The Challenge:

Moving towards a circular economy in Yorkshire is an immense challenge. It requires unprecedented collaboration across a diverse range of stakeholders and supply chains, a substantial amount of investment and sufficient scale to achieve circular systems.

The Solution:

Our distinctive market towns across North Yorkshire provide the opportunity to test circular economy approaches at a micro-scale. They are small enough to convene a high proportion of stakeholders to achieve critical mass of support, yet large enough to achieve the scale required to close the loop on material and resource flows. With increasing pressures on high streets, the circular economy is a vehicle we can use to drive collaboration, increase operational efficiencies and attract new businesses to our towns.

Piloting this in a market town enables:

• a handful of different stakeholders to be more easily connected and activated
• the benefit to local people and business to be directed and made very visible, creating impact and demand for a circular economy
• a replicable model to be offered to the many challenged market towns in a rural region to execute their version and grasp a new future

As we make things happen, expect to see:

• The many different businesses and people in our town, interested, collaborating, inspiring others
• Our food and bio waste being used to fuel our own energy, heating and transport with a community anaerobic digester
• Sculptured water drinking fountains to refill our bottles; Refillable water bottles for our school children
• More electric vehicle charging points close by
• Our sharing local business stories of circular success; supporting many other initiatives by people and our council that give us more ways to play our part to overcome climate change

If you’re a Business:

• Share your story and case study
• Sponsor an initiative
• Unlock your circular economy opportunities... with support from this LEP

If you’re an organisation or individual:

• Support our initiatives
• Make a Pledge for change via #CircularMaltonNorton
• Offer to become involved via #CircularMaltonNorton