Squaring Up NI’s Circular

Squaring Up NI’s Circular Economy

Bill Andrew, Liam McNally, Cara Best, Elaine Kerr (Director) & Dermott Hickson.

International Synergies NI, delivery partner of Invest Northern Ireland’s free Resource Matching Service, has helped over 2000 Northern Irish businesses to achieve more than £26.5 million in cost savings and avoid over 374k tonnes of CO2 emissions over the past 13 years.

Ranging from steel manufacturers to beehive keepers, the International Synergies NI team helps businesses across all sectors to find sustainable solutions for their unwanted and redundant resources through the provision of introductions to local companies and advising on resource efficiency.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT 1: ARMAGH OBSERVATORY & PLANETARIUM

The Company: Armagh Observatory & Planetarium is a front-line research institute and exponent of key areas of astrophysics, the solar system and deep space. As NI’s oldest scientific institution, it is a prominent partner within the educational sector and became a member of the Resource Matching Service in 2019.

The Challenge: With a recent upgrade of existing facilities at the planetarium, a vast array of decommissioned equipment and surplus items was overwhelming storage capacity and putting the centre under increasing pressure to begin disposal.

The Solution: The planetarium got in touch with the Resource Matching Service and one of its practitioners was invited to conduct a site visit to look at the range of items and identify sustainable options for reuse. Consequently, introductions were made by the practitioner between the planetarium and member companies from the Resource Matching Service that could avail of the resources. These included:

i) Belfast Tool Library (BTL), a sustainabilityfocused tool lending initiative that challenges conventional approaches to ownership. BTL was able to reutilise a large quantity of surplus tools and workshop equipment. This collaboration led to cost savings of over £9000 and diverted 3 tonnes from landfill. ii) incredABLE, a social enterprise that availed of unwanted catering and electrical items. These are now fulfilling important roles across work skills projects for young adults with learning disabilities. The acquisition of these items realised cost savings to the value of £3410. iii) Sticky Fingers Art in Newry, an arts programme that salvaged and reused old lighting and other technical equipment in their theatre setup, achieving cost savings of £1650.

The Outcome: Through the Resource Matching Service, the planetarium found sustainable reuse avenues which repurposed old equipment, achieved positive social impact and the avoidance of disposal costs in the process. Partnering organisations, in turn, were able to make much needed cost savings on equipment, helping to strengthen their operational capacity and highlight the benefits of membership to the Resource Matching Service.

Since 2019, the planetarium has completed many resource matches or ‘synergies’ with the service. These have allowed the planetarium and the partnering businesses to achieve over £21,000 in cost savings, 66 tonnes in CO2 reduction and landfill diversion of 18 tonnes.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT 2: FRYLITE

The Company: Frylite is Ireland’s leading vegetable oil supplier and waste cooking oil collector. As a long-standing member of the Resource Matching Service, the company has benefitted from numerous synergies with local companies through finding sustainable solutions for their redundant resources.

The Challenge: Frylite first got involved with the Resource Matching Service back in 2009 when they attended a food sector workshop hosted by International Synergies NI. At the time, 600 tonnes of waste material were being generated annually by Frylite activities. The Resource Matching Service introduced Frylite to a local composting facility where a trial was set up for this material which was deemed acceptable for composting. This first ‘synergy’ saved Frylite £24,000 by avoidance of landfill tax. It marked the beginning of their resource efficiency journey with the service.

The Solution: Through the introductions given by the Resource Matching Service, Frylite and Food Waste Diversion have been able to find sustainable solutions for a range of projects including:

• proper disposal of oil-contaminated buckets • a conveyor system upgrade • design and building of a fresh oil filling system • streamlining of lorry fleets

The Outcome: Frylite has made substantial cost savings since 2009 through the Resource Matching Service and has achieved environmental benefits such as 2k tonnes in CO2 reduction and 628 tonnes of virgin material saved. This points to how the service can do more than facilitate the quick wins of exchanging resources: it helps local companies to build relationships with one another so that they can move forward together on their journey towards greater resource efficiency in a circular economy.

Despite the obstacles posed by COVID-19, the International Synergies NI team has risen to the challenge and continues to successfully deliver new business opportunities to a wide range of organisations across the country. Whatever the redundant resource and however big the problem, the team is always on the lookout for its next potential case study.