Circular economy is growing and its environmental usefulness is no longer in doubt. What is less obvious is how this new economy can today be a vehicle for social inclusion. Between now and 2030, 580,0001 new jobs will be created in Europe in this sector alone, but how can the least qualified, those currently excluded from the labour market, benefit from it?
Lemon Tri’s project since 2011 is to bring concrete and innovative solutions to issues of sorting, collection and recovery of waste, with an approach firmly rooted in the circular economy. For example, the company installs collection points where sorting is weak (offices, train stations, public spaces, etc.); it recycles certain waste that was previously incinerated or buried, due to a lack of sufficient sorting or existing industrial channels. Lemon Tri also offers services to reduce waste at source and encourage reuse, such as a deposit on packaging. Its mission is to eliminate the notion of “waste”.
In 2016, this entrepreneurial project took on a much stronger social dimension with the launch of Lemon Aide, a social joint-venture co-founded with the FACE Foundation and Danone, dedicated to inclusion through economic activity. The ambition of Lemon Aide is to use the circular economy model as a vector of inclusion and thus generate a triple impact: environmental, social and economic. An approach that motivates the teams and is strongly supported by customers and partners.
The logistics professions in circular economy (collection, sorting, packaging) require relatively few prior qualifications and are therefore an ideal gateway to (re)launching a professional activity. At the same time, because it saves scarce resources and allows the planet to “breathe”, this activity makes those who practise it particularly proud. Moreover, these are non-relocatable professions, with a direct positive impact at the local level.
Today, 60 employees in a situation of prior exclusion have gone through this springboard program. The fact that it is short – 6 months – and very well provided with support and training, which account for 20% of attendance time, makes it atypical and innovative. 75% of the Lemon Aiders came out of it with a stable job or professional training. We are very proud of these results and more than ever, we want to continue to mobilise our entrepreneurial energies to accelerate this development.
Augustin Jaclin
Co-fondateur,
Lemon Tri
Footnote
1. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_14_450