, and free tools and templates.

This webinar packs the entire Green Champions planning modules into one session. Join and get the skills and knowledge over 2,800 other professionals have already learnt through the Green Champions training course.

Register your place now.

Cut the waste keep the joy this Christmas!

Just a few trimmings here and there, to show the world how much we care

With continuing headlines urging the need to consume less and use better, the season of goodwill is the perfect time to do things differently to protect the planet.

Enjoy Christmas with all the fun-filled festive trimmings whilst trimming off the unnecessary waste. Zero Waste Scotland provides hints and tips to help everyone cut the waste and keep the joy this Christmas.  Find out more:

• The sustainable Christmas gift guide
• Think outside the toy box this Christmas
• Christmas recycling

Share your waste less Christmas ideas with us on social media using #ChristmasTrimmings