Boosting entrepreneurial adoption of circular economy solutions in tourism
One of the objectives in FACET is to boost the adoption of Circular Economy solutions by small local tourism entrepreneurs. This has been done through jointly defined calls for solutions, and by accompanying entrepreneurs in the definition, design and implementation of their circular solutions.
Project partners NV Economisch Impuls Zeeland and Westtoer worked together with entrepreneurs from different regions through the various steps (proposal, selection, evaluation and consultation) in order to jointly formulate and implement circular solutions.
Business cases
Business case have been developed for each circular solution. We are happy to share these business cases with you. We hope to inspire you with these cases in order to develop your own circular economy solution. To make one overview for you, we have compiled several business cases into one highlight document (only available in Dutch). In addition, we provide an overview of the developed business cases per country. This gives you the opportunity to get inspiration from both within and beyond your own country borders.
Highlight document
The business cases cover different types of circular solutions. Reusing materials, circular construction and transforming waste into raw materials. Circularity offers many opportunities for tourism businesses. To give an idea of these opportunities, we bundled examples of circular issues and solutions from Belgium and the Netherlands in one highlight document. You can download it here.
Business cases Netherlands
In the Netherlands, using the 9R strategy, entrepreneurs made great cases in the areas of water, waste, energy, construction, packaging materials and joint purchasing. In total, 2 beach pavilions, 6 hotels, 7 companies in residential recreation, 1 day attraction and 2 restaurants have developed a business case. These business cases involve many different circular solutions.
Participating entrepreneurs: Basic Beach Bar De Branding, Boutique Hotel Roosevelt, Camping Schippers, Campingpark Ons Buiten, Strandpark De Zeeuwse Kust, Restaurant de Brass, Gorishoekse Hoeve, Vakantiepark Grevelingepolder in Brouwershaven, Hoevehotel Hof Christina, Hotel Katoen, Onilio (multiple locations in Zeeland), Boerderijcamping Oranjepolder, Pannekoekenhuys de Molen, Stoomtrein Goes-Borsele, Strandhotel Westduin, Beachpavilion de Haven van Renesse, Voedselbron Graauw
Business cases Belgium
Circular solutions for energy and beach waste on the Belgian coast thanks to the FACET project.
Thanks to the FACET project, tailor-made advice was possible from experts in the field of energy, water and waste. Circular solutions were found in 18 pilots, resulting in more than € 800,000 (expected) investments. Business cases of 7 of these pilots have been made.
Less waste on the beach through cooperation: The municipality of De Haan worked together with the beach operators on waste management. This resulted in the construction of a pressure pipeline for waste water, an ambitious framework for agreements on waste management and the first edition of the Eco Beach Awards. A good example of co-creation between public and private stakeholders! The tourism department of the city Oostende drew up an action plan with various stakeholders to tackle waste on the beaches through clean-up campaigns, education aimed at families and a collaboration with circular hub O.666 on upcycling the waste into a circular tile for the facade of their building. The support in the project consisted of bringing the various parties together, with an expert providing independent advice and a clear vision.
Energy solutions at 16 coastal entrepreneurs: 8 hotels, 6 small-scale accommodations and 2 restaurants on the Coast worked together with an expert, mainly on energy, but also on waste and water. Tailor-made circular solutions were sought to significantly reduce energy consumption and to heat and cool as fossil-free as possible. First, possibilities are examined, followed by a study of feasibility and payback times. Together with the entrepreneur, decissions were made on what the best and most profitable combination of solutions are. It is expected that more than € 800,000 will be invested in solutions such as insulation, heat pumps, solar panels and boilers, charging stations and water collection. Once the investments have been earned back, this generates returns for the entrepreneur, both financially and ecologically. Several solutions in BE and NL were also summarised in a score card (only available in Dutch) containing the most relevant data linked to their new circular solutions.
Participating entrepreneurs: Hotel des Brasseurs in De Haan, Parkhotel De Panne, De Groep C-hotels (various locations), Auberge St. Pol in Knokke-Heist, Hotel Cosmopolite in Nieuwpoort, Hotel Les Mouettes in Wenduine, Hotel Memlinc in Knokke-Heist , Hotel Soll Cress in Koksijde, B&B De Arend from Nieuwpoort, Holiday Suites (various locations), Youth residence De Zeekameel in Middelkerke, camping and winegrowing company Park Costa in Bredene, B&B Armalot by Julia in De Panne, co-working space The Bakery in De Haan, Restaurant L'apéro in Ostend and Brasserie Nieuwpoort.
Business cases England
Several pilots have been developed in England on waste. Participating businesses, including one theater, 2 accommodation providers, 1 tearoom and 1 cafe, found that much of their waste, mainly plastic, was not being recycled. They therefore started working within FACET on circular solutions for efficient visitor waste management and recycling services.
Participating entrepreneurs: Hemsby Beach café, Margo's Lounge, Mill Farm Eco Barns, Richardson's, St George's Theatre.
Downloads
All business cases can be downloaded here. These articles are only available in Dutch. Still curious about the outcomes, but is language a barrier? Then contact us! We will gladly inform you about the actions taken.
Basis Beach Bar de Branding
This beach pavilion had the question how they could reuse the materials from the existing building in a high-quality manner. Therefore, a plan was developed to map the materials of the old pavilion in order to reuse them. In addition, certain parts of a new energy installation will be circular.
Boutique Hotel The Roosevelt
Hotel The Roosevelt is housed in a 1950s landmark and is located in the historic center of Middelburg. The hotel has had a Green Key Gold certificate from the beginning, which is a standard for sustainability in the hotel industry. The hotel considers it important to continuously work on sustainability in the organization and therefore wanted to explore the possibilities of circular water solutions within the FACET project. The goal of the hotel is reducing its water consumption.
Camping Schippers
Camping Schippers is a small-scale family business in Nieuwvliet-Bad (Zeeland, Netherlands). The question for this organization was: how do we realize a center building / workplace that fits the environment in a circular way? To solve this issue, they included a nice collaboration in the business case. In addition to the architect, there will be collaboration with the province of Zeeland, the municipality and a naturalist. In addition, there will be close cooperation with local parties; from greenkeepers to a solar cooperative.
Campingpark Ons Buiten
Ons Buiten is a medium-sized lodging recreation company. Within this business case, several circular solutions are central; for packaging, residuals and surpluses, environmentally harmful substances and guest awareness.
Strandpark De Zeeuwse Kust
Strandpark De Zeeuwse Kust has been working for many years on making their organization more sustainable. However, the company wanted to gain insight into where in the organisation there are still opportunities to take steps in sustainability practices to save energy, waste and water. After a baseline measurement it was made clear in which sustainable theme Strandpark De Zeeuwse Kust can still become more sustainable.
Restaurant de Brass
The passionate kitchen staff of restaurant the Brass, led by Chef and owner, Jeroen van Waarde, works with fresh, local and as much as possible organic products. The Brass works with mostly local suppliers and fresh seasonal produce, fresh fish and of course creative vegetarian dishes. The issue of the organization: becoming a company that makes residual streams valuable again and works together with local partners on short chains and sustainable energy.
Gorishoekse Hoeve
The Gorishoekse Hoeve is a recreation company in Tholen (Zeeland, Netherlands) and consists of two camping locations and restaurant SMAEK. The company's question is how the characteristic storage barn in the heart of the campsite can be transformed in a circular way into a valuable place which in use and as an object contributes to the dynamics dynamics and the facilities of the campsite.
Vakantiepark Grevelingepolder
At Grevelingepolder, there is sometimes too much and sometimes too little water. The company would like to balance that with circular solutions. In addition, the rapidly growing amount of waste is a problem and there is the desire to reduce the use of chemical products.
Hoevehotel Hof Christina
The old historic barn which is Hof Christina has been converted into a hotel while preserving the old elements of the barn. The wish of the organisation is to reduce the plastic flow and to inspire the guest to contribute to one both at home and on vacation beautiful surroundings.
Hotel Katoen
Katoen has 23 spacious hotel rooms, a brasserie with conservatory and terrace with room for more than 180 guests and a restaurant including meeting rooms. The aim of the hotel for the coming period of time is to realise a reduction of the increasing waste streams and to stimulate sustainable quality improvements in the city center of it's location Goes (Zeeland, Netherlands).
Onilio
Onilio manages and operates hotel rooms, apartments and holiday homes at three locations in Zeeland (Netherlands) and one location in Antwerp (Belgium). The organisation wonders how it can better guarantee sustainability for all its locations, so that sustainability can be implemented throughout the entire business operations. A baseline measurement has been made to provide insight into which sustainable themes Onilio can still become more sustainable.
Boerderijcamping Oranjepolder
Oranjepolder consists of two parts: an arable farm and a mini camping site. The 25 units include eight luxury tents from FarmCamps. What options are there for the end-of-life safari tent and can we work on a circular model?
Pannekoekenhuys de Molen
de Molen is a pancake restaurant. The company aims to reduce its environmental impact by dealing with waste and energy as sustainably as possible. Plastic, paper, glass and residual waste are collected separately, but food waste such as coffee grounds are still collected not. The building has also been made more sustainable in recent years, including: solar panels, LED lighting and energy efficient kitchen appliances. The restaurant is still looking for new ones way to save energy and get rid of gas.
Stoomtrein Goes-Borsele
Steam train Goes-Borsele is a museum railway company, founded in 1971. It is one of the oldest museum lines in theThe Netherlands, run almost entirely by 200 volunteers. The organisation wants to continue to open its collection to the public and at the same time protect against weather elements. For this they want to rebuild an old steel construction and apply the materials in the new solutions. They also want to look at a sustainable form of energy for the building.
Beachhotel Westduin
Strandhotel Westduin is located directly behind the lowest dune crossing, only 50 meters from the sea and beach. Strandhotel Westduin feels strongly connected to the environment. Attention to people, planet and profit is structural part of the policy. Sustainability is integrated into all business activities. The hotel has been looking for a good starting point for a long time to reduce their waste flows and better to separate. Green waste (including vegetables, fruit, swill, coffee grounds) is a significant waste stream within the hotel. How do they make this circular? Is the question asked.
Beachpavilion de Haven van Renesse
In this pilot, six beach pavilions under the Association van Strandpaviljoenhouders Schouwse Kust (VSSK) are participating. The initiator of the project is De Haven van Renesse. Other participating pavilions are Our Seaside, Zuid-Zuid-West, De Branding, Sand & Pepper and Beachclub Perry's. The issue is to reduce residual waste and reuse seafood, orange peels, coffee grounds and other food residues by offering these waste streams to a (local) party that will circularly processing.
Voedselbron Graauw
How are we as entrepreneurs going to cooperate with our environment and make our business model sustainable? That was the question of Voedselbron Graauw. Not only on an economic level but also from an ecological point of view. To this end, various collaborations are set up. There is cooperation with Grenspark GGS (tourist), municipality of Hulst, Waterschap Scheldestromen, Province of Zeeland, Smaek en de Zwarte Specht. Here agriculture, soil structure, biodiversity, water management, recreation & unique experience go hand in hand.
B&B de Arend – Tearoom Cornet de la Mer
During the mandatory closure that corona entailed, Tania and Olivier took the time to make their business sustainable. They want to offer their visitors more service and experience, resulting in less to no CO2 emissions as a result. To achieve this, they have installed an installation of 26 solar panels with 3 batteries (15kW) and a hydrogen power plant that generates electricity & heat simultaneously. In addition, they work with local products & bottle potable water.
Municipality of De Haan
The municipality of De Haan has for some years now been active on sustainable waste management and has made a policy commitment on cleaner beaches. With a number of targeted actions, De Haan has created a favorable and conducive environment for circular entrepreneurship and further developed of sustainable waste management.
Holiday Suites
Holiday Suites is a new concept of vacation rentals. Holiday Suites offers the comfort of a hotel with additional flexibility for different target groups. Their goal is to create more awareness among staff and visitors to use less water and electricity through targeted actions and communication.
Hotel Les Mouettes
Les Mouettes is a family hotel on the seafront with 30 rooms, a restaurant and a relaxation area with sauna and whirlpool. With energy prices soaring, the owner is looking for solutions to save energy and money over time. Four circular solutions have been formulated for this purpose.
City Oostende
Within the pilot with the City of Ostend on waste management on the beach, one of the issues was how to innovatively upcycle the collected beach waste to be innovatively upcycled. For this purpose, a collaboration with the circular hub O.666 was set up.
Parkhotel de Panne
Parkhotel De Panne is a family hotel that is full of quality and sustainability. The request is to develop a sustainable business plan for the generation of its own electricity and electric charging infrastructure linked to renewable energy.
Co-working space The Bakery
The Bakery is seeking advice from FACET on how they can approach the renovation of the old bakery where they are located in the most energy efficient way possible and which technical installation is best suited.
Hemsby Beach Café
Hemsby Beach Café is a family owned business that has been open since the 60’s. The business serves food and drink to sit in or takeaway. Hemsby has aspirations to become a leading environmentally friendly destination in the East of England. Single use, disposable cups for takeaway drinks contribute to the general waste stream which they want to change.
Margo's Lounge
Margo’s Lounge in Gorleston on Sea is a retro, 70’s themed tearoom. There is a large amount of plastic waste that still cannot be recycled. Localised recycling enterprise which collects waste plastic, grinds it down and turns it into items like furniture or jewellery, to be sold locally.
Mill Farm Eco Barns
Mill Farm Eco Barns generates food waste from baskets that are provided to guests. Guests do not always use all the products given to them and they end up needing to be thrown out. A company which has previously worked with businesses and local authorities will help to teach FACET businesses how to compost.
Richardson's
Richardson’s Beach Holiday Park has roots going back to the 1940’s. Today, it offers a wide array of tourism activities in Hemsby including food and drink. Local businesses in Hemsby will work collaboratively to collect, clean, and distribute reusable cups in order to reduce their wastestream.
St George's Theatre
St George’s Theatre offers a wide selection of theatre productions, musicals, live music, and children’s shows. There is a large amount of plastic waste that still cannot be recycled. A local college is part of the product development stage of the project. The enterprise has engaged with other localised recycling projects to share learning.
Getting started?
Are you an entrepreneur and do you want to get started with formulating and implementing circular solutions yourself? Then be sure to check out our ‘resources’ page for more information (including a toolkit describing steps to build your own business plan). Do you still have some questions? Get in touch with us!
