Adopting a circular economy model to revolutionize waste management: An interview with May Al-Karooni, founder of Globechain
For many years, environmentalists have been sounding the alarm about poor waste management. Waste is a major global problem, affecting everything from water to packaging. Not only does waste pollute our landfills and oceans – with 13 million tonnes of plastic entering the world’s oceans each year – it also releases harmful chemicals into the soil where our food is grown. This contamination then spreads into the products we use every day, directly impacting our health and of course the environment. Waste management is a daunting task, with waste burned in landfills releasing toxic substances into the air, such as the highly harmful dioxin, which significantly impacts air quality.
In 2021, Global Citizen revealed that Americans throw away 12.8 million tons of textiles each year. According to The World Counts, one-third of the world’s food is also wasted annually, or about 1.3 billion tons. The Environmental Protection Agency also reported a significant increase in the amount of furniture and furnishings thrown into landfills, from 7.6 million tons in 2005 to 12 million tons in 2020.
Faced with the inefficiency of existing systems, entrepreneur May Al-Karooni turned her attention to repurposing office furniture.
While working in investment banking and asset management, May launched Globechain in 2015 after seeing her employer struggling to find a solution to recycle and reuse their office furniture.
With Globechain, May has built the world’s largest ESG reuse marketplace*, connecting companies in the construction, retail and hospitality sectors with non-profits, startups and even individuals to redistribute furniture. The connection is made on Globechain’s website, where companies list furniture, for example, that they no longer need and where non-profits, individuals or small businesses can request to have it collected. The system is free for those who wish to reuse a given piece of furniture.
Globechain’s real strength lies in data transparency. The platform offers features to track the environmental impact of each transaction. This includes metrics such as the amount of waste avoided, carbon emissions reduced, or resources preserved through reuse or donation.
By providing visibility into environmental and social data, Globechain enables its users to make more informed, ESG-aligned decisions in their business operations, while demonstrating their commitment to sustainability.
Since its inception, Globechain has saved 59 million kilos of waste from landfill, distributing items in the UK and overseas, including to Sierra Leone, Guinea, Kenya, Libya and Ukraine, saving charities more than $400 million.
In this interview, May Al-Karooni, who was recognized by Forbes as one of the Top 100 Environmentalists in 2020, tells us more about her entrepreneurial journey, Globechain's mission, and the strategies businesses can adopt to foster a circular economy**.
1) You founded Globechain after observing how the bank you worked for was getting rid of perfectly usable furniture during an office move. Did you have any experience in technology or sustainability? What was the biggest challenge, or defining moment, when you started the company ?
When I started my entrepreneurial journey, I had no background in technology or sustainability. My initial idea was based on a simple observation: it made business sense to give office furniture a second life by making it available to those in need. Sometimes, not being an expert in a field allows you to have a unique perspective on how things should work, which I think has benefited Globechain.
The design and functionality of our platform were inspired by my vision of an effective, transparent, simple and efficient solution, meeting the needs of businesses.
My biggest challenge was convincing the tech world that our business model was viable, especially at a time when ESG data was just beginning to emerge.
When I saw that our initiative was gaining momentum (after self-funding the business for four years), I made the decision to leave my position and not take a salary for several years. It was a huge risk, but I took it because I realized that there was still a lot of work to be done to prove that our model worked.
2) Which brings us to 2024, you are now the world’s largest ESG reuse marketplace, with over 10,000 members worldwide, spread across the UK, Spain and the UAE. How do you think Globechain is influencing sustainable practices in businesses, and what changes have you seen since the early years?
Globechain has been a pioneer and a major player in the circular economy space. We have enabled many companies to make a positive change by breaking down traditional supply chain barriers. In the past, industries such as construction, real estate and retail, which are subject to strict compliance, health and safety regulations, have struggled to adopt innovative practices for sustainability. However, I have seen a significant shift in recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, a watershed moment where companies had to change their systems overnight. More and more organizations have changed their business models and integrated initiatives for a responsible and environmentally friendly approach.
The government has also played an important role in putting in place laws to support our industry, for example, by setting specific targets for carbon footprint and pollution, particularly that attributed to plastics.
I have noticed a significant progression and increased understanding of the potential of ESG data and its benefits to businesses when used appropriately. This evolution has facilitated the promotion and better understanding of the services we offer at Globechain.
Integrating a company like ours has become a low-risk solution due to changing attitudes towards sustainability and the availability of budgets to invest in these types of innovations.
3) Globechain helps businesses exchange and reuse items and materials, for free – what is your exact mission and how close are you to your goal today?
Our main goal is to reduce waste by diverting 100 million tons from landfills by 2030. While this may seem ambitious, I am convinced that anything is achievable with the right approach. By continuing our efforts to raise awareness about waste reduction and encouraging businesses to adopt models like ours, especially those developed by women, we are getting closer and closer to our goal.
4) Collective environmental awareness is growing, but many companies still do not know where to start to deploy a circular economy within their institutions, or find the challenges too difficult to overcome. What advice would you give them?
If a company is struggling to deploy a circular economy in its sector, I would recommend starting by going back to basics and examining its business model and core values. There is no point in trying to explore everything at once. For example, an oil company with a low ESG index might focus on energy and environmental concerns . In contrast, a management consultancy’s ESG index would be based on factors such as office sustainability and client impact.
It is important not to feel overwhelmed by all the options available, but rather to focus on one or two areas each year and see if a realistic goal can be achieved, based on tangible criteria. It is also important not to feel guilty if the end goal is not achieved; as long as you are acting responsibly and moving in the right direction, it is still an honourable step.
Gaining knowledge about the circular economy is crucial, as is understanding where the challenges lie and developing a simple approach to overcome them. I often notice that companies tend to dive straight into complex solutions and spend a lot of money on advice, such as how to recycle plastics better, when there could be simpler solutions, such as product redesign, that might be more accessible and easier to implement in the short term. From there, you can consider longer-term solutions for complex challenges.
5) Globechain uses machine learning, a subfield of artificial intelligence to track and share information about traded items. Do you see the role of technology in influencing ESG, sustainability and especially waste management evolving in the near future? Has it changed much since its launch?
We can certainly see the significant role that emerging technologies are playing in ESG data, sustainability, and waste management. For example, waste management and recycling plants are currently using innovative technology to break down hard materials and create new ones. I personally have some reservations about handing everything over to AI, although I believe that technological advances can play a critical role in making this industry more efficient, transparent, and ultimately less costly to operate if used correctly by the right people.
The use of technology in the circular economy has evolved a lot since we started in 2015. It is now an industry that is more open to new ideas, real-time data, AI and machine learning. However, to keep up with the pace of change, I believe it is essential for companies to engage their teams early and empower their employees to achieve greater efficiency and profitability.
We must also remember that even though the technology available is sophisticated and advanced, most software systems still run on programs, which sometimes have not been updated since the 90s!
6) Finally, a final word for the young generation of entrepreneurs wishing to follow in your footsteps and combine technology and environmental protection?
Pursue what you’re truly passionate about and remember that running a business requires a long-term commitment! Ultimately, entrepreneurship is far from glamorous, and building a great tech company doesn’t happen overnight; it usually takes several years of hard work.
Develop your offering ethically and consciously, and always learn from the market. Keep things simple and don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes the simplest solutions become the most successful and are quickly adopted by the market. There are many ways to make a difference, so you might consider innovating in an area where you can make an impact. That’s how you can create a lasting impact.
*ESG
ESG is an acronym that refers to environmental, social, and governance criteria used by investors and companies to assess a company’s performance and impact on these different aspects. Environmental criteria focus on the company’s environmental sustainability practices, such as its carbon reduction or waste management policies. Social criteria focus on the company’s social practices, including its diversity, pay equity, and workplace health and safety policies. Finally, governance criteria refer to the company’s governance structures, such as board composition, financial transparency, and risk management.
**circular economy
An economic model that aims to optimize the use of resources by minimizing waste and promoting the reuse, recycling and regeneration of materials and products. Unlike the traditional linear model of production and consumption, where resources are extracted, used and discarded, the circular economy aims to create a more sustainable system where waste is minimized and resources are reused efficiently, thus contributing to environmental preservation and economic resilience.
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