Strategic Management and Sustainability #24
Apps, platforms and startups that benefit from anti-waste and circular economy trends
Hello,
Today's newsletter is about anti-waste applications and circular economies apps, which are startups that have emerged as examples to make better use of resources and to avoid wasting them in different sectors.
Food sector: Too good to go is an anti-waste app that fights against food waste problem. Already featured in Strategic Management and Sustainability #8, in this newsletter Léa Debroeck and Léa Etchmendigaray discuss about the opportunity, product/services and benefits behind this app.
Fashion sector: In Strategic Management and Sustainability #3 and #21 UC3M students discussed about the fashion industry implications for the environment and a more “sustainable clothing” or “eco-fashion”. Jade Caroff explains below the example of Vinted, a second-hand clothes company that has become the reference site for resale sales.
Retail sector: Sheirlyn Romina Steiner introduces us, iceep, which is an emerging business example of a circular economy.
Do you know more examples of anti-waste applications or platforms? Do you know examples of companies that embraces the circular economy trends?
Last but not least, good luck in today's final exam for Strategic Management students!
Gloria Álvarez Hernández
Today's newsletter is 1551 words, about a 7-minute read.
TOO GOOD TO GO.
The movement against food waste
Léa Debroeck
According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), one third of the food consumed worldwide is wasted. Food waste has a considerable impact on the environment. It is responsible for the release of 3.3 gigatons of greenhouse gases per year, which means that on a country-by basis, food waste is the third largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world, after the US and China. In addition, the food produced that is not consumed uses up 250 km3 of water every year.
We want to see a world without food waste.
This application is the solution
The Too Good To Go application is an Eco innovation that fights against this food waste problem.
TGTG is a mobile application that connects customers with restaurants and shops that have surplus food. It is available in major European cities.
The system of this app is simple! Users can pick up "surprise" baskets of food products that are destined to be thrown away if no one picks them up at a low cost.
One of the aims of this application is to raise awareness of food waste and to change people's behavior and habits in relation to this issue. Too good to go is an innovation that incorporates both private benefits for consumers, who can buy products at a lower cost, and public benefits for society such as the reduction of waste.
Sources
Join our Social Impact Company | Too Good To Go. https://toogoodtogo.org/en
The Environmental Impact of Food Waste | Move For Hunger. https://moveforhunger.org/the-environmentalimpact-of-food-waste
The Story Of Too Good To Go. https://zerowasteeurope.eu/wp content/uploads/2020/01/zero_waste_europe_CS7_CP_TooGoodToGo_en.pdf
All images are from google image
Anti-waste applications as a way out
Léa Etchmendigaray
What are the effects of food waste?
On average, every day a restaurant throws away 10% of the raw materials it buys, which represents 400,000 tons of food waste per year. Everyone is concerned, from large chains to small neighborhood restaurants. Moreover, 10% of CO2 emissions come from waste, which is a colossal figure.
When we know that we live in a world where more and more people have difficulties to feed themselves properly and to provide for their needs, it is important to find solutions to help them. This is why several applications have been created to reduce waste and to prevent unsold food products from being thrown away.
Too Good to go, la solution 2.0
Too good to go has now become a major player in the fight against food waste. Its objective is to raise consumer awareness so that everyone can commit to changing their consumption habits on a daily basis. It is a concept of food solidarity that has proved its worth to date, as it has more and more users.
The principle of the application is very simple: retailers can add unsold food baskets and then set a price lower than the original value of the basket. People interested in these baskets just have to select them and come and collect them before closing time. This concept is a win-win situation as it allows the shopkeepers not to lose products and the consumer to get good products at low prices.
Significant results
Too Good To Go has saved 29 million meals and avoided the equivalent of more than 72,000 tons of greenhouse gases. Moreover, according to extensive research by the company, 90% of the contents of the surprise basket are consumed. So, it's great news that the food saved doesn't end up in the bin either, which gives hope in the fight against waste. You can find in this link several interesting facts and figures about the application and its fight.
Sources:
https://www.ynygrowthhub.com/resources/too-good-to-go-offer/
https://toogoodtogo.org/en/blog/the-golden-rules-of-too-good-to-go
https://zerowasteeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/zero_waste_europe_CS7_CP_TooGoodToGo_en.pdf
How did Vinted become the reference site for resale sales?
Jade Caroff
What is it?
In 2008, second-hand fashion took a new turn with the arrival of the Vinted application. For those of you who don't know Vinted yet: it's an online community marketplace that allows you to sell, buy and trade second-hand clothes and accessories. With 30 million members, the start-up has become a real star valued at over a billion dollars. We can search by vendor, brand, size or color to find exactly what we want, whether it's a dress for the beach or a rare pair of sneakers.
Vinted wants to put forward that wearing second-hand clothes is great, that it is possible to buy clothes that are no longer available in stores, that selling clothes that you no longer wear can make a person very happy.
What does it do for us as users?
It's over, the time when we had to go to the yard sales to get cheap and vintage clothes or throw away our clothes because they are not to our taste anymore. Gone too is the cliché of being "old fashioned" when buying second hand, it has even become very fashionable.
After a small survey among my friends and my own experience, we all agree that thanks to Vinted, we have been able to resell clothes that we bought on a whim, or clothes that we no longer wear because they no longer suit our taste or size. It's a real benefit because we earn money and empty our closets. It works so well that we create accounts for our mothers so that they too can take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of their clothes.
Why does it work so well?
Fashion is such an eternal restart (every 40 years), what our parents wore when they were young will come back in fashion! For example, elephant pants were fashionable in the 90's, and since last year it has become trendy again. Thanks to Vinted, we can acquire elephant pants, cheap to be in the trend.
In addition, it is a real benefit to face fast fashion, consumers are so increasingly fond of thrift and bargains that brands such as Zara and H&M have to worry.
Today, it is also no longer reserved for the wealthy to buy semi-luxury and high fashion, everything has become affordable for everyone. Some items from brands such as Sandro, Maje, can be resold for two, three times less than in the store. Compared to luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel it is possible to buy beautiful pieces without breaking the bank but be careful with the authentication! Little advice: many tutorials are available on the internet to recognize an authentic product or call an auctioneer.
Sources
iceep: Be a Zero Waste Hero
Sheirlyn Romina Steiner
Inspired by the circular economy, iceep is a retail technology start-up. Its business model specializes in digitizing and managing return schemes for consumer brands. The company aims to empower brands to take control of the commerce and material recovery of their used product lines, leveraging growing reverse cycle trends and mainly circular lifecycle activities. iceep is here to help people replace throwaway behavior with a habit of giving back that links them to their favorite brands.
iceep doesn’t follow traditional return systems, which use in-store drop-off garbage cans or white label solutions. The iceep mobile app centralizes it on a single digital platform. It is supported by a home pick-up service. In addition, the iceep platform allows brands to predefine the product lines they want to take back from households and design customized incentive packages tailored to the profiles of their customer base. It also sets the necessary framework for brands to leverage the commercial opportunities of the circular economy, taking advantage of the growing trend towards reuse and creating closed product lifecycle loops.
Why it matters:
Moving towards a more circular economy could bring benefits such as reducing pressure on the environment, stimulating innovation, and driving economic growth.
A trend that leads to more durable and innovative products will increase the quality of life. Zero waste reduces our climate impact. As stated on the iceep website, the waste problem is massive in scale and must be addressed immediately. Reduce, reuse and recycling can be a vital part of a climate change strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Sources: