We were placed second just behind Michelin-owned, Lehigh, who have created a closed loop for vehicle tyres – one of the most problematic challenges for the recycling industry. Their work on the technical side of the circular economy is complementary to Olleco’s work on the biological side as we are both leading the way to sustainable road transport.

Olleco joined world leaders and entrepreneurs at the Forum’s annual meeting in Davos on January 21st for the award ceremony. Speaking about the event, Robert Behan, CEO said “I’d like to congratulate Lehigh Technologies who were worthy overall winners. It’s an honour to be alongside such an innovative company and we are delighted to have been one of the final two selected as leaders in our category and the only company selected from Europe. Everyone at Olleco can take real pride in this achievement and the work they do to deliver innovative circular economy solutions. I'd also like to thank Arla Foods and McDonald's Restaurants for choosing to partner with us as they transform their operations to make food sustainable and achieve our vision of a circular economy.”

Building global momentum.

The circular economy is central to our vision so we were delighted to see that this year’s Circulars Award Programme was entered by a record 437 businesses, organisations and individuals. The fact that applications came from 45 countries across 6 continents shows just how seriously businesses and governments around the world are committed to the circular economy and is a testament to the hard work being done by the Circulars Awards team. This global commitment to create a world where the earth’s precious resources are kept in circulation at every point of their life, is the only way we will ensure that we can live sustainably on our planet and protect it from catastrophic global changes.

Leading the way to a zero carbon circular economy.

Olleco is delighted to have made the final cut for these prestigious international awards - joining the ranks of some of the world’s most environmentally progressive and innovative organisations. We’d like to thank the judges for recognising our ability to help the UK’s largest food businesses embrace the circular economy. By ensuring that food waste and used cooking oil are collected, captured and converted to renewable energy, biofuels and fertiliser, we have enabled two giants of the food industry to deliver transformational changes in the way they operate.

Telling the circular story.

Communicating the environmental and financial benefits of the circular economy to the wider population is the key to making it mainstream. This short film was developed to do that and formed an integral part of our award entry. It tells the story of how Olleco, McDonald’s UK and Arla Foods UK worked together to create a mutually beneficial “closed loop” – the core model of a circular economy. It explains, in simple, engaging terms, how Olleco use waste resources from McDonald’s restaurants to fuel their logistics chains and generate renewable energy to process the milk Arla supplies to McDonald’s restaurants. The process also produces environmentally friendly fertiliser for farmers at the start of the food supply chain.