Waste to Resource: Circular Economy Strategy Training Course for Executives

Programme Summary

Waste to resource circular economy strategy is the subject of this five-day training course for senior directors and heads of function, ending in a circular waste strategy pack for one organisation. Waste is often managed as a set of disposal contracts while recoverable material leaves sites unrecorded. The approach moves from the waste hierarchy and circular principles, through waste stream diagnosis and circular business models, to measurement and targets, then to a worked strategy pack. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme in waste to resource circular economy strategy.

The Business Case

When waste is treated as a cost to be hauled away, organisations pay for disposal, lose material value and carry producer obligations they have not mapped. Leaders who know what each stream contains and costs can set targets that finance and operations teams recognise.

• Disposal Cost: Falls into view as streams are costed and avoidable volumes are separated from unavoidable ones.
• Material Recovery Value: Becomes visible as reuse, repair and recycling routes are compared for each stream.
• Regulatory Exposure: Narrows as producer responsibility duties and hazardous fractions are mapped early.

Principles and Evidence Base

• Waste hierarchy: This ranking of options, with prevention preferred and landfill as the last resort, orders the options appraised in Sessions 1 to 3.
• ISO 59004: Its vocabulary, principles and implementation guidance for the circular economy frame the strategy work in Sessions 1 and 5.
• ISO 59010: Its guidance on transitioning business models and value networks shapes the option design in Session 3.
• ISO 59020: Its approach to measuring and assessing circularity performance structures the indicators and targets in Session 4.

Intended Participants

• Directors who own waste, environment or sustainability budgets and must justify change to an executive committee.
• Operations heads who run sites that generate, store or hand over waste.
• Heads of procurement who write waste and take-back terms into supplier and contractor agreements.

The programme serves manufacturers, food and beverage producers, healthcare providers and municipal service organisations.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to evaluate a waste system against the waste hierarchy and the principles in ISO 59004.
2. Participants will be able to diagnose the cost, volume and recoverable value of the main waste streams of an organisation.
3. Participants will be able to compare reuse, repair, remanufacture, recycling and biological routes for a given stream.
4. Participants will be able to construct an extended producer responsibility and take-back option for a product line.
5. Participants will be able to prioritise targets and indicators using the approach in ISO 59020.
6. Participants will be able to justify a circular waste strategy pack and roadmap to an executive committee.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Waste Hierarchy and Circular Economy Principles

How do the waste hierarchy and circular principles change the way waste is judged?

• Five-Step Waste Hierarchy
• ISO 59004 Vocabulary and Principles
• Butterfly Diagram of Technical and Biological Cycles
• Polluter-Pays Principle in Practice
• Case Review of Two Sector Waste Systems

Day 2: Waste Stream Diagnosis and Material Flow

Which waste streams carry the most cost and the most recoverable value?

• Waste Stream Audit Template
• Material Flow Map
• Cost-to-Dispose Ledger
• Hazard and Contamination Screen
• End-of-Waste Test for Secondary Materials

Day 3: Circular Business Models and Producer Responsibility

Which circular route fits each waste stream, and who carries the cost?

• ISO 59010 Value Network Assessment
• Reuse, Repair and Remanufacture Options
• Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme Design
• Take-Back and Reverse Logistics Options
• Biological Cycle Options for Organic Waste

Day 4: Circularity Measurement, Targets and Governance

How is circularity performance measured and reported so executives can act?

• ISO 59020 Circularity Indicators
• Waste Prevention and Diversion Targets
• Avoided Disposal Cost Business Case
• Supplier and Contractor Waste Clauses
• Executive Circularity Dashboard

Day 5: Applying Circular Economy Strategy to One Organisation

Is the circular waste strategy pack ready for an executive committee to approve?

• Applying the Session 2 Audit to the Chosen Organisation
• Testing Session 3 Routes Against Stream Value
• Setting Session 4 Targets and Indicators
• Sequencing Actions on a Roadmap
• Completing the Circular Waste Strategy Pack

Methodology

The programme is built around structured exercises and case analysis. Participants work with an anonymised waste dataset from a mixed-sector organisation, audit streams, compare routes and set targets in small teams, then defend their pack before a simulated executive committee.

• Suggested activity: Auditing five waste streams and ranking them by cost and recoverable value.
• Suggested activity: Drafting a take-back option for one product line and testing who pays.
• Suggested activity: Choosing four circularity indicators and setting a target for each.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a circular waste strategy pack for one organisation. It contains a waste stream audit, a material flow map, a ranked set of circular routes, a producer responsibility option, a set of indicators and targets and a phased roadmap. It is used to brief an executive committee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is circular economy strategy suitable for directors without a waste engineering background?

Yes. Circular economy strategy at this level assumes responsibility for budgets, sites or supplier terms, not technical waste engineering.

Which standards does circular economy strategy rest on in this course?

Circular economy strategy here rests on the waste hierarchy and on the ISO 59004, ISO 59010 and ISO 59020 standards for principles, business model transition and circularity measurement.

How is the strategy pack from circular economy strategy used at work?

You use the pack from circular economy strategy to brief an executive committee, set waste targets, rewrite supplier terms and sequence investment in recovery routes.

How does circular economy strategy differ from a hazardous waste compliance course?

Circular economy strategy centres on streams, value recovery and business models across an organisation, while a hazardous waste compliance course centres on classification, handling and disposal controls.