Displaying items by tag: circular economy

European start-ups with a green business idea still have until 25^th July to apply for the 2017 Green Alley Award. Innovative ideas for the circular economy, resource conservation, recycling, and chemical handling are welcome. Interested start-ups and eco-entrepreneurs can submit their applications with just a few clicks at www.green-alley-award.com.

We cannot deny the relentless consumption in our society today, the result of which is more than two billion tons of waste generated worldwide each year. That number is alarming and shows how urgently a rethink is needed. New solutions must be found and implemented in order to reduce the amount of waste generated and to recycle better. The enormous consumption of a wide range of materials presents the circular economy with unresolved challenges. That’s where the Green Alley Award comes into play, focussing on innovative ideas and the replacement of outdated methods.

The award offers young start-ups the opportunity to impress with their business model and assert themselves on the market with the help of experts. As it has every year, the 2017 award will focus on a European start-up metropolis with circular economy potential: Dublin. The Irish capital is home to various pioneering tech companies, including Facebook, Google, and eBay. And for good reason, too, Ireland is the gateway to the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East, serving as a springboard to other countries.

“Anyone familiar with the Irish business scene will quickly realize that Ireland is bubbling over with new ideas,” says Ron Immink, patron of the 2017 Green Alley Awards, start-up coach, and CEO of smallbusinesscan. “I see the Green Alley Award as a great platform for Irish pioneers to effect change in the circular economy. They’re breaking out of outdated structures and at the same time making profits with sustainable business ideas. The circular economy is a fundamental topic that we can’t get around in any life situation these days. And it’s far too important to be left to politics alone.”

With Immink, Green Alley was not only able to mobilise an experienced entrepreneur for the competition, but also an advocate and supporter of the circular economy in Ireland. Among other things, Immink serves as Entrepreneur in Residence for Sustainable Nation, which is part of the Irish government’s IFS 2020 strategy and plans to invest 250 million euros in low-carbon business solutions by 2021.

Together with an international jury of circular economy experts and start-ups, he will evaluate the six most convincing ideas at the Green Alley Award finals in Berlin in early November. Before the finalists present their ideas live onstage, they will receive valuable advice on financing and business development in individual workshops with experts. At the end of the day, whoever wins over the jury in a live pitch will be named winner of the 2017 Green Alley Award and receive a package of cash and non-cash prizes worth up to 30,000 euros.

Detailed information about the competition can be found at www.green-alley-award.com.

About the Green Alley Award

The Green Alley Award is given once a year to entrepreneurs and start-ups of the circular economy, organized by a network of partners in the Circular Economy and European entrepreneurial scene. Green Alley, the initiator, has been working with Seedmatch, Germany’s crowdfunding pioneer, since 2014. Additional partners include the London accelerator Bethnal Green Ventures for technology driven start-ups in environmental and social areas as well as the European Recycling Platform (ERP) Finland, a recycling supplier for electrical and electronic equipment and batteries. This year’s lead partners are H2 Compliance, a global REACH service provider offering full regulatory support as well as R2PI, a Horizon 2020 project.