(as well as provide you with outstanding legal advice)…
“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” - Anne Marie Bonneau, Zero Waste Chef.
The Circular Economy is a concept first pioneered in the UK by Dame Ellen MacArthur DBE that promotes a new way of thinking about how we can use resources in the most efficient and environmentally friendly way possible.
Aria Grace Law CIC was the first law firm in the world to go through the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circulytics assessment, which helps companies measure their contribution to the circular economy, receiving an ‘A’ grade.
This assessment measured a company's enablers (strategy, planning, people) and outcomes (materials flows, energy use etc.) towards the circular economy and awards a grade for each part and an overall grade. Grades run from A - E, with A being top of the tree!
Aria Grace also donates all of its profits to charity and plants a tree after every deal.
The three main principles of the Circular Economy are to:
· Design waste and pollution out of systems.
· Keep products and materials in use.
· Regenerate natural systems.
In basic terms:
Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions that are owned or controlled by your company.
Scope 2 emissions are ones your company makes indirectly for example by using a specific energy provider.
Scope 3 emissions are all the other emissions (not in Scope 2) which are linked to your company's operations but outside of your direct control. Basically, the accumulation of all of the carbon emissions of stuff throughout a whole lifecycle. I have seen this described as the ‘holy grail of emissions’. The biggest and most overlooked aspect of tackling your company’s impact on the environment.
“On average 75% of the carbon footprint for a business comes from Scope 3 emissions”. - World Resources Institute.
The example I was given by the Circular Economy Innovation Communities was as follows.
Everything that makes your business work has its own carbon footprint. For example, if we take a stapler, the metals have been mined, transported, processed, distributed and sold, the plastics have been refined from oil, transported for processing, distributed and sold - and at the end of life, it will probably end up in residual waste.
Every step generates Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Every step also has its own scope 3 back story (for example, the machines used for quarrying metal ore, or the freight ship used for transportation).
The sum of all those impacts for everything in your organisation is your Scope 3 emissions.
Wow!
Being on the Circular Economy Innovation Communities Programme in Wales has been eye opening. I knew that reducing our carbon footprint was an important subject but I had never considered it in terms of the circular economy and the different impact of Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. In particular, I have never thought about how really working on Scope 3 challenges could make such a difference.
As well as now buying single bananas, I have learnt so much about what the circular economy really means and the relationship-based approach to tackling environmental concerns.
So for companies out there looking to find ways to reduce their Scope 3 impact, it is not always as hard as it may seem to take some initial steps towards reduction. For example, using a supplier like Aria Grace Law CIC.
Article by Victoria Hall (Partner) – 8th April 2024