Today we talk about GlobeChain. They are a circular economy focussed online marketplace, to be specific, their  start-up is based on the premise that one person’s poison is another person’s meat. Their marketplace finds takers for unwanted items that would otherwise go to landfill. The company helps big businesses to improve their green credentials and reduce their waste, giving unwanted items to cash-strapped charities and small businesses.

Founder May Al-Karooni developed GlobeChain after the investment bank she worked for moved offices, dumping perfectly good fixtures and furnishings to refit everything from desks to carpet tiles.

So what does their business model look like? Businesses with unwanted items – everything from restaurant tables to shop display units – upload a photo and description. Would-be takers contact the seller, to say what they will do with that item – reuse, recycle or repurpose. Whoever makes the best case takes home the goods, and all for the price of the transport.

Okay, that sounds pretty cool, but how do they monetize their work?

Globechain charges donors of goods to make a listing. It ranges from 10-500 pounds per annum. For eg. If a business wants to make an ad-hoc listing then that would cost them 10 pounds with an option to list 5 items. If the business wants to take a yearly subscription, then that would cost them 500 pounds with an option for 250 listings per annum. May-Al-Karooni says that it's a fee they would otherwise spend on incineration costs, or to hire a man-and-van and pay a landfill tax to take away those items. It’s a fee per shop, per restaurant or per construction site. It’s not set by weight.

The taker pays for transport. Having to make that commitment makes the takers stick to their end of the bargain.

Another powerful aspect about Globechain is knowing where these items have gone and how they have helped people. This creates a perfect seg-way for ESG rating.

They gather ESG data to measure the impact of giving, everything from up-skilling and creating employment to the number of kilos diverted from the landfill. They gather stories and videos from the charities, in particular, and create infographics.

Globechain has diverted some 5.2 million kilos of goods – more than 200,000 individual items – from landfill. The single largest listing was from a well-known DIY retailer saddled with 13,000 unwanted fitted kitchens & Seven charities took those kitchens with zero hassles of having a waste licence.

Today their platform has over 10,000 members ranging across corporates, charities, schools & universities, social enterprises, start-ups and individuals in industry sectors ranging from retail, banking, fashion, food, construction, education and health.

Now isn’t that an impressive solution?

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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