circlemade, one year of zero waste economy

Our cluster dedicated to circular economy blew its first candle on May 23rd! To date, it has 29 members and 18 partners. This means that, for one year, at least thirty Brussels companies have carried out a (near-)zero waste economic activity… Through circlemade.brussels, hub.brussels encourages Brussels companies to enter the virtuous loop of the circular economy, through innovative and collaborative projects.

The founders are embarking on entrepreneurship to change current conceptions of the economy. They are often in their thirties. Based on recycled raw materials, a lot of common sense and a solid dose of innovation, they create products that are accessible to everyone, good for the environment and will not produce waste.
With the achievements of these Brussels entrepreneurs, we eat, read, drink, dress, renovate, decorate,… thinking of future generations and the planet that will be left to them as a legacy.

The economy of tomorrow is urban, less driven by a quest for profit than by its social, environmental and technological impact. With the cluster circlemade.brussels, hub.brussels has created an ecosystem that meets all the conditions for successful quality projects: expert partners in innovative, clean technologies, “impact investors” who choose to support sustainable projects, and consumers who opt for a more environment-friendly lifestyle.”

Isabelle Grippa, CEO of hub.brussels

Waste for some, resources for others: 150 tonnes of recycled soil

Created in May 2018, the circlemade.brussels cluster brings together some thirty companies and numerous public and private partners who are working to change economic models, to create virtuous systems, moving from a linear to a circular economy.

After one year, circlemade.brussels is positioning itself as a place of business opportunities. The cluster makes it possible to identify new markets, pool communication campaigns to reach consumers or even go out and meet large Brussels companies to encourage them to buy circular.

Didier Gosuin, Brussels Minister of the Economy

Instead of creating waste at each stage of the value chain, the circular economy creates value by bringing companies together to work together on concrete projects. The waste of one becomes the resources of the other.

Thus, the start-up under construction BC Materials, launched in 2019 with the expertise of the circlemad ecosystem, recovers the land from Brussels construction sites, which it transforms into clay plasters, compressed earth blocks or mixtures for adobe in its circular production centre located on the T&T site.

” Brussels is an urban mine”, explains its co-founder Ken de Cooman. “Every year, Brussels construction sites represent 2 million tonnes of soil, 75% of which is primary soil, clean and unaltered by man. They are considered as waste whereas they are very good raw materials for producing building materials. “

40 tonnes of coffee grounds = 10 tonnes of mushrooms + 7.5 tonnes of chicory + 75 tonnes of compost

In one year, collaborations were born within the cluster. The jars of Lili Bulk welcomed le Champignon de Bruxelles; DzeroStudio and Skyfarms work together to increase the number of greenhouses on company roofs; Isatio and L’ouvroir have joined forces to turn production waste into clothing.

The figures already speak for themselves:

• BC Materials: 150 tonnes of reclaimed land in pisé and bricks
• Permafungi: 40 tonnes of coffee grounds upgraded for a production of 10 tonnes of mushrooms, 7.5 tonnes of chicory and 75 tonnes of compost
• Lili Bulk: 100,000 packages avoided thanks to the deposit