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The bumpy road to circular offices
A research about what factors influence and determine the circular
economy within an office environment
Sara Warbroek
Master’s thesis for the Environment & Society Studies programme
Corporate Sustainability
Nijmegen School of Management
Radboud University
April 2020
Colophon
Document
Title The bumpy road to circular offices
Project Master Thesis (MAN-MTHCS)
Date 09-04-2020
Word count 24788
Version Final version
Student
Author Sara Warbroek
Student number s1013916
Education Master Environment and Society Studies
Specialization Corporate Sustainability
Phone number +316 18 81 57 54
E-mail [email protected]
Employer
Employer Sodexo
Address De Corridor 3
3621 ZA Breukelen
Supervisor Irma Kruining
E-mail [email protected]
Phone number +316 51 20 45 21
Educational Institution
Institution Radboud University Nijmegen
Supervisor Duncan Liefferink
E-mail [email protected]
Second reader Ingrid Visseren
E-mail [email protected]
Cover photo: Veolia, 2017.
Summary
Ninety percent of global used resources does not return to the economic system, so for the most part the economy has a linear character. In the coming years the world population will grow, and the number of raw materials used per person will also rise. The circular economy and its principles offer a solution to prevent raw materials from no longer being used linearly (mined to discarded). This research focuses on the circular economy within the facilities sector. This is because the organisation, offering an internship, Sodexo, is a major facilities player. Sodexo, together with three other parties, is a member of a consortium focussing on circular offices. The consortium is interested in a new way of measuring the circularity at a potential client location. It wants to show what it has to offer and gain insight in the current status at the same time. There is a lack of insight into which topics need to be discussed. To facilitate this problem statement a research question is formulated: ‘what factors influence and determine the circularity of the soft facility services in an office building, and why?”. Since the internship, there is formulated an advice question as well: what should be asked in the circular scan to have a useful result for the consortium and the potential clients as well? The facility sector is responsible for the ins and outs of a huge number of square meters of office space and therefore also responsible for a large resource consumption. More knowledge about circularity within facility services can reduce this. In addition, this research is relevant because it helps the consortium further developing. And fits the Dutch government’s objectives of being circular by 2050. This research is scientific relevant as well. In European context there is less researches done without focus on the building only. Research into the measurability of circularity has hardly been done yet. In order to answer the research question, the Policy Arrangement Approach is used. Its dimensions actors, resources, rules and discourse the consortium and its working is mapped out. Here the three principles of the circular economy, reduce, reuse and recycle, play a major role. In answer to the research question, three sub-questions have been drawn up: 1) how does the theory-based discourse of the circular economy change when ideas are put into practice?, 2) what are the (organizational) consequences of applying the concept of reduce, reuse & recycle within the soft facility services domain in an office surrounding?, and 3)what opportunities and problems do occur when the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle is applied in an office surrounding within the soft facility service domain? After more than a year of development, the consortium will start working at a client location for the first time. This pilot is the central case in this research. Data is collected via literature, interviews with people and organisations involved in the consortium and observation, because the researcher is part of the pilot organizations. The data is analysed by using Atlas TI. All interviews are transcribed and together with the documents analysed. The analysis is mainly based on structural coding by using concepts of the theoretical framework. This has resulted in answers on the several questions formulated. The discourse changed when the consortium applied it in practice, mostly due obstacles encountered by the consortium. Working together with various organizations has its effects. Especially rules and structure are needed for this. The biggest opportunity for the consortium is the fact that there is money and knowledge among the actors. The main problems arise from rules which shape the boundaries wherein the consortium operates. Also, the not equal involvement of the different actors is an issue which means fewer resources available for the consortium’s development. The factors, based on the dimensions of the Policy Arrangement Approach, that influence the circularity of soft facility services in an office building are: Actors:
• Equal involvement of actors Rules
• Short term contracts
• A company’s legal form that is allowed to bid for tenders
• A clear division of tasks
• Agreements with other facility parties/departments
• Ownership agreements of CircularOffice ideas and programmes
• Include the partners of CircularOffice as their own partners Resources
• Availability of money
• Authority over all the services necessary for circularity
• Many relationships with non-consortium member clients
• Knowledge about circular alternatives/possibilities
Discourse
• A shared definition for the circular economy and sustainability
• Stay close to the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle
Preface
Because of my ambitions within the facility management world, combined with my interest in sustainability, this research came about. During my previous study ‘Facility Management’ I have missed the attention for environmental impact of facility services, while we, as facility managers, have just such a big influence on that. Of course, I could not have done the research project without an internship where both came together. I am grateful that I was able to experience up close how the circular economy was combined with facility management in the form of CircularOffice’s consortium. For this I would like to thank Sodexo in particular, as well as the other consortium members Returnity, Bammens and Westerveld. I would also like to thank my colleagues at Sodexo for their cooperation on the pilot at UWV Utrecht. And, in particular, Annelein Frederiks and Irma Kruining for supervising my internship. Also, my supervisor Duncan Liefferink deserves my appreciation. His guidance during the research project was very valuable, especially the pushes in the right direction when I was stuck writing. Also, the speed with which he answered questions and gave feedback was very nice. He helped me to better understand the sometimes-abstract theoretical concepts, so that I could apply them well. Nor should I forget my partner, friends and family, who have always supported me, despite the fact that the writing of this thesis took longer than I had imaged. Thanks for your patience.
Table of content
List of illustrations .................................................................................................................11
List of figures .....................................................................................................................11
List of tables ......................................................................................................................11
1 | Introduction ......................................................................................................................13
1.1 | Context ......................................................................................................................13
1.2 | Research problem statement .....................................................................................14
1.3 | Research aim and research question ........................................................................15
1.4 | Relevance .................................................................................................................15
2 | Theoretical framework .....................................................................................................17
2.1 | Facility management .................................................................................................17
2.2 | The circular economy ................................................................................................17
2.3 | The Policy Arrangement Approach ............................................................................19
2.4 | Conceptual framework ...............................................................................................22
2.5 | Sub-questions ...........................................................................................................23
3 | Method ............................................................................................................................24
3.1 | Strategy .....................................................................................................................24
3.2 | Design .......................................................................................................................24
3.3 | Data collection ...........................................................................................................25
3.4 | Data analysis .............................................................................................................28
3.5 | Trustworthiness and authenticity ...............................................................................29
4 | Results ............................................................................................................................31
4.1 | Context story .............................................................................................................31
4.2 | Actors ........................................................................................................................32
4.3 | Resources .................................................................................................................34
4.4 | Rules .........................................................................................................................36
4.5 | Discourse ..................................................................................................................38
4.6 | Working of the consortium: UWV pilot .......................................................................40
5 | Conclusion .......................................................................................................................46
5.1 | Discourse: theory vs. practice ....................................................................................46
5.2 | Consequences of applying 3Rs into soft service ........................................................47
5.3 | Opportunities and problems .......................................................................................49
5.4 | Factors of circularity ..................................................................................................52
5.5 | Circular scan .............................................................................................................55
5.6 | Recommendations in general ....................................................................................57
6 | Reflection ........................................................................................................................58
6.1 | Theoretical reflection .................................................................................................58
6.2 | Methodological reflection ...........................................................................................59
6.3 | Contribution ...............................................................................................................59
6.4 | Research recommendations ......................................................................................59
References ...........................................................................................................................61
Appendix I ............................................................................................................................66
Appendix II ...........................................................................................................................68
Appendix III ..........................................................................................................................69
Appendix IV ..........................................................................................................................70
Appendix V ...........................................................................................................................71
Appendix VI ..........................................................................................................................72
List of illustrations
List of figures
Figure 1: Concepts of the circular economy (own work, based on Stegeman (personal
communication, February 22, 2019) and Korhonen (2018, p.39)……………………
18
Figure 2: The Circularity Ladder (PBL, 2018)………………………………………………….. 18
Figure 3: Overview of three categories with ten perspectives (Stegeman, personal
communication, February 22, 2019)……………………………………………………. 19
Figure 4: Terms of 3Rs and 10R’s used in this research (own work)……………………….. 19
Figure 5: The tetrahedron, symbolising the interconnectedness of the four dimensions of
a policy arrangement. (Liefferink, p.48)…………………………………………………………. 20
Figure 6: Types of resources used in this research based on Arts (2006) and Avelino
& Rotmans (2009)………………………………………………………………………... 22
Figure 7: Conceptual Framework (ownwork)…………………………………………………… 23
Figure 8: Case and sub-case design (own work).……………………………………………... 25
Figure 9: Overview of actors in the arrangement (own work) ………………………………... 34
Figure 10: Ladder van Lansink (Aquaminerals, 2018).……………………………………… 39
Figure 11: The new bins placed for the pilot (Bammens, 2019).…………………………….. 41
Figure 12: Collection trolley (Economic Board Utrecht, 2019).………………………………. 42
Figure 13: Waste separation communication message at the current bins (Economic
Board Utrecht, 2019). …………………………………………………………………… 42
Figure 14: The circular shop in UWV’s restaurant (Van der Worp, 2019)…………………... 43
Figure 15: Toilet roll holder with communication (Van der Worp, 2019)…………………….. 43
Figure 16: Table card at vending machine (Returnity, 2019)…………………………………. 44
Figure 17: Coffee truck invitation (CircularOffice, 2019).……………………………………… 44
Figure 18: Opening pilot CircularOffice at coffee truck (UWV, 2019)………………………... 44
Figure 19: Commodity Coaches at the new bins (own work)………………………………… 45
Figure 20: Communication message about the croquettes made of oyster mushrooms
(Van der Worp, 2019)……………………………………………………………………. 45
Figure 21: Terms of 3Rs and 10R’s used in this research (own work)……………………… 46
Figure 22: Overview of factors (own work)……………………………………………………... 54
Figure 23: Overview of the circular scan topic (own work)……………………………………. 56
Figure 24: 6S-model of Van Brandt (Circkelstad, 2019)………………………………………. 58
List of tables
Table 1: Overview used internal documents (own work)………………………………………. 26
Table 2: Overview interviewees (own work)…………………………………………………….. 27
13
1 | Introduction
In this first chapter the reader is introduced to the context in which the research takes place
(§1.1). The research’s context is mainly shaped by the circular economy and facility
management. The internship company and the consortium it has joined are also explained.
When the context is clear, the problem statement is given (§1.2). Then, the corresponding
objective and research question are explained (§1.3). These indicate what the research is
about. The chapter concludes with the relevance of this research, both societal and scientific
(§1.4).
1.1 | Context This section contains an introduction to the topic of circular economy. The link with the circular
economy and facility management is explained as well. Also, the internship company’s
background and their involvement within the CircularOffice is addressed.
1.1.1 Circular economy
Ninety percent of the resources worldwide do not return to the economic system (De Wit,
Hoogzaad, Ramkumar, Friedl en Douma, 2018). The economy is this largely linear and this
type of economy has grown in recent decades and will continue to grow. According to Crane
et al (2011, p.14), the world population began to use more in the 21st century. Thirty-four times
more material, twenty-seven times more minerals, twelve times more fossil fuels and almost
four times more biomass (Crane et al, 2011, p.14). The United Nations predicts that the world's
population will grow to 9.8 billion people by 2050, and by the year 2020 there will be 7.8 billion
(Worldometers, 2020). Moreover, the middle class is growing strongly in countries such as
Brazil and China (CPB, 2011). As a result of these facts, global material use will triple by 2050
compared to today. This results in an increasingly challenged linear model today. The Ellen
MacArthur Foundation (2015a) has listed five factors that require a deeper change in the
operating system of the linear economy. These are a) economic losses and structural waste
b) price risks c) supply risks d) degradation of natural systems and e) regulatory trends. A
definition for the circular economy is: 'The circular economy is based on the approach of
(re)designing production systems at different levels in order to preserve the value of the life
cycle of raw materials, goods and materials. The central idea is to do this in a form of a (closed)
cycle. (Faber, Jonker & Stegeman, 2018).
1.1.2 Facility Management
Circle Economy and AAFM (2014, p.4) state from a circular economy perspective, "facility
managers organize and control the physical resources flowing through a location, as well as
the programmatic services for the people working within the facility". Commercial buildings
have major impacts in several categories: a) energy use, b) atmosphere & emissions c) water
use & management d) land use e) indoor environment & social impacts and f) materials &
waste (CBS, 2017). Facility management with all its aspects affects these categories through
waste, workwear, security & reception, business support, catering, cleaning, maintenance,
landscaping, repairs, furniture & office supplies, taxi & transport, relocation, technical
maintenance & management, re-pro & mail and logistics (Circle Economy & AAFM, 2014, p.4).
The influence of facility management on these facets puts facility managers in a unique position
to oversee this system and facility managers have a high degree of control and influence on
reducing the effects associated with the activities in a commercial building (Circle Economy &
AAFM, 2014, p.5).
14
The focus in this research is on the services and resources of soft facility management.
Hard facility management relates to buildings and their installations, which are also important
in view of the circular economy, but only apply to new buildings and renovations. In order to
make an impactful shift in the world of existing office buildings, a focus on the services and
resources of soft facility management has been chosen, because it is relevant to both existing
and new buildings.
1.1.3 Internship Company
Sodexo was founded in 1966 in France and is active in offices, governments, health
institutions, schools & universities, prisons, events, offshore platforms and mines. At these
locations, it is responsible for food services, technical services and facility services. In the
Netherlands, Sodexo provides services such as food services, cleaning, landscaping, building
management, reception services, security, management and distribution of company clothing,
fleet management and much more.
Worldwide, Sodexo has three core values: 1) improving the quality of everyday life, 2)
contributing to economic, social and sustainable development and 3) corporate social
responsibility. To realize the latter value, Sodexo has a global improvement program 'Better
Tomorrow Plan'. It contains nine spearheads based on Sodexo as an employer, service
provider and responsible entrepreneur focused on individuals, communities and the
environment.
The company focuses on three topics in particular: 1) hunger 2) gender equality and 3)
waste (A. Mikkers, personal communication, 12 February 2019). Sodexo states that waste is
a major challenge worldwide and that tackling this waste problem is essential to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, protect land and water and improve living conditions.
1.1.4 CircularOffice
With this background and global business vision, Sodexo Nederland responded to a call from
the Economic Board Utrecht (A. Frederiks, personal communication, 4 February 2019). The
Economic Board Utrecht initiates an intensive cooperation between governments, knowledge
institutes and companies for strengthening existing initiatives, for matchmaking and for
developing new business models (Economic Board Utrecht, 2019a). The Economic Board
Utrecht’s call was addressed to companies from the province of Utrecht to realise a more
circular region. Other companies that responded to the Economic Board Utrecht’s call were
Bammens, Westerveld and Returnity. Bammens is a specialised production company that
develops, produces, installs and maintains solutions for the collection of raw materials for
household waste, commercial waste and litter (Bammens, 2019). One of the largest cleaning
companies in the Randstad is Westerveld (Westerveld, 2019). Returnity's mission is a waste-
free world and helps organisations work towards this (Returnity, 2019). Together they form a
consortium called CircularOffice (before: BRSW-360) (ERU, 2017) to set up the chain of
purchasing, use and end-of-life (Economic Board Utrecht, 2019c). In short: CircularOffice
makes offices waste-free through smart procurement, waste reduction and high-quality reuse
of raw materials (CircularOffice, 2019).
1.2 | Research problem statement One of the consortium’s wishes is to develop a new measurement method in the form of a
questionnaire. Going through the questionnaire is roughly the first contact between the
consortium and the optional client. Therefore, the measurement tool should serve different
purposes. By discussing the subjects, especially the facility service specific ones, the
consortium can show what their offer entails. This gives the potential client a better idea of
what the consortium can do for them.
15
On the other hand, the consortium can get a good picture of the current status
regarding circularity at the potential client. This information is necessary for writing such a
specific and appropriate offer for the potential client. The level of circularity can also be
compared to that of other organisations, and you can use that to persuade an organisation to
participate, for example you can show they are lagging behind other organisations.
The problem is that the consortium has no insight into what questions they need to ask.
This concerns organisational questions and the improvement of practical questions as well.
There are therefore organisational topics, which are required when implementing
CircularOffice, and practical topics, which mainly apply to the content of the various facility
services. The consortium would like to call the measurement tool ‘circular scan’ so that what it
is called in this research report.
1.3 | Research aim and research question The aim of this research is to understand what the circular economy means in practice,
especially of the soft facility services in an office environment. The goal is to provide indicators
that represent circularity in an organisational sense. In order to meet the research’s aim, it is
necessary to acquire knowledge about which factors determine the circularity of an office
environment. Therefore, the following research question is formulated: “what factors influence
and determine the circularity of the soft facility services in an office building, and why?”. The
research question is supported by sub-questions and these are based on the literature
provided in the theoretical framework chapter. In order to better understand them, the sub-
questions are presented in the last section of the literature review (§2.5).
Since the basis of this research is an internship, we must also pay attention to the
organizational context of this research and its specific assignment. Because the consortium’s
wish has a more practical character an advice question is linked to the research question. This
advice question is: “what should be asked in the circular scan to have a useful result for the
consortium and the potential clients as well?”.
1.4 | Relevance The relevance of carrying out this research is essential to justify it. It is important to work out
what the valuable addition of this research is, why it is worthwhile to carry it out, put in energy
and time.
1.4.1 Societal relevance
The social relevance of this research is especially important for the consortium. When one
knows which factors influence and determine the circularity of an office building environment,
CircularOffice knows which questions it has to ask in order to trigger a potential client. And
when it understands what circular economy is all about in practice, it can act and communicate
in the right way. Knowledge and information about the circular economy in practice, especially
in an office building environment, is useful because of the 48,084,000 m2 of office space in
The Netherlands (Bak, 2017, p.11), let alone the office floors in Europe and the rest of the
world.
More generally, less impact on the environment and less use of resources is essential.
The impact on the environment, via soil, water and air, has various consequences. Climate
change is one of them, causing problems such as extreme weather, rising sea levels and loss
of biodiversity. Natural resources are finite, making it important to deal with materials differently
in order to avoid scarcity, conflict and income.
In September 2016, the Dutch government launched the National Board Programme
Circular Economy (Rijksoverheid, 2016). The ambition is to have a circular economy in the
Netherlands by 2050, the contours of which are outlined in the programme (Faber, Jonker &
16
Stegeman, 2018). This shows that the circular economy is on the government's agenda and
that it has a goal for the future. This national political focus on the circular economy makes this
research and its results socially relevant.
1.4.2 Scientific relevance
This research will also be relevant in a scientific way. According to Stahel (2016, p.436), the
United States, South Korea and China have launched research programmes to promote the
circular economy by stimulating re-production and reuse while Europe makes baby steps. We
see this in the number of hits when looking for literature on circular economy, many of which
are linked to China. Anderson (2007, p.133) also states that the concept of the circular
economy is widely promoted in Asia. With this in mind, we can conclude that there is a gap
between Europe and Asia, which can probably be narrowed by doing research and having
more knowledge about the practical implementation of the circular economy.
There is an amount of scientific literature on circular economics and measurement in
general. But there is a gap between literature and practice. The analysis of Korhonen, Nuur,
Feldman & Birkie (2018) shows that current research on circular economics often focuses on
the practical and technical levels of actual physical flows of materials and energy in production-
consumption systems. Although this level of practice is practical, it is too detailed, for example
practical explanations of what can be done or made of certain waste streams. What is missing
is a level in between. We have literature on circular economics, its definition, its origins, its
limits and we have literature on specific, detailed processes of, for example, recycling plastics.
Between these two levels there is more, the organization of circular economy, for example
returning the plastics for recycling. This research focuses on that level.
Elia, Gnoni & Tornese (2017, p.2749) conclude that research into methodologies and
indicators for measuring the application level of circular economic strategies is in an early
phase. They say that this is particularly the case when looking at the micro level. Elia et al
(2017) have revised fourteen methodologies to measure environmental impact. The
environmental impact methodologies focus on the aspects of water footprint, energy demand,
ecological footprint, carbon footprint and so on. In these studies, there is a lack of focus on
which elements are important to look at when realizing CircularOffice. Genovese, Acquaye,
Figueroa & Koh (2014) also use environmental impacts as measurement aspects. This
measurement perspective is another type of measurement needed for CircularOffice.
With regard to (office) buildings, there are various measuring instruments to assess
sustainability. A well-known example is the BREEAM certificate. BREEAM is an assessment
method to determine the sustainability performance of buildings (BREEAM, 2019). It contains
four different certificates: 1) new construction and renovation, 2) existing construction, 3) area
development and 4) demolition and dismantling. Another example is Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED). It is a classification system for buildings, available for almost
all building, community and housing projects (LEED, 2019). It provides a framework for
creating healthy, highly efficient and cost-effective green buildings. Current rating and
certification systems focus on the building itself and the energy it uses. There is a lack of focus
on the organisational aspects and soft services of the office buildings.
17
2 | Theoretical framework
This chapter discusses various theories that are used to answer the research question: “what
factors influence and determine the circularity of the soft facility services in an office building,
and why?” First of all, it is important to know what facility management is in order to clarify the
context of the research (§2.1). In the second section, the theory of circularity is discussed,
because this is what the research is generally about (§2.2). In order to structure the research
and to be able to answer the research question, the Policy Arrangement Approach is used and
explained in the third section (§2.3). In the fourth section, the conceptual framework, in which
all three theories recur, is discussed (§2.4). The chapter concludes with the sub-questions,
which are described in this chapter because they are based on the theories (§2.5).
2.1 | Facility management Facility management is the business unit responsible for realising an optimal working,
residential or care environment (Drion & Van Sprang, 2016, p.16). It always has to deal with
two types of stakeholders: the internal client (the employees of the primary process) and the
external client (the visitor or client). The European standard NEN-EN 15221 is an important
standard for facility management and is a derivative of the Dutch NEN 2748 (Drion & Van
Sprang, 2016, p.19). NEN 2748 distinguishes the following main groups of facility products: a)
housing, b) services and resources, c) ICT, d) external facilities and e) facility management.
Housing relates to buildings and building-related installations (such as air-conditioning
systems and elevators), renovations, new construction and maintenance of buildings. We
make a distinction between hard and soft services and resources. Hard services relate to the
building, installations and maintenance. User-related services, such as catering, reception and
services with a high degree of customer contact, are called soft services. This is also the focus
of this research. The field of ICT, information and communication technology, is responsible
for accessibility, communication, knowledge and information management. The category of
external facilities includes the facilities that take place outside the facility manager's own area
of responsibility and for which the facility manager is responsible. Such as the provision of
external meeting facilities, home workplaces, employee transport by lease car or public
transport. Facility Management is the management of all services relating to the working
environment that are necessary to support people in their efforts to add value to the
organisation.
2.2 | The circular economy Over the years much has been written about the circular economy. It is difficult to say which
author 'invented' the circular economy, which is why Stegeman (personal communication, 22
February 2019) calls it a theoretical master fusion. Korhonen (2018, p.39) also says that the
concept of circular economy is based on a fragmented collection of ideas. The theories and
concepts on which the idea of circular economy is based according to Stegeman and Korhonen
are shown in Figure 1.
The definition of the circular economy is as difficult to define as its inventor. Faber,
Jonker and Stegeman (2018), for example, consciously use different definitions of the concept
of circular economy in their white paper 'The circular economy' (2018), so that different aspects
of the concept can be addressed. One of the definitions they use is (freely translated): "The
circular economy is based on the approach of (re)designing production systems at different
levels in order to preserve the value of the lifespan of raw materials, goods and materials. The
central idea is to do this in a form of a (closed) cycle. (Faber, Jonker & Stegeman, 2018).
18
Figure 1: Concepts of the circular economy (own work, based on Stegeman (personal communication, 22
February 2019) and Korhonen (2018, p.39).
Although there is no unanimous agreement on the definition of the circular economy,
and under which umbrella the concept belongs (or is it an umbrella itself?), the core of the
principle revolves around closing loops. These closing loops can be found in various models.
One of them is the '3Rs' that provide an approach to waste management by prioritising the
options for reducing, reusing and recycling (Shekdar, 2009). The aim is to identify the options
that are likely to deliver the best overall environmental outcome (Papargyropoulou, Lozano,
Steinberger, Wright & Ujang, 2014, p.110).
The terms reduce, reuse and recycle are reflected in the Planbureau voor de
Leefomgeving’s (PBL) circularity ladder (2018) in Figure 2. It distinguishes ten system
perspectives. The first three are: a) refuse, b) rethink and, c) reduce. When use occurs, we
have to deal with six types of perspectives: d) reuse, e) repair, f) refurbish, g) remanufacture,
h) repurpose, and i) recycle. The last step is j) recover energy.
Figure 2: The Circularity Ladder (PBL, 2018).
19
Stegeman (personal communication, 22 February 2019) has divided these ten
perspectives into three main categories. The first category ‘smarter product use and
manufacture’ includes refuse, rethink and reduce. The second category 'end-use of products'
includes reuse, repair and refurbishment. The third category is 'waste and reuse of materials
and products' and includes remanufacture, repurpose, recycle and recover. An overview of
these categories and their meaning is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Overview of three categories with ten perspectives (Stegeman, personal communication, 22 February
2019).
Smarter product use and manufacture
R0 = Refuse Make product redundant by abandoning its function or offering the same function with a radically different product.
R1 = Rethink Make product use more intensive (e.g. through sharing products).
R2 = Reduce Increase efficiency in product manufacture or use by consuming fewer natural resources and materials.
End use of products
R3 = Reuse Reuse by another consumer of discarded product which is still in good condition and fulfils its original function.
R4 = Repair Repair and maintenance of defective products so it can be used with original function.
R5 = Refurbish Restore an old product and bring it up to date.
Waste and reuse of materials and products
R6 = Remanufacture Use parts of discarded products in a new product with the same function.
R7 = Repurpose Use discarded product or its parts in a new product with a different function.
R8 = Recycle Process materials to obtain the same (high grade) or lower (lower grade) quality.
R9 = Recover Incineration of materials with energy recovery.
If we look at Stegeman's figure, we see the three terms of reduce, reuse and recycling
in every other category. Therefore, this research keeps the three R's in mind when defining
the circular economy. That means that ‘reduce’ consists of refuse, rethink and reduce, that
reuse consists of reuse, repair and refurbish, and that recycling consists of remanufacture,
repurpose and recycle. Figure 4 shows how this study defined the circular economy according
to these three and ten Rs.
Figure 4: Terms of 3Rs and 10R’s used in this research (own work).
2.3 | The Policy Arrangement Approach Before the theory applied in this research, the Policy Arrangement Approach, is explained, we
first discuss some alternative theories that turned out to fit less well. The Multi-Level
Perspective theory (MLP) conceptualize the dynamics of transitions at macro, meso and micro
level (Geels, 2011, p26). By applying the MLP theory to the transition of circular soft facility
Smarter product use and manufacture
= Reduce
• Refuse
• Rethink
• Reduce
End use of products = Reuse
• Reuse
• Repair
• Refurbish
Waste and reuse of materials and products
= Recycle
• Remanufacture
• Repurpose
• Recycle
• Recover
20
services, the dynamics between these levels influencing the success of the transition are
detected. MLP views transition at three levels: niche (the locus for radical innovations), socio-
technical regimes (the locus of established practices and associated rules that stabilize
existing systems) and an exogenous socio-technical landscape (Geels, 2011, p.26). This
theory could help to answer the research question because it focusses on transitions, just like
the transition of a linear office to a circular office is one. Still, there are some objections. The
transition, CircularOffice, where MLP focusses on has not yet fully taken place. The UWV pilot
is the first time of putting plans into practice and is has not been completed yet. In addition,
there are several niche innovations in this research, due to the wide range of facility services
and several innovations in each, MLP does not fil well because the theory is developed for one
innovation.
Also, the Discourse Analysis (DA) theory seems to be applicable in this research to
answer the research question. According to Gee (2014, p.1) a discourse is ‘a particular way of
talking about and understanding the world’. DA is the analysis of the patterns that people’s
utterance follows when they take part in different domains of social life (Gee, 2014, p.1).
Applying the DA theory on the consortium’s members and their thoughts about the circular
economy could be an option for finding what factors influence the circularity of soft facility
services but its intention is slightly different. As a result, it does not reveal the organisational
and practical aspects. By applying the DA theory, a connection with the practice is absent and
that is not appropriate in the practical context and the origins of this research. And, in doing
so, the 3Rs help us define what circularity means because it gives substance to the concept
of CircularOffice. There is still uncertainty about the details on how to achieve and arrange
circularity within office environments. In order to gain insight in how to realize and establish the
3Rs in an office environment, it is necessary to know how to organize this.
That is why we can use the Policy Arrangement Approach. This theory helps to map
out a dynamic phenomenon (Arts, Leroy and Tatenhove, 2006, p.96). When looking for an
answer to the research question “what factors influence and determine the circularity of the
soft facility services in an office building, and why?” there is a need for an overview of an entire
organisation of circularity within an office building environment. The Policy Arrangement
Approach relates to the way in which a domain is organized on the basis of organization and
content, taking into account a certain period of time (Arts and Tatenhove, 2005, p.341–p.342).
By using the Policy Arrangement Approach, insight into the organisation of the domain
becomes clear and the research question can be answered on the basis of that information.
The practice of the discourse is taken into account in this research by this theory.
Figure 5: The tetrahedron, symbolising the interconnectedness of the four dimensions of a policy arrangement.
(Liefferink, p.48).
21
When describing CircularOffice, the dimensions of the Policy Arrangement Approach
are used. These dimensions are: actors, rules of the game, resources and discourse (Arts et
al, 2006, p.99). The four dimensions of the Policy Arrangement Approach are closely
interwoven (Arts et al, 2006, p.99). This means that as soon as something changes in one of
them, this has consequences for the other dimensions (Arts et al, 2006, p.99). When mapping
CircularOffice, it is important to describe the dimensions in an interwoven way, making it
possible to assess the domain as a dynamic whole (Liefferink, 2006, p.48). Figure 5 shows the
tetrahedron with the four dimensions.
2.3.1 Actors
The first dimension required for mapping a domain is the 'actors' dimension (Arts et al, 2006,
p.99). It concerns the actors and their coalitions in the playing field (Liefferink, 2006, p.48). The
actors have to deal with their own resources and rules of the game. The power of the resources
depends on the extent of these resources and which rules of the game apply to them. The
power relations between the various actors are important for the playing field of the domain. In
looking for what factors influence and determine the circularity of an office environment; it is
useful to know what actors are involved. These actors are probably responsible for the factors
and do influence them, which makes it important to get a picture of them.
2.3.2 Resources
Resources is the second dimension for mapping the consortium (Arts et al, 2006, p.99). The
distribution of resources leads to differences in power and influence of the actors (Liefferink,
2006, p.48). It says something about power with regard to mobilizing and deploying resources
and being able to influence the domain. Arts et al (2006) make a distinction between material
and non-material resources. They mention technology and money as examples of material
resources and power relations and competences as examples of non-material resources.
Avelino and Rotmans (2009, p.551) define resources more broadly: persons, possessions,
materials and capital consisting of human, mental, monetary, artificial and natural. This
research combines the types of Arts et al (2006) and Avelino and Rotmans (2009).
Structuring the resources into different types helps to clearly write down the answers to
sub-questions and to keep the answers organised. The specific separation into materialistic
and non-materialistic means provides insight into the tangibility of the means. This is interesting
because these types of resources can be obtained in different ways, the material resources
are more linked to organizational aspects, and the non-material resources are linked to specific
persons within the organization. In order to understand what factors influence the circularity in
an office environment, it is useful to make this distinction, because if the answer of this study
is regarded as advice, then one knows in which area one has to take action.
The distinction between material and non-material is maintained. The resource
possessions of Avelino and Rotmans (2009) is added to the category of material resources
category. Materials and natural capital do overlap with possessions and monetary capital is
the same as money. The category material resources consist of money, possessions and
technology. Power relations should be seen as authority, it reflects the way in which the actors
have certain powers (in relation to others). In this research, power relations are also seen as
relationships in general, as a network of an actor. It is assumed that persons are concerned
with their knowledge and this overlaps with competences as well as human, mental and
artifactual capital because they are related to human capacity and knowledge. Because the
focus of this research is not specific to the types of sources, further distinctions are not relevant,
and all resources mentioned in this research are referred to as knowledge. The category of
non-material resources consists of authority, network and knowledge. What the resource
categories material and non-material consist of is shown in Figure 6.
22
Figure 6: Types of resources used in this research based on Arts (2006) and Avelino & Rotmans (2009).
2.3.3 Rules of the game
The third dimension for the description of the domain is the 'rules of the game' dimension (Arts
et al, 2006, p.99). Arts et al (2006) make a distinction between formal and informal rules.
Formal rules are included in documents, such as contracts and legislation, while informal rules
are unwritten. The actors on the playing field influence the rules of the game, but at the same
time they are dependent on these rules because they determine the framework. In fact, they
themselves determine the framework within which they act and how they do so. The rules,
informal or formal, play an important role in the factors that influence and determine the
circularity of soft facility services, because these rules influence the way actors act and the
mobilisation of resources. Moreover, the rules can explain why a certain factor has or does not
have an influence. Insight into these rules is therefore important in order to answer the research
question.
2.3.4 Discourse
The last dimension is the discourse. A discourse refers to coherent concepts in which reality
is described, it is something that creates a certain 'image' of the world (Inglis and Thorpe,
2012). Foucault believes that the concept of discourse should be seen in a historical
perspective, with each period having its own discourse (Inglis and Thorpe, 2012). The
interpretation of the economy is very different for the linear and the circular economy. Like the
two examples given by Liefferink (2006) on new ideas (public-private partnerships and
sustainable development), the circular economy is a new way of thinking. Such new concepts
also influence the actors, the means, the rules and the vision of the concept.
In this research, the discourse is formed by the theory of the circular economy: reduce,
reuse and recycling. However, this does not mean that actors have a different view of the
circular economy. By working with a discourse based on a theory and actors' own discourses,
it is possible to detect differences between them. This helps to understand what factors
determine the circularity of services in office environments.
2.4 | Conceptual framework In order to visualize how this research is shaped on the basis of literature and how the final
goal can be achieved, a conceptual framework is developed. This framework is shown in
Figure 7. In this chapter, the elements in the conceptual framework are elaborated. In order to
keep it clear, all elements within the framework are described separately, also the
interrelationships are described.
The side of facility management that is central to this research is soft services. That is
why a one-way arrow has been drawn between 'Soft Services' and 'CircularOffice'. It indicates
what it is all about within the CircularOffice. The UWV element within this framework has been
drawn because the CircularOffice is applied to the UWV office building. It is the sub-case that
makes that the consortium develops and shows what it does in practice. That is why UWV is
mentioned in the framework, it creates a connection with practice.
The research is partly based on the Policy Arrangement Approach. The four
dimensions of this theory are included in the conceptual framework. The four dimensions
Material resources
• Money
• Possessions
• Technology
Non-material resources
• Authority
• Network
• Knowledge
23
actors, resources, rules and discourse are connected to the CircularOffice set-up via two
directional arrows.
The concept of the Circularity Ladder is involved as well, represented by three
elements: reduce, reuse and recycle. In this case reduce consists of refuse, rethink and
reduce, reuse consists of reuse, repair and refurbish and recycle consists of remanufacture,
repurpose, recycle, recover. The three R’s give shape to the shift from linear economic
principles to circular economic principles. The elements lay the foundation for a changing
discourse where the arrangement is dealing with and reacting on.
Figure 7: Conceptual Framework (own work).
Based on the four dimensions of the Policy Arrangement Approach together, hence the blue
box behind the four dimensions, organisational factors can be extracted. These factors can be
used to answer the research question. In addition, the factors can be used to develop the
content of the circular scan and that answers the advice question as well.
2.5 | Sub-questions The elements of the conceptual framework are related to the sub-questions of this research.
The sub-questions support the answering of the research question of this research: “what
factors influence and determine the circularity of the soft facility services in an office building,
and why?”. The sub-questions are based on the literature and within this research
CircularOffice is seen as an arrangement. The sub-questions are:
1) How does the theory-based discourse of the circular economy change when ideas are
put into practice?
2) What are the consequences of applying the concept of reduce, reuse & recycle within
the soft facility services domain in an office surrounding?
3) What opportunities and problems do occur when the concept of reduce, reuse and
recycle is applied in an office surrounding within the soft facility service domain?
24
3 | Method
This chapter describes the method used in this study. First, the chosen research strategy is
discussed (§3.1). Then the research design is explained (§3.2). The third section focuses on
data collection (§3.3). This includes the literature, interviews and observations. The analysis
of the data is central in the fourth section (§3.4). At the end of the chapter, the reader has
insight into the way in which this research has been conducted and what choices have been
made and why. The fifth section discusses the trustworthiness and authenticity of the research
(§3.5). Here the credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability are central.
3.1 | Strategy According to Bryman (2016, p.35), a research strategy is a general orientation for conducting
social research. The aim of this research is to gain insight into what factors influence and
determine the circularity of soft facility services in an office environment. In order to obtain this
insight, a qualitative study was carri ed out. The emphasis of the qualitative research is on
words rather than quantification when collecting and analysing data (Bryman, 2016, p.380).
This is in line with the research question of this study, which calls for an answer in words.
Our prepossessed assumptions influence the way in which research problems and
questions are shaped and thus influence the outcome of a research. When conducting
research, it is therefore important to consider the philosophical assumption of the researcher
(Garrick, 1999). The chosen framework of this research is post-positivism. In a post-positivist
worldview, the research reports systematic data collection and analysis procedures to be
extremely thorough and careful (Creswell & Poth, 2018). In a post-positivism research,
knowledge is guesswork because the researcher’s background knowledge and values
influence the observations during the research. According to Philips & Burbules (2000)
evidence emerged from this research is always subject to reconsideration. Creswell & Poth
(2018) state that this worldview looks at multiple perspectives of participants rather than at a
single reality. This fits the approach of this research and the interviews with all persons and
parties involved at CircularOffice.
Bryman (2016, p.23) also mentions the role of theory in the research. The role that
theory plays can be expressed in a deductive approach and an inductive approach. The
deductive approach starts with a theory and tests the theory by doing research (Bryman, 2016,
p.23). The inductive approach is the other way around, first collecting data and then base a
theory on it. The core of this research is based on several theories, like the Policy Arrangement
Approach and the Circularity Ladder. This indicates the deductive approach of this research.
On the other hand, generating theory takes place when developing the factors. We can say
that both complement each other in this case because the deductive approach as well as the
inductive approach play a role in this research.
3.2 | Design A case study design was chosen for this qualitative research. A case study is a research based
on a case or cases in a real, contemporary context (Yin, 2014). Yin (2014) states that a case
can take different forms, namely: an individual, a small group, an organisation or a partnership.
But also on a less concrete level, a community, a relationship, a decision-making process or a
specific project can be considered as a case. Bryman (2006, p. 60) has a similar view and
writes that a case relates to cases with an organization, in which the emphasis is on an
intensive investigation of the setting. The CircularOffice consortium is an organization in itself,
consisting of several organizations, and is a partnership as well. Matters such as decision-
making processes take place within the consortium. This makes the CircularOffice consortium
case worthy. In order to gain more insight into the consortium, a sub-case has been chosen
25
that serves as a clarification. The pilot of CircularOffice at UWV Utrecht is the sub-case
because involving this sub-case offers an extra connection to practice and therefore provides
more insight into the case and how it works. Figure 8 shows the case and the sub-case in their
context.
Figure 8: Case and sub-case design (own work).
UWV is responsible for the national implementation of the employee insurance and for
the provision of labour market and data services. They do this as an independent
administrative body commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (UWV,
2019). At one of the locations of UWV the CircularOffice’s pilot takes place. The Policy
Arrangement Approach is related to the way in which a domain is designed during a specific
period of time (Arts and Tatenhove, 2005, p. 341 – p. 342). The case study design of this
research lays down a solid foundation for the application of a clear arrangement. The
arrangement and the case cover the same period, namely from the start of the consortium in
October 2017 till July 2019 in which the UWV pilot was set up.
This case and its sub-case provide enough information for answering the research
question. This is because the consortium is concerned with circularity within soft facility
services. Everything they do is focussed on achieving this, so mapping this helps answer the
research question: “what factors influence and determine the circularity of the soft facility
services in an office building, and why?”. This case is also chosen for practical reasons. It was
a consortium member who created the internship as basis for this research and the sub-case
concerns the first pilot where the consortiums put activities in practice.
3.3 | Data collection Bryman (2016, p.40) states that data collection is an investigative method. In structural
confirmation, the researcher uses different types of data to support the interpretation (Eisner,
1991, p.110). In this study, different forms of data collection have been used to answer the
research question. Because the same information returns in different places, this conclusion
is more solid. This chapter discusses the different forms used, namely literature, secondary
literature, experts and interviews.
3.3.1 Literature
Scientific literature was available for the creation of the theoretical framework. However,
because the research is built around the case study of CircularOffice, no scientific literature on
this specific subject was available. What is present, however, are internal documents as well
as external documents and publicly available news articles. The internal documents are
documents that are used during the development phase of CircularOffice. These include
documents such as vision documents, position papers, previous scans and related reports.
Context: Circular Soft
Facility Services
Case: CircularOffice
Sub-case:
UWV
Utrecht
26
Also, externally available information is used, for example new articles about CircularOffice in
the media and on the websites of the joining companies.
These documents are included in the Atlas-TI-data file what makes the data traceable.
The news articles about the companies were written based on interviews with the
representatives of the consortium members. The assumption is that these articles should only
be placed after a check. This also adds value to the reliability of the content of these articles.
The analysed internal documents were created by the representatives of the consortium
members, so there are reliable as well. The documents referred to in this report are mentioned
in Table 1. The author or authors and date of publication are shown as well. In this report the
documents are referred to by their number.
Table 1: Overview used internal documents (own work).
# Name document Author(s) Date
1 Plan van Aanpak ‘Kantoren als Grondstoffendepot’
Consortium BRSW-360 + Economic Board Utrecht
12 January 2018
2 Consortium – Kantoren als Grondstoffendepot
Consortium KAG 3 October 2017
3 CircularOffice – Get Connected Consortium CircularOffice 8 October 2018
4 Oproep tot Participatie Economic Board Utrecht August 2017
5 CircularOffice @ UWV Consortium CircularOffice 28 January 2019
6 Actie- en besluitenlijst Consortium project groep UWV- pilot
9 April 2019
3.3.2 Interviews
The most important method of collecting data to answer the question is to conduct semi-structured interviews. This means that the most important questions are determined in advance (Baarda, Bakker, Fischer, Jusing, Peters and Van der Velden, 2013, p.150), but that there is room for spontaneous questions. This approach was most appropriate because the interviewees had very different backgrounds in the work, so a checklist (included in Appendix I) of the topics to be discussed was very valuable to ensure that the identified topics were dealt with a certain degree of flexibility. The checklist consists of three main topics. The first topic is the consortium: how did the consortium emerge and develop into what it is today? The focus is on the theoretical concepts of actors, resources, rules and discourse. The second topic is circularity within facility management: how can the circular economy shape facility management? Emphasis is placed on the concept of the circular economy, the three R’s. And the third topic is the circular scan: what ideas do you have about what the circular scan should look like? Here the focus is on the factors and the circular scan, what should be the outcome of the research and that is the focus of the advice question. And in order to get a complete picture it was good to be able to ask further questions in order to be able to hear all the information.
The interviews are recorded with the permission of the interviewee. After the interview,
the recording is worked out into a literal transcript. The non-verbal communication is not
recorded, as Rapley (2011) describes as one of the possibilities for transcription. The non-
verbal communication is not relevant to the mapping of the consortium, so it has not been
recorded. Intonations, however, are shown with accents, because they emphasize something
and that gives more weight to the information. The transcriptions are sent to the interviewees
and the interviewees were given the opportunity to make corrections. This ensures the
reliability of the information, because the words mentioned are all written down and the
interviewee has given his or her confirmation about the written text. An example of the
transcriptions can be found in appendix II. All transcriptions are available from the researcher.
27
The interviews were held in different settings. Most of them were held in person and
some over the phone. The non-verbal communication is not so important in this study, so little
information is missed by the telephone interviews. The interviewees could still tell their side of
the story. Table 2 shows how the interview took place. In the report is referred to the numbers
of the interviews.
Conducting interviews fits well with the qualitative character of this research. Table 2
shows the respondents to this study. In order to map out the arrangement of the consortium,
it was essential to talk to those involved. That is why the representatives of all four companies
participating to the consortium were interviewed. They are closest to the establishment and
development of the consortium. Moreover, they know what is important for their own theme
and what they have to ask for the circle scan. The representative of the Economic Board
Utrecht is also interviewed. These interviews took place in person because the content to be
discussed was relatively large and these persons can be seen as the most important people
involved.
The start-ups associated with the consortium are also interviewed. Firstly, to tell their
story about the creation and development of the consortium and their own involvement.
Secondly, to obtain information for the advice question. For the latter, some interviews were
also held with old potential clients. These conversations were conducted by telephone because
the estimated duration of the conversations was such that a conversation in person would not
be efficient. Especially because the start-ups are very busy growing and have few staff. In
addition, a number of interviews with so-called experts took place to find out more about the
possibilities for circularity within facility management.
Table 2: Overview interviewees (own work).
# Name Organisation Date Location Transcript availability
1 A. Hop Gem. Utrechtse Heuvelrug
05-06-2019 Telephone Yes
2 A. Mikkers Sodexo 20-05-2019 Capelle a/d IJsel Yes
3 A. Teeuw Planq 22-05-2019 Telephone Yes
4 F. Dobbelsteijn Returnity 09-05-2019 Utrecht Yes
5 F. van Bokhorst Gro 23-05-2019 Telephone Yes
6 H. Conneman Alpheios 15-05-2019 Telephone Yes
7 I. ten Dam Economic Board Utrecht
30-04-2019 Utrecht Yes
8 L. Broos Phi Factory 02-05-2019 Amsterdam Yes
9 M. Beelt Sodexo 07-05-2019 Breukelen Yes
10 M. Dekkers i-did 31-05-2019 Telephone Yes
11 M. van der Meer Sodexo 24-04-2019 Breukelen Yes
12 M. Zeij Westerveld 14-05-2019 Eemnes Yes
13 R. Baggerman Sodexo 07-05-2019 Breukelen Yes
14 R. Dekker Sodexo 07-05-2019 Schiphol Yes
15 S. van Stempvoort
Peel Pioneers 24-05-2019 Telephone Yes
16 W. van der Zeeuw
Bammens 09-05-2019 Maarssen Yes
3.3.3 Observation
Because the researcher did an internship at Sodexo, some of the processes and developments
of the consortium were experienced. The researcher took part in meetings, telephone
conversations and was also in close contact with I. Kruining who discussed what was going
28
on. This information was not officially recorded because it was not an 'official' moment. But the
information was subconsciously stored in the head of the researcher. Some of the information
in this research therefore has no official source, but is still useful to complete the description
of the development of the consortium. This information is just right for completing the vision of
the consortium, because the factual state of affairs has been well established. It is valuable as
a supplement to the interviews, where people may describe things a little more colourful than
they really are.
Although the researcher was an intern at Sodexo's, an attempt was made to adopt a
neutral stance. This was possible because the intern had no previous connection to Sodexo,
so the other companies were just as new to the researcher as Sodexo was. This made it
possible to have an as neutral a point of view as possible.
3.4 | Data analysis After data collection of documents and interviews, these will be analysed. The written
documents and transcribed interviews will be added to analysis program Atlas TI. The choice
for Atlas TI is twofold. Firstly, the experience and knowledge of the researcher about the
programme and secondly, because the programme can process different forms of documents,
which is very relevant for this research. Appendix III contains an overview of all documents
added to the programme. Atlas TI is used to analyse the data collected by means of coding, in
order to create an index of key concepts (Bryman, 2016, p.581). In addition, the purpose of the
coding is to go through all the data without losing the connection to the data (Wagenaar, 2011).
Therefore, labels were used during the study to check the amount of data in Atlas TI.
In the analysis of the data a structural coding has been applied. This type of coding is
a conceptual phrase representing a topic of inquiry to a segment of data that relates to a
specific research question used to frame the interview (MacQueen, McLellan-Lemal,
Bartholow, & Milstein, 2008, p.124). This method is suitable for qualitative research with
multiple participants and semi-structured data collection protocols (Saldaña, 2009). In coding,
the theoretical framework was used as a starting point to study the data. The use of the Policy
Arrangement Approach and the Circular Economics Theory makes this approach appropriate,
because you have to look for these specific topics in the data. The checklist for the interviews
consists of three main topics that are directly related to the theory. Namey, Guest, Thairu, &
Johnson (2008, p.141) suggest that structural coding may be more suitable for interview
transcriptions than other data. The transcripts of the interviews conducted form an important
basis for the data of this study.
In addition to this structural coding based on the conceptual framework, other codes have also been created. These codes were invented during the analysis of the data. They include, for example, personal information, future plans and problems that arise. After the coding, equivalent codes were merged. An overview of the labels used is given in Appendix IV.
On the basis of all the codes, groups have been created. Appendix V shows which
codes belong to which groups. The codes in these groups are united in a group based on
similarities. For example, all codes that have something to do with 'actors' have been placed
in the group 'PAA_actors’. In order to make it easy to find codes in the programme and keep
them themed together, code from the same group start with the same word. For example, the
codes reduce, reuse and recycle from the circular economy-theory start all with ‘3R’ followed
by for example ‘_reduce’. This results in ‘3R_reduce’ as code for fragments about reduce. The
same is done for all codes linked to ‘consortium’, ‘general’ information, ‘PAA’ (Policy
Arrangement Approach) and ‘scan’. This can be seen in the overview in Appendix VI.
29
3.5 | Trustworthiness and authenticity Lincoln and Guba (1985, 1994) propose that it necessary to specify terms and ways of
establishing and assessing the quality of qualitative research that provide an alternative to
reliability and validity, namely trustworthiness and authenticity. Instead of using the terms
internal validity, external validity, reliability and objectivity related to quantitative research, we
now use respectively credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. The
authenticity criteria raise a wider set of issues concerning the wider political impact of research
(Bryman, 2016, p.393). This is comparable to the societal and scientific relevance (§1.4) which
is why this section will not go into more detail here. Each term of trustworthiness is explained
in sub-section.
3.5.1 Credibility
Credibility concerns the establishment of the credibility of findings (Bryman, 2016, p390). The
research’s goal is to provide indicators that represent circularity in an organisational sense. In
order to meet this requirement, the choice was made to choose a case study and to describe
it. In order to map out this arrangement, interviews were held with (almost) all those involved.
This strengthens the research’s credibility because who knows better how it all developed than
the people involved themselves. In addition to the interviews, documents and observations are
also part of the data collection. This results in a more complete picture, but also confirmation
of information obtained from one of the other sources. So, there is triangulation in this research,
what according to Bryman (2016, p.392) entails using more than one research method or
source of data in the study of social phenomena. It is important for the consistency of the
measures (Bryman, 2016, p.169). He recommends this technique for strengthening credibility
(Bryman, 2016, p. 390). Another technique he recommends in his book is respondent
validation. It is a process whereby the researcher provides the people whom he has conducted
research with an account of his findings and requests feedback on that account (Bryman, 2016,
p.715). This technique also has taken place and therefore has a positive influence on the
credibility of this research. As described, the interviews have been recorded and a transcript
is made and then shared with those concerned for verification. Another aspect that enhances
credibility is that the interviews were conducted in Dutch. Because it is both the interviewer
and interviewee’s native language, it reduces the chance of things being meant or interpreted
differently.
3.5.2 Transferability
Qualitative research typically entails the intensive study of a small group sharing qualitative
findings tend to be oriented to the contextual uniqueness and significance of what is being
studied (Bryman, 2016, p.392). To avoid an empirical issue whether findings hold in some
other context or even in the same at other time, it is recommended to produce a thick
description as Geertz (1973) it calls. These provides others ‘a database’ for making
judgements about the possible transferability of finding to other situations. Chapter 4
presenting the results is a full description of the case study being studied. All actors, resources,
rules and discourses are discussed, but also the origin and development context as well as
the pilot phase. This complete description can be viewed by everyone, so one can use it as a
thick description when one wants to use this research to apply it to other cases.
3.5.3 Dependability
To establish the merit of research in terms of this criterion of trustworthiness, researchers
should adopt an auditing approach (Bryman, 2016, p.392). He explains that this entails that
complete records are kept of all phases of the research process in an accessible manner. The
research report provides insights in the problem formulation and the reason why this research
30
is conducted. In addition, why the interviewees are chosen is explained in this chapter. The
interview transcripts and used documents analysed are available on request from the
researcher. This accessibility increases the dependability of this research, because others can
control the research process.
3.5.4 Confirmability
Confirmability is concerned with the objectivity of the researcher (Bryman, 2016, p.393).
Although complete objectivity is not possible, as an investigator it is important to demonstrate
that you are acting in good faith. The fact that complete objectivity is not possible matches the
post-positivist worldview, as explained in the first section of this chapter (§3.1). The fact that
the researcher was on temporary employment with one of the consortium members did not
influence the interpretation during the investigation. Especially because these would be no
work agreement after the internship period, so no interests that would have led to different
interpretations.
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4 | Results
This chapter is based on the Policy Arrangement Approach. Each chapter deals with one of
the four dimensions of the theory. To give more information about the context and the storyline,
the first section describes how the CircularOffice consortium has developed from the beginning
and during the research period (§4.1). After this context story, the chapter discusses the
dimensions of the Policy Arrangement Approach and starts with the actors and their role in the
consortium in the second section (§4.2). The third part deals with the rules applicable within
and to the consortium (§4.3). The next section deals with the resources used for CircularOffice
(§4.4). The discourse of the rules is described in the fifth section of this chapter (§4.5). These
five sections provide insight into the case of the study. The last part provides more insight into
the sub-case of this research (§4.6).
4.1 | Context story CircularOffice started with a meeting between the Economic Board Utrecht and the General
Director of Returnity. For a long time, Returnity had a vision on the waste flows in offices
(interview 7), but they noticed that the chain is too fragmented because there is a contract for
cleaning, a contract for catering and a contract for waste collection. Returnity thinks it is better
to use these services according to a one-stop-shop concept (interview 7). This concept is better
for the customer, because then he has one contract, one contact and there is more synergy.
And other parties benefit because they can create new values and do business development.
This conversation was the beginning of writing a call for participation. The document
(document 4) was launched on 9 August 2017 on the website of the Economic Council Utrecht
and the Staatscourant (Economische Raad Utrecht, 2017, p.1) and was sent to potential
market parties. The goal described in this document is “to set a new standard for waste-free
offices (with more than 400 employees) by 2020. In the years 2017/2018 we hope to have set
up 50 offices as a raw material depot” (Economic Board Utrecht, 2017, p.2). The Economic
Board Utrecht (2017) writes that it wants to encourage market parties to participate in a
consortium. There is a specific demand for cleaning companies, suppliers of waste collection
systems, commodity brokers, valuators of raw materials and catering suppliers (Economic
Board Utrecht, 2017, p.3).
During the telephone and physical consultation hours, approximately 60 parties
interested in the call for participation were spoken to (interview 7). Only a few really wanted to
work with it: "All kinds of different reasons. One was in the process of changing her name, the
other only wanted to work with her preferred supplier, and the other wanted to participate later,
when the first fifty offices are ready" (interview 7). Only one consortium seriously applied.
Returnity asked Bammens, a supplier of waste collection systems from Returnity, to
participate in the call for participation (interview 16). Westerveld is involved as well because it
has the same parent company as Returnity, Vebego (interview 12). Sodexo decided to answer
the call for participation with the ambition to set up its own consortium (interview 11). It first
contacted their preferred waste renewal partner, but it was in the middle of a name change,
which took a lot of time. At the so-called speed dates of the Utrecht Economic Council, Sodexo
found out that there was a team of three companies without a caterer. The advice at the time
was to join those three companies, also because of the lack of other serious stakeholders
(interview 7). On 11 October 2017, the 'Get Connected' annual conference of the Economic
Council Utrecht took place and the consortium named 'BRSW-360' was presented (Economic
Council Utrecht, 2018) and a presentation was shown (document 3).
In the spring of 2018, the first circular scans were conducted at the municipality of
Utrechtse Heuvelrug, MeetInOffice (making meeting and meeting rooms available
(MeetInOffice, 2019) and UWV Utrecht. Utrechtse Heuvelrug and MeetInOffice were not
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satisfied with the CircularOffice offer, but UWV Utrecht was enthusiastic and interested in the
follow-up process (A. Frederiks, personal communication, 4 February 2019). UWV Utrecht is
currently a customer of Sodexo's integrated facilities services, which means that catering,
cleaning and waste processing are the responsibility of Sodexo.
In October 2018, the name of BRSW-360 changed to "CircularOffice: Kantoren als
Grondstoffendepot” (document 1). The reason for this change is unclear, "Someone wanted it
in English" (interview 7). The first name was just an abbreviation based on the names of the
consortium members.
The annual evaluations in April 2019 changed the position within the consortium and
the plans for the future. Returnity and Sodexo now have the key role and strength to lead the
consortium. Both members would like to see a broader facility scope within the consortium
(interview 2). The first step for expansion is to see if they can bind an interior designer to the
consortium. It would also be interesting to have hard facilities services within the consortium
(interview 2). And one step further, the whole building. "But we deliberately said: at least we
can't do that this year. We are now in the process of obtaining more CircularOffices. Otherwise
we will develop both the consortium and the number of CircularOffices in the meantime"
(interview 2).
From May 2019 to July 2019, the consortium will meet weekly in workshops to develop
the content of the tool. Representatives of Returnity, Sodexo and the project leader will be
present at these workshops. Two employees of Phi Factory will also be present to lead the
workshops. During the workshop the group came up with all kinds of ideas. On 5 July Phi
Factory will present a first concept with the final content of the accelerator, based on all kinds
of ideas. Subsequently, the group can give feedback, and Phi Factory will process the
feedback to create a final tool. That can be used in September 2019 for the first five or ten
organizations that want to join the CircularOffice Accelerator. The CircularOffice Accelerator is
intended as a way to gain more customers. It is the intention that at the end of the six weeks
the organizations will be triggered to do something with the circular economy and hire
CircularOffice.
4.2 | Actors The Economic Board Utrecht is a foundation of companies, governments and knowledge
institutions from the province of Utrecht. In the year 2014 they started (Economic Board
Utrecht, 2019) with the joint creation of a regional economic agenda (interview 7) because that
was the best way to get the best out of it. The economic agenda includes what companies,
municipalities and provinces are investing in the economy (interview 7). ‘Green', 'Healthy' and
'Smart' are the spearheads of the Utrecht Economic Council. I. ten Dam is responsible for the
'Green' cornerstone of the Economic Board Utrecht (interview 7). In this role she is working on
the energy transition, stopping fossil energy, smart use of raw materials and circularity. She
finds it important that the solutions are scalable. Her daily work consists of looking for value
creation that entrepreneurs can not only sell, but for which they need partner entrepreneurs.
In her role as initiator of the project, the Economic Board Utrecht is responsible for the project
organisation (Economic Board Utrecht, 2017, p.4). And it is the responsibility of the project
organisation to ensure that the participating market parties have a good chance of winning a
large number of customers (Economic Board Utrecht, 2017, p.4).
Returnity is jointly owned by Veolia, a multinational in the field of recycling and energy
management, and Vebego, a large facilities company (interview 4). The company strives to
move on to waste-free offices, where waste becomes raw material (Returnity, 2020) and offers
guidance to achieve this at customer locations. Ultimately, Returnity holds three positions in
the consortium, the General Manager of Returnity, Communication Employee and Commodity
Coach. The General Manager is responsible for forming a vision and making choices along
the way. The Communication Employee is called in on behalf of Returnity to develop
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communication materials and expressions. The Commodity Coach is responsible for informing,
instructing and supervising all operational facility staff involved at the location for four hours a
week. He strives to achieve the residual waste targets and will motivate the team. He is also
someone where all office workers can ask their questions about CircularOffice.
The Business Development Manager at Bammens is responsible for the development
of Bammens' products (interview 16). He also represents the company in the consortium.
Bammens develops, produces, installs and maintains solutions for the collection of raw
materials for household, commercial and litter (Bammens, 2020).
Westerveld is one of the consortium members and is a large cleaning company active
in business services, retail, education and healthcare in the Randstad region (Westerveld,
2020). The company operates under the umbrella of Vebego. The Commercial Director of
Westerveld is in the consortium involved in new business, through acquisition, network clubs
and visibility through various channels (interview 12). This position was filled by someone else
at the time the consortium was established and by the current Commercial Director since
September 2018.
Sodexo is active in offices, governments, health institutions, schools & universities,
prisons, events and offshore platforms and mines and is responsible for food services,
technical services and facility services at those locations. In the Netherlands, Sodexo provides
services such as food services, cleaning, landscaping, building management, reception
services, security, management and distribution of company clothing, fleet management and
much more. But Sodexo is involved in the consortium as a caterer. Four of Sodexo's
employees are involved in the consortium. The Innovation Manager is in his position always
interested in and looking for new innovations (interview 11). He states: "When you talk about
the circular economy, you have to look for new opportunities to restore the value of the flows.
And then you quickly come up with innovative solutions" (interview 11). In the position of
Innovation Manager, he is responsible for looking for start-ups that want to work together and
can be added to the consortium. The Marketing Manager is involved in the consortium and in
that position she looks at what clients want and CircularOffice is something that is a great way
to actually put a desire for more sustainability and circularity into practice with the soft services
(interview 2). An Expert Soft Services is involved because she knows Sodexo's customer
locations and has knowledge about waste contracts. As of March 2019, another Expert Soft
Services has taken over her position. A communications consultant from Sodexo was involved
in the organization of the pilot phase at UWV. She supported the consortium in designing the
communication for the pilot at UWV.
The four consortium members want to give local start-ups a chance, so a second layer
of companies is added (document 1). These start-ups will play an important role in innovation.
In 2018, sessions will be organised during which the start-ups will present themselves to each
other. In a vision paper of October 2017, the consortium says the following about start-ups:
"We expect additional employment opportunities to be created, especially for the second shell
partners. Start-ups can make use of knowledge within the consortium and the channels
through the consortium and the Economic Board Utrecht to potential customers" (document
2). So, in addition to the four consortium members in the so-called first shell, there is a second
shell with the following start-ups: Gro, GreenTrash, PlanQ, Plastic Diet, EME, Fungi Factory,
Reprintable, i-did, Ecocreation and deClique.
Following an evaluation in April 2019, the role of the members of the consortium has
changed. Each member of the consortium had a discussion with the Economic Board Utrecht
about how they are doing with the consortium and how they see the future. Returnity and
Sodexo indicated that they felt that Westerveld and Bammens were less active in the
development of the consortium. Westerveld and Bammens also saw this and the consortium
decided to change the structure within the consortium. From that moment on, Westerveld and
Bammens took a position in the second shell of the consortium. This automatically means that
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the start-ups have moved from the second to the new, third shell. They agree that the first
scale should be companies that really have the circular economy in their strategy (interview
2).
The Utrecht Economic Council has appointed a project leader for the consortium, a freelancer
and as project manager she takes care of the day-to-day business and makes adjustments.
For the development of the customers of CircularOffice, in other words the number of
customers, Phi Factory is hired. Phi Factory is a consultancy firm and supports organizations
in finding creative solutions, in taking decisions and in achieving ambitious circular goals (Phi
Factory, 2019). They provide the infrastructure of an online tool to increase the number of
customers. The only offer of the infrastructure, which means that the content of the tool has to
be developed by the consortium itself. This development takes place during consultation
sessions of two Consultants of Phi Factory.
At the beginning of February 2019, UWV Utrecht officially committed itself as a pilot
location (A. Mikkers, personal communication, 5 February 2019). From that moment on, UWV
Utrecht is also involved in the development of CircularOffice, because at their location the
ideas are put into practice and a dialogue is needed. Representatives of UWV Utrecht are the
Real Estate and Communication Advisor of UWV Noord.
Figure 9 shows an overview of the actors in the arrangement. In the middle we have
the consortium. The arrows at Bammens and Westerveld show their movement from the first
scale to the second scale. Next to the consortium we also see the various start-ups involved.
Above the consortium is the Economic Board Utrecht. They give input to the consortium, but
the consortium also gives input to them. UWV Utrecht is the largest part of the consortium and
Phi Factory gives knowledge and a tool to the consortium.
Figure 9: Overview of actors in the arrangement (own work).
4.3 | Resources Several resources are involved in setting up the CircularOffice consortium. As described in the
theoretical framework (§2.3), a distinction is made between material resources and non-
material resources. This section, too, is based on this distinction. Starting with the material
resources and then the non-material resources.
4.3.1 Material resources
The first material resource is money. The Economic Board Utrecht provides a subsidy of
€100,000 spread over two years. This is the consortium's only financial capacity. This gives
the Economic Board Utrecht a certain demanding power over the other parties. Possession is
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the second type of material resource. What it buys with that money is owned by the consortium.
In the case of the UWV pilot developed by the consortium, communication materials have been
purchased, such as signs, posters and stickers. The Economic Board Utrecht pays for it but
leaves its development to the consortium.
The third material resource is technology. The consortium has its own website
(www.circularoffice.nl). The management and maintenance of the website has been
outsourced to a hosting company. Various things are described on the website: the purpose,
the partners, the working method, requesting a circular scan, news and contact details. Thanks
to this website, the consortium can be found on the internet. The consortium members jointly
determine the content of the website. The website was created when the members still had
equivalent positions, so this was also the case for inputting ideas for the site. The site is no
longer adapted, which makes shifts in the input difficult to determine.
Another technological resource of the consortium is the online tool developed by Phi
Factory. The online tool to be developed will be used as an accelerator. The intention is for
companies to participate in the CircularOffice Accelerator. The CircularOffice Accelerator will
be a six-week program in which an organization learns more about the circular economy and
their responsibility and influence to implement changes in their organization. Each week there
will be one theme with different elements. The first element is for knowledge and there will be
some quiz questions to equalize the level of knowledge of all participants (interview 8). Action
is the second element of the weekly challenge, it is an online or offline action what the
participants have to do, experience of information they have to look up. The third element
contains a poll or a stimulating question that the participants can answer and share on a page
(similar to Facebook). The development of the tool takes place with the representatives of
Returnity and Sodexo. The others have no influence on the development because they are not
present during the development sessions.
5.4.2 Non-material resources
Authority is the first non-material resource available to a certain extent to actors. The four
members of the consortium started as equal members and thus had the same degree of power.
After the evaluation in April 2019, the balance of power changed, Returnity and Sodexo gained
more control than Westerveld and Bammens. The conclusion was that Returnity and Sodexo
were more active and thus became the first shell. Also, but this is probably an expression of
more activity, those companies involved more employees in CircularOffice. The reason for the
higher activity of Sodexo and Returnity is caused by the fact that only these two companies
are active at the one and only pilot location. The organization of the pilot at UWV Utrecht has
caused a lot of discussion about the concept, development and application of CircularOffice.
Westerveld was barely involved in this and Bammens is partly due to its small share in the pilot
by supplier waste bins.
The Economic Board Utrecht is in a situation of domination due to the granting of
subsidies but makes hardly any use of this possibility and allows the consortium to proceed
within the set limits. And UWV Utrecht has some influence on the consortium because they
voluntarily offer a pilot option. The consortium must listen to UWV Utrecht's request, because
otherwise they could lose their pilot location. PHI Factory is hired by the consortium and has
less authority because they have to keep their customer satisfied.
Network is the second non-material resource. It concerns the relationships between the
actors, but also the relationships that the actors have with others in their environment. All the
actors mentioned have their own network relationships with companies and people. Sodexo is
an organization that offers multiple services at the client's location, which creates a relationship
with another organization on a strategic level. It is easier for them to suggest the services of
CircularOffice than, for example, Westerveld, which only provides cleaning services and has
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to deal with more other companies at a customer location. So, Sodexo's network is more
useful.
The last non-material resource is knowledge. The various companies and their
employees involved in the consortium have different competences, knowledge and expertise.
They deploy their knowledge and expertise in hours to the value of €50,000. After all, all
companies are providers of various services and products. In addition, the consortium hires in
knowledge if Phi Factory is involved.
To make clear what knowledge an actor has, it is described per company. Sodexo's
Innovation Manager focuses on innovation and sustainability. This gives him insight into what
is happening in the market and what new initiatives there are. The Marketing Manager knows
what is happening at all customer locations of Sodexo and what customer questions there are.
The first involved Soft Services Expert had expertise on waste management, and the second
one on hospitality. Sodexo's Communication Advisor has knowledge about communication in
general, but also knows specifically what Sodexo's communication rules are at customer
locations.
The Communication Employee of Returnity its expertise is how to communicate to
customers. Because of the experience of Returnity in changing offices into circular office, she
already had some examples communication ways. De Commodity Coach its expertise is to
helps the operational staff to change their work activities. Also, he knows a lot about separating
waste. The same applies to Returnity’s General Manager. But he is also involved in the
development of the company and has a more strategic role. He is aware of the activities of all
Returnity’s customers.
Westerveld’s Commercial Manager is good in building and maintaining business
relationships. Also, he has knowledge about the cleaning sector and its activities. Bammens’
Business Development Manager is concerned with innovation and new issues in the market.
That is his expertise area. Phi Factory’s Consultants are specialised in the circular economy.
Besides, they have knowledge about deploying an online tool. And they have a great network
of circular economy minded organizations and persons.
The distribution of resources depends on the degree of involvement. As Returnity and
Sodexo became more active then Westerveld and Bammens, their contribution of resources
is higher. This applies to both the input for the development of technology and for knowledge.
Where more representatives of a company are involved, more knowledge and skills are also
available. Returnity’s and Sodexo’s networks play a bigger role, because these actors are more
active in the consortium. Their suggestions and collaborations are more likely to get off the
ground.
4.4 | Rules Two types of rules are mentioned in the theoretical framework: formal and informal. It appeared
that this separation does not apply to the formation of the CircularOffice consortium. Due to
the exploratory nature of the cooperation, it is difficult to say whether it is formal or informal.
The intention is formal, but not everything is laid down in contracts, which means that it is
informal. Applying the separation between informal and formal does not make this part about
rules any clearer. That is why the rules within the regulation are described without separation.
A second part is about rules that govern the arrangement.
4.4.1 Rules within CircularOffice
The responsibility of the Economic Board Utrecht and their promises are not without obligation.
They have formulated conditions for participation with regard to the location, investment,
working method and talent development to be exploited (Economic Board Utrecht, 2017, p.9).
The market party must have a service area in the province of Utrecht. The market party must
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also invest €50,000 in the project by investing time. The intention is for the consortium
members to keep an overview of the claimed hours. An application from four market parties as
a consortium is a plus. In the application the market parties have to describe their vision on
knowledge sharing in a way that has added value for the Economic Board Utrecht. They must
also describe how they think about the participation of new market parties and under what
conditions (Economic Board Utrecht, 2017, p.9). These rules are conditions for a subsidy of
€100,000 granted by the Economic Board Utrecht for demand development and project
management. This is one rule of the subsidy. Another subsidy rule is that the money is spread
over two years and that a go/no go moment is planned for the second half of the money.
When the Economic Board Utrecht nominates an organisation or company, a scan is
carried out there anyway. Normally, a scan is only carried out if at least two of the four
consortium members can be involved in an organisation or company. For each case of
potential clients, it is discussed whether or not they want to do it. The Economic Board Utrecht
makes its means of communication available and opens doors for the consortium. Before the
consortium could be officially established, the Utrecht Economic Council required some
paperwork to be completed, including documents from the Kamer van Koophandel of all
consortium members.
The consortium has reached agreement on the target group of its organisation, namely
offices in the Utrecht region with more than 400 employees. It was also agreed which service
a member of the consortium will receive. This was necessary because some companies offer
multiple services and are actually competitors. For example, they agreed that Westerveld is
the cleaning company, Bammens provides waste bins, Returnity focuses on waste
management and Sodexo on catering. Because of the assumption of an open and transparent
collaboration, they propose to learn from each other's companies and have agreed to handle
that information in a neat way.
More specifically, it has been agreed that each of the members of the consortium has
its own role within the consortium. Returnity coordinates the scan of a prospect and determines
which raw materials are eligible for reuse. Returnity also controls the outgoing waste logistics
and the return of circular products/services. Each member of the consortium provides a
delegation for the execution of the scan. Bammens supplies waste systems that hide waste
from view and form the basis for reuse. Bammens also provides advice on the installation and
the quantity of systems to be used. Westerveld is responsible for the actual collection of waste
by means of Commodity Coaches and Sodexo provides the food service (document 1). In
addition, four innovation trajectories have been agreed, of which each member is the initiator.
Returnity is responsible for the theme 'high-quality processing', the theme 'sustainable
behaviour' is the responsibility of Bammens, Westerveld is responsible for the theme 'efficient
collection' and Sodexo is responsible for the theme 'prevention of (food) waste' (document 1).
The consortium jointly maintains a document with potential customers and their status. There
is a weekly telephone conversation between the members of the consortium. The potential
clients and their status are one of the topics of the conversation.
The aim is to provide improvement advice in every customer process from the basis of
a circular scan. This scan is used to gain insight into the current state of affairs and to determine
the potential improvement (document 1). The circular scan is started with a prospect if at least
two consortium members can also be involved in the actual implementation (document 1).
Every year an evaluation moment is planned and organised by the Economic Board
Utrecht. They have an individual meeting with each company. Within the consortium, they have
agreed not to focus on municipalities, because those are obliged to call for tenders and have
long-term facility contracts. Because the consortium is not registered with the Kamer van
Koophandel, it is not allowed to participate in tenders. The members of the consortium have
agreed that 'trust' is an important factor in their cooperation. That is why not everything is
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officially documented in detail. The companies are aware of the information they know about
the others and are treating this information in the right way.
The Economic Board Utrecht indicated how the consortium works by drawing up rules.
These limitations give clarity to the consortium members and give them a certain starting point
from which they can take action. Rules relating to details, such as keeping track of hours, are
not checked as such. This shows that the Economic Board Utrecht mainly wanted to outline a
framework for how the consortium would function and not be a police officer. Also, it hardly
ever happens that the Economic Board Utrecht nominates a potential client, in which case the
consortium is obliged to do a scan. So, these rules exist more as a formality. Although the
majority of the rules are imposed by the Economic Board Utrecht, they do not play a major role
in the content of the consortium, the consortium members do. As a result of the changes in the
involvement of the consortium members, the actors Returnity and Sodexo have gained more
say.
4.4.2 Rules in the surrounding
Not only are there rules among the members of the consortium, but the consortium also has
to deal with rules in their environment. The way the current soft services market works gives
shape to the rules the consortium has to deal with. It is quite normal for companies and
organizations to put their soft services out to tender and often put them out to tender
separately. These different contracts are for a few years and overlap with other contracts. And
because the consortium focuses on different soft services, it is difficult to get a contract.
As a consortium, they are not allowed to participate calls for tenders, as this requires
registration with the Kamer van Koophandel.
4.5 | Discourse As described in chapter 2, the discourse in this research is formed by the theory of circular
economy. This means that reduce, reuse and recycle are central, with their own subtopics. In
order to gain insight into the way in which the circular economy is put into practice, this section
also deals with that part. The focus is mainly on the consortium’s members view on the circular
economy and of the representatives themselves on it.
4.5.1 Consortium’s view on the circular economy
At the 12th of January 2018 the consortium created an action plan document, wherein it
expresses its plans and objectives. In the document founded by the consortium they state
some views on the circular economy. It gains insight in how the consortium as a hole looks at
the theme of circular economy and how they should approach this in practice.
First, they state that the circular economy reduces CO2 emissions and the use of
resources. Second, that waste free offices are one of the spearheads within the circular
economy theme and third that in an office as raw material depot there is no waste (landfill and
incineration)”. Their focus is on ‘all raw materials used are reused (converted into energy,
recycling, reuse and prevention), with an emphasis on reuse and prevention’. The consortium
offers ‘offices a total solution in the form of a one-stop-shop for circular waste disposal,
consisting of advice on purchasing, behaviour & communication, catering, collectibles, internal
collection and disposal and recycling/reuse’.
The consortium’s name for the concept name is ‘Kantoren als Grondstoffendepot
(English: Offices as raw material depot). Kantoren als Grondstoffendepot means that at least
75 percent of the raw materials used leave the premises as raw materials, in practice: ladder
van Lansink C or higher (document 1). In Figure 10 the ladder van Lansink is shown, a waste
management hierarchy proposed in the Dutch parliament by Ad Lansink in 1979 (Kemp & Van
Lente, 2011). According to BRSW 360 & Economic Board Utrecht (document 1) the consortium
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offers an all-in-one solution for circular waste processing consisting on: advice on purchasing,
behaviour, communication, catering, collectors, internal collection and disposal, recycling and
reuse.
Figure 10: Ladder van Lansink (Aquaminerals, 2018).
The following phrase comes from Plan van Aanpak Kantoren als Grondstoffendepot (2018)
which explains where Kantoren als Grondstoffendepot stands for:
KAG means concretely:
1) At least 75% of the raw materials used leave the premises as raw materials (ladder
of Lansink hierarchy C or higher).
2) A switch is made from costs to revenues by (a) applying high quality processing of
waste/raw materials and (b) preventing waste of raw materials.
3) Offices will be offered a total solution in the form of a one-stop-shop for circular
waste processing, consisting of
a. Advice on purchasing, behaviour & communication
b. Catering
c. Collectibles
d. Internal collection
e. Disposal and recycling/reuse
4.5.2 View on circular economy by representatives
In interviews with the actors involved, the subject of circular economy was discussed. This
section is about what the different interviewees tell about their view on the circular economy.
The extent to which this has been addressed varies. This section shows the different views on
the circular economy.
M. van der Meer (Sodexo): “I see the circular economy in which you actually look at the
whole life cycle of a product or raw material to see how you can make it come back into the
chain in a high-quality way. When you reach the end of the application, that you can then give
it another application. Preferably higher quality. That you retain quality, minimal loss of quality”
(interview 11).
A. Mikkers (Sodexo): “For me, the circular economy is an economy in which you set
yourself the goal of being able to use raw materials over and over again as much as possible.
And what I would like to add, there must also be a revenue model based on that” (interview 2).
F. Dobbelsteijn (Returnity): “From the moment you design or purchase the product, you
already have to think about what happens when you no longer need the product. That's not
just the recycling process, something we're now focusing on with CircularOffice. The next step
is to look at your purchasing. If you take that with you, then you take a good circular step. But
economy of course also means business” (interview 4).
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I. Ten Dam (Economic Board Utrecht): “When I think of the circular economy within
facilities services, I think of Van Brandt’s 6S model. This model consists of 6 layers to which
you can apply the circular economy. I think it is important that we keep those layers apart. The
layers from inside to outside are social, stuff, space, services, skin, structure and site”
(interview 7). Social is about liveability on that specific moment, stuff concerns loose fitting (1
to 5 years), space is permanent fixture (10 years), services are installations (25 years), facade
and roof is skin (50 years), the structure concerns the building structure (100 years), and the
site is the plot (infinite) (Cirkelstad, 2019).
L. Broos (Phi Factory): “I see it as a means to achieve sustainability. It's a way of doing
business. In which you deal as well as possible with all your raw materials, products, services.
In as logical a way as possible actually. By looking at all processes side by side, finding the
most efficient solution. Then I think you always end up with a circular model. Without waste”
(interview 8).
After reading these views on the circular economy, we can recognize some similarities.
The circular economy is about materials and using them multiple times in a as high possible
quality. It is also considered important that it is profitable. F. Dobbelsteijn emphasises the fact
that one should think about the phase after use, during one start designing the product. A
difference we see for example at Van der Meer and Mikkers, they both talk about reusing
materials, but they have a different opinion on the required quality of the material. It is good to
realise that these visions are formulated in general terms and not specific to the actions of the
consortium. What is striking is that Bammens and Westerveld do not have a vision on the
circular economy.
4.6 | Working of the consortium: UWV pilot This chapter describes how the CircularOffice consortium works in practice. They were given
the opportunity to do this for the first time at the UWV in Utrecht. UWV was given the possibility
of a pilot period of 6 months with the possibility of extension. First of all, it is described which
plan the consortium has made for the pilot phase. The second chapter deals with the actual
implementation of the plan and the changes and choices that have been made. After reading
this section, you will have more insight into how the consortium works in practice. In the last
sub-section, a brief analysis of the sub-case is described.
4.6.1 Pilot plan
A plan is needed to turn UWV Utrecht into a circular office. The current situation can be
described as follows: “the waste press (waste container with press system) stimulates
convenience, there is a lot of food wasted, especially at the meeting lunches, the current
garbage bins lacks clear signing in colors, there is no communication about sustainability in
the building and the employees of UWV Utrecht are not aware of the sustainability objectives”.
UWV's ambition is to be climate-neutral in the field of energy and transport by 2030, and to be
fully circular by 2050, and at least 50% by 2030. UWV Utrecht currently has 32 kilos of residual
waste per FTE annually. The ultimate goal is a maximum of 10 kilos of residual waste per FTE
and at the end of the six-month pilot period the goal is to have a maximum of 20 kilos of residual
waste per FTE (document 5).
The plan for the pilot consists of five themes. The first is the furnishing of the building.
New bins will be tested, and the old ones will be improved with stickers. The new bins
distinguish the following streams: paper, plastic, cups, VGF and residual waste. A collection
trolley will also be introduced that makes the same distinction. This should ensure that the
residents of the building see that the waste is also disposed of separately, as this is often a
matter of skepticism.
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The second theme concerns circular initiatives. In the restaurant of the office building,
a circular shop will be set up with various circular articles. The aim of this shop is to show which
products are made from reusable raw materials. The items in the shop are bags made of old
cloths from i-did, soaps made of orange peels from PeelPioneers, writing pads made from
used paper, KeepCup, a reusable coffee cup, a glass bottle from Bo Bottle. Another circular
initiative are badges made of recycled plastic for guests.
The third theme concerns communication. The start of the pilot should be a playful
action. The planned materials used for the communication about the pilot and the activities are
cups, posters, screens, stickers and placemats. The communication should be about the
collected resources and achieved goals.
Embedding in the operation is the fourth theme. The consortium appoints one person
as Commodity Coach who is responsible for the operation on the site and directs the
operational staff in a new way of working.
The fifth theme is the restaurant. To make the restaurant more sustainable, there are
some spear heads set up. These are reduction of plastic in the restaurant, reducing ‘no-shows’
for banqueting orders, introduce meatless Monday and adding a vegetarian lunch to the
banqueting offer. Also, the oyster mushroom croquette grown on collected coffee mash by Gro
will be added to the restaurant’s assortment.
4.6.2 Pilot in practice
A project team consisting of employees of UWV, Sodexo, Returnity and Bammens was set up
(document 6). From UWV the Real Estate Manager and Communication Consultant represents
the interests of UWV towards the consortium. Returnity is represented by the General
Manager, Commodity Coach and Communication Employee. The Business Development
Manager of Bammens represents his company. And from Sodexo the Soft Services Expert,
Communication Consultant, Intern, Marketing Manager, Catering Manager and two persons
who at Sodexo are ultimately responsible for the customer UWV.
Early in the start phase of the project team a key member left, namely the Soft Services
Expert A. Frederiks. She had the leading role within the team, because UWV is Sodexo’s
customer, so a Sodexo employee was in charge. Her role has been taken over by another Soft
Services Expert I. Kruining. She made sure that the project team called each other every week
and that a physical meeting took place every three weeks, at the UWV location. During these
calls and meetings, the current situation was discussed, and new plans were made. Based on
the contacts and plans a list of activities and decisions was developed and kept up to date.
When one started to organize everything planned for the pilot period, some changes have
been occurred. The final situation is described on the basis of the five themes.
Figure 11: The new bins placed for the pilot (Bammens, 2019).
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Figure 12: Collection trolley (Economic Board Utrecht, 2019).
The floor where the new bins (see figure 11), supplied by Bammens, would be tested,
has been changed several times. This was due to relocation within the building, if the test
location was not changed, there were hardly any employees present on the test floor.
Bammens supplied the new bins one week before the pilot’s start, and the facility team of UWV
placed them already on the floor because they still had to be stickered. Sodexo’s document
center was responsible for the production and applications of the stickers. On behalf of the
consortium, the Communication Consultant of Sodexo was the one who managed this. For the
design of the stickers the Communication Consultant cooperated with the Communication
Employee of Returnity and the Communication Consultant of UWV. Returnity was responsible
for the supply of the collection trolley (see Figure 12) and delivered it one week before the start
of the pilot. Besides the new bins, the current bins have been stickered as well because there
was no communication about separating waste on it. The result is shown in figure 13. There
was chosen for reusing the current bins because they are still quite new, so there is no budget
yet for new bins at UWV. In addition, it seemed wise to first wait for the pilot, after which you
could also compare the new and old bins in separation performance.
Figure 13: Waste separation communication message at the current bins (Economic Board Utrecht, 2019).
The selection of the circular shop’s assortment seemed to have been slightly
underestimated. One knows which circular product exists, so doing research was not the
problem. After contacting various circular initiatives, the choice for which was made by
Sodexo’s Soft Service Expert, it soon became apparent that the numbers and delivery time
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were a problem. The small quantities the consortium wanted to order were actually too small
for the start-ups and they did not have all the products in stock because they often produce on
request. Eventually the following products are placed in the shop: bags in different sizes from
i-did, soap, sweets and syrup from PeelPioneers, and crisps from Gro. The circular shop’s
range was ultimately compiled based on the availability and possibilities of different start-ups.
Also, some products were not chosen because they had less to do with circularity in the eyes
of the consortium, because for example a reusable coffee cup was not made of recycled
materials. The possibility to use badges made of recycled plastic for guested has been
explored, but it turned out that the entrance gates system was too sensitive to other types of
badges. This element was laid down at the Real Estate Consultant to work it out, because this
system is his responsibility. In consultation with the catering, because the shop came into the
restaurant, a place and design for the shop has been devised. The shop was made with
materials that the Catering Manager still had lying around. Figure 14 shows how the shop
finally became. Figure 14: The circular shop in UWV’s restaurant (Van der Worp, 2019).
Returnity’s Communication Employee had already some examples of communication
materials because they had previously been deployed to customers of theirs. Because the
communication messages came to hang at the UWV location, the Communication Consultant
of UWV North had to approve these. And since Sodexo is the supplier of facility services on
site and also involved in the consortium, Sodexo had to approve it as well. The Communication
Consult of Sodexo took on this task. The three communication employees have created the
communication messages. The communication consists of posters on notice boards, stickers
on toilet roll holders (see Figure 15), table cards at the coffee vending machines (see Figure
16) and restaurant tables, and small papers within seeds for each desk. The latter is put into
an empty coffee cup as an invitation to get coffee (Figure 17) from the barista on the ground
floor, as a starting action of the pilot. Also, it explains that one can use a coffee cup more than
once, to reduce waste. At the barista the coffee mash is showed on which mushrooms can be
grown on.
Figure 15: Toilet roll holder with communication (Van der Worp, 2019).
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Figure 16: Table card at vending machine (Returnity, 2019). Figure 17: Coffee truck invitation (CircularOffice, 2019).
The baristas with coffee truck (see Figure 18) were from Sodexo’s “traveling circus”, as
that department is called. The use of this coffee truck was the responsibility of Sodexo, taken
by the Soft Services Expert. On the 6th of May, the pilot’s start date, all UWV employees could
get a cup of coffee downstairs at the coffee truck with baristas. In the afternoon employees
were invited a tasting session of products grown on coffee grounds. These two activities were
connected because the coffee ground is waste after making coffee. For this tasting session
two employees of Gro came to the site for giving information and demonstrations. Because
Gro is a supplier of Sodexo, this also fell under Sodexo’s responsibility to arrange this.
Figure 18: Opening pilot CircularOffice at coffee truck (UWV, 2019).
Returnity is responsible for the deployment of the Commodity Coach. When the
preparations for the pilot began to progress, it was asked whether he could be involved in the
consultations. Just around that time, the one who was to become the Commodity Coach left
Returnity’s organization and a new one was assigned to the UWV location. The transfer
between to the Commodity Coaches was not complete, so in the beginning there were some
differences in expectations between the pilot’s organization team and the Commodity Coach.
With the intervention of the General Manager of Returnity this was solved. The Commodity
Coach briefed Sodexo’s cleaning staff on the new working method, and one of the cleaning
employees is trained to collect the waste differently than before with the new collection trolley.
Both men are pictured in Figure 19. It turned out there is resistance in the cleaning staff,
because they do not like the new method. The Commodity Coach is working to lower the
resistance as well.
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Figure 19: Commodity Coaches at the new bins (own work).
The changes in the restaurant had to be implement by Sodexo as they deploy the
restaurant at the UWV location. These modifications were discussed with the Catering
Manager. She added some new products into the restaurant’s assortment, namely the
croquettes made of oyster mushrooms are added to the assortment (see Figure 20), as well
as the oyster mushroom burgers. To reduce the food waste due ‘no-shows’ for banqueting
orders, catering employees call the ordering person before they start preparing to check if the
number of people is still the same. A vegetarian lunch option is added to the banqueting
assortment. Also, meatless Monday was introduced, although this was a Sodexo wide
initiative.
Figure 20: Communication message about the croquettes made of oyster mushrooms (Van der Worp, 2019).
4.6.3 Sub-case analysis
The fact that original ideas could not be applied was mainly due to rules. They were the rules
that prevented certain products from being ordered for the circular shop. That the catering had
difficulties ordering certain products and that the new partners could not paid easily. The
existing service contracts also meant that the purchase of new waste bins was not entirely
possible because otherwise it would have cost a lot of money, which the consortium did not
want to invest for the pilot. All the actors involved in the pilot were present and actively
engaged. Everyone also brought along knowledge that was used well, such as the
communication staff of the different consortium members who were involved in the
communication part of the pilot. When plans did not go ahead, this was due to certain rules
limiting this and sometimes also whether it was still feasible within that period.
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5 | Conclusion
This chapter focuses on the answers to the various questions central to this research. Each
section deals with one. The first section is about the first sub-question; how does the theory-
based discourse of the circular economy change when ideas are put into practice? (§5.1). Not
only does this affect the discourse, it also has organizational consequences (§5.2). The next
section deals with that. The third section is about the possibilities and problems that arise in
the arrangement when the circular economy principles are put into practice (§5.3). What factors
influence and determine the circularity of the soft facility services in an office building is
described in the fourth section (§5.4). This section therefore provides the answer to the
research question and makes recommendations. The research question was also linked to an
advice question, which was formulated for the more practical request of the internship
organisation. The answer to this advice question is giving in the fifth section (§5.5). The last
section of this chapter described recommendations with a more general character (§5.6).
5.1 | Discourse: theory vs. practice In chapter 2 it is described that the arrangement’s discourse is based on the circular economy
theory. The three concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle form the discourse. To answer the
question how the theory-based discourse change when ideas are put in practice, we need to
see to what extent these three concepts recur within the practice of CircularOffice. Reduce,
reuse and recycle stand for more possibilities, but to make it easier those possibilities are
grouped under the three main themes. Answering the question is based on this theory, as a
summary in Figure 21 and CircularOffice in practice (§5.1.1). In addition, the comparison with
the theoretical CircularOffice was also made (§5.1.2). A conclusion is drawn at the end of this
section.
Figure 21: Terms of 3Rs and 10R’s used in this research (own work).
5.1.1 Practical
Analysed is in what way the three R’s are applied in practice. The new bins separating five
waste streams is an example of recycle. Rather than recycling itself, it is the first step needed
to make recycling possible. It is possible to make new products with the waste streams
collected, but what kind and in what quality is depended on the waste collector’s processes.
The choice not to place new bins in the entire building, and thus the current ones to remove,
is related to reduce. The circular shop that is introduced, offers products based on the recycling
concepts. Bags made of old clothes, soap, sweets and syrup made of orange peels and chips
made of oyster mushrooms grown on coffee mash. The materials where the shop is made of,
were materials that laid unused in the storage area, so using these materials is an example of
reduce. It is been decided not to buy anything new to make the shop. The croquettes and
burgers made of oyster mushrooms are examples of recycling.
A thing to be critical about is the assortment of the circular shop because its products
are not made of UWV’s own waste streams, but from other companies’ waste streams. In
Smarter product use and manufacture
= Reduce
• Refuse
• Rethink
• Reduce
End use of products = Reuse
• Reuse
• Repair
• Refurbish
Waste and reuse of materials and products
= Recycle
• Remanufacture
• Repurpose
• Recycle
• Recover
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addition, the communication is not completely true for the case of UWV. The oyster mushrooms
used for the products are grown on coffee mash, but not the coffee mash of UWV specifically.
The communication about the toilet paper is not the case for UWV as well, because their coffee
cups of UWV are not processed into toilet paper. That option does exist but not at their waste
disposal company and with the current contract. And besides, the purchase of a certain type
has already been fixed for 2019.
Another thing that points out is the communication. CircularOffice focusses largely on
communication while this is not a theme mentioned in the circular economy theory. We can
say that the consortium’s discourse of the circular economy includes communication (about it).
They think it is important to communicate to the property user about this to get appreciation
and cooperation.
5.1.2 Theoretical
The aforementioned concerns the CircularOffice’s practices at UWV’s location. In addition, we
can also look at how the conceptual ideas of CircularOffice relate to the theory of circular
economy. On paper they have formulated what the circular economy means, which conditions
must be followed to apply the circular economy. These conditions can be considered as rules.
Where Kantoren als Grondstoffendepot (previous name) stands for begins with the conditions
that 75% of the raw materials should be used at level C, B or A of Lansink’s Ladder. In the
UWV’s pilot we see that the consortium talks about targets expressed in kilograms. The second
condition is about two things, the first one concerns the application of waste and raw materials.
This is not the case for the waste and raw materials of UWV itself, but some products based
on waste materials are provided at the location. The second thing is prevention (reduce), which
only emerged in the activities that are specially organized for the pilot phase. The third
condition is about the one-stop-shop principle where office can make use of for their
purchasing, behaviour & communication, catering, collectibles, internal collection and disposal
and recycling/reuse. We see that UWV has almost no space in their purchasing possibilities,
because contracts with suppliers already exists. And catering, collectibles, internal collection
and disposal and recycling/reuse are in the control of Sodexo. Behaviour and communication
are themes what is mentioned here again, but not corresponds with the circular economy’s
theory.
So, how does the theory-based discourse, consisting of ten R’s, change when the
CircularOffice consortium putted their ideas into practice? In terms of content, we do not
recognize much of the ten R’s in. We can distinguish the activities organized for the design of
the pilot and the activities to the content in order to increase the circularity within the office
building. We can conclude that the consortium focusses more on expressing the anger that
circularity is important and showing they to something with it, than actually making circular
services. There is not thought about reduce as a theme in the current waste streams of UWV,
there is no plan for reuse within the UWV location and there is no recycling of UWV waste
streams that come back at themselves.
5.2 | Consequences of applying 3Rs into soft service Applying the concept of the circular economy in an office environment has some organizational
consequences. That is what this section is about by answering the second sub-question: what
are the consequences of applying the concept of reduce, reuse & recycle within the soft facility
services domain in an office surrounding?
Because UWV is a customer of Sodexo’s, the company opened up its own client and
put it in contact with the partners of the consortium. This means that an actor gives the other
actors ‘a look behind the scenes’ at an unusual detailed level. That unusual situation is based
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on an informal rule, namely trust in that the actors will not misuse the knowledge about and
insights into the business of the other actor.
The agreed collaboration between the actors creates special situations. An example is
that Sodexo provides self-performed cleaning at UWV (Sodexo’s own people clean the
building) and so Sodexo has its own cleaning products supplier. The delivery of the collecting
trolley by Returnity was an exceptional situation. The actors agreed that is necessary to give
each other room for the provision of materials needed for the consortium. It is a matter of give
and take, based on informal rules, because the actors have their own suppliers for the same
resources.
Due the collaboration between several actors and the lack of rules about the distribution
of tasks, it is sometimes difficult to determine who is responsible for a task. This lack creates
uncertainty about which actor is responsible for an action. The tasks should be well discussed
otherwise it will be at the expense of the efficiency of the organization of CircularOffice. This
concerns the distribution of task between the consortium partners, but also outside the
partners. In the UWV case, UWV does have part of the facility services under its own
management. For the complete organisation of CircularOffice is collaboration with these
department also necessary.
The existence of ongoing contracts creates that decisions are taken other than initially
ideal and fit in with the initial plans. The rules of the contracts determine the possibilities the
consortium has by turning an office building in a circular office building. The contract rules have
influence on that. Making changes in the agreements before the end of the contracts, is very
valuable for the consortium, actual too costly.
Another consequence of applying the 3R concept is the collaboration with consortium
actors who are not business partners of one of the actors. Because, in the case of UWV,
Sodexo is responsible for the on-site service provision the company must ensure that the
supply of the consortium actor will be taken care of. This is hard when the actor is not included
in Sodexo’s supplier registration. So, it is necessary that this supplier registration will be
expanded with all consortium actors.
The implementation of circularity on office buildings also affects the way in which facility
employees carry out their jobs. Some implementations ask for a different way of doing a job,
what means that the employees need a new instruction. Often changes are not experienced
as pleasant, so guidance in this is required. Especially when changes have been devised
without the involvement of the executive staff as in case of CircularOffice. A consequence of
applying the concept is resistance among the staff. When they cannot appreciate the changes,
this affects the way the concept is applied, because they partly or not at all implement the
changes.
The last consequence is that the actors grow apart from each other because there is
only work for two or the four actors at the pilot location. This results in uneven workload, so the
actors do not provide the same amount of resources (anymore).
So, what are the consequences of applying the reduce, reuse and recycle concept in the soft
facility services domain in an office environment? The consequences that emerge are almost
all organisational in character. The collaboration between the various actors need structuring
by rules. We see that informal rules play an important role in this. The formal rules of the
surroundings in which the consortium operates determine the option available to the
consortium. The formal rules regarding supplier registration slow down CircularOffice’s
organisation. For some actors the new rules of CircularOffice operation affects the execution
of their work. In addition, applying the concept creates an equal distribution of resource
provision.
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5.3 | Opportunities and problems
The answer on the third sub question is central in this section. As a reminder, this is the sub
question: what opportunities and problems do occur when the concept of reduce, reuse and
recycle is applied in an office surrounding within the soft facility service domain? It covers the
opportunities and problems which have emerged after analysing the arrangement on actors,
resources, rules of the game and discourse both in the case and sub-case. First the
opportunities come up, and after the problems in separate sections.
5.3.1 Opportunities
The evaluation conversations ones a year, give each company and their representative
employees an opportunity to speak openly about their view on the collaboration. This provides
a good basis for potential corrections and changes. Because everyone is being heard, the
Economic Board Utrecht can make well-grounded decisions. Because it speaks with the
representatives separately, it gives an honest insight, which enables the Economic Board
Utrecht to do what is best for the development of the consortium. Also, it is good for the
ambience within the consortium, that things can be said.
The opportunities are found mainly among the resources in the arrangement. The
consortium has secured a subsidy of €100.000 spread over two years. This gives opportunities
for enterprise and develop, because when expenditure is necessary the consortium gas the
resources to do so. The rules among the subsidy clearly indicate what kind of issues the money
is meant for, so approval for each expenditure is not necessary. This makes that choices can
be made quickly and that doesn’t stop the development process. Besides, it is a considerable
sum of money, so the consortium has not to be reluctant with their decisions.
The €50,000 in kind investment is considered more an opportunity then a problem.
Because it is not an actual expense, but the deployment of manpower. Their salary would have
been paid anyway. Only the use of their working time could have been different. It is a gentle
requirement of the Economic Board Utrecht to ask of the consortium members. It lowers the
threshold to participate.
The collaboration also offers a large network. Each company has its own network of
relations in different sectors and with varying expertise. By working together and visiting each
other’s customers, the individual companies come into contact with new potential customers
that they can service in the future, perhaps outside the consortium. In addition, the actors with
whom the consortium works also have a network that they can use for the consortium. This
network is usable for obtaining missing knowledge, and for approaching potential clients as
well. When the consortium is in discussion with an organisation, and possible problems are
discussed, it is possible that such an organisation can link the consortium to an organisation
that can help. Organisations can also give tips if they think an organisation is also interested
in CircularOffice.
The cooperation between four different companies mainly brings knowledge
opportunities. The companies have their own expertise in their work field, and besides the
specific involved employees has their own knowledge. Because the companies come from
different sectors, they collectively have a lot of knowledge. This knowledge can be used for the
development of the CircularOffice concept. Because two actors are very active, they also
involve their own employees in the consortium. In this way even more knowledge is brought
into the consortium.
The first sub-question was about the change in discourse in the application of the 3R
concepts. The focus was mainly on change, but there is also room here for discourse without
a focus on change. An opportunity is the fact that the consortium decided to focus on Ladder
or Lansink hierarchy C from higher up. C, B and A are about recycling, reuse and reduction.
That's the same as what the circular economy theory is about. The ambition of the consortium
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to develop these concepts is an opportunity for them concept in the right way, the beginning
of willing is present. That will make their proposition stronger when they act more to this.
5.3.2 Problems
The problems in the arrangement are largely the result of the cooperation between different
actors. But regulation also causes problems. Just like the shortage of resources and a
difference in discourse. In this sub section different problems are described.
Actor’s involvement
In the development of the consortium we see some changes in the involvement of the actors.
Westerveld and Bammens stay behind in this, while Returnity and Sodexo are doing a lot. This
is expressed in the fact that Returnity and Sodexo involve deploy all kind of resources in the
form of expertise from their own organisations for the consortium. The involvement in number
of actors is many times higher at Returnity and Sodexo then at Westerveld and Bammens.
This could be explained in several ways.
It is a rule that at least two consortium members must be able to work at a location
before a client is taken on. In de first place, UWV is Sodexo’s client. For the communication
about waste separation Returnity is asked to join. And even though above mentioned that
Bammens is not involved, they have a small role in providing ten new bins (but that is such a
small share that we consider non-participation). So, for the other partners there is no work at
the pilot location. This pilot creates the opportunity to go develop the CircularOffice concept
even more, because now the members experience how it is in practice. But, the fact that two
of the four partners are not involved in the practical part does not benefit their involvement in
the development. Because the development goes in this phase hand-in-hand with activities in
practice. This will most likely have caused Returnity and Sodexo to indicate in the evaluation
meetings that the other two are less involved, and then to decide that they will be the second
shell. This makes that these actors deploy fewer resources.
Since then, the consortium partners who started the consortium together, are no longer
equally involved. This cannot be repaired in the future, and thus causes a permanent change
in the composition of the consortium. As a result, it is to be expected that Westerveld and
Bammens make less effort for new clients and there the consortium can miss chances. On the
other hand, intensive cooperation between two partners can be easier than with four partners.
It can be a coincidence that these two have been given a new place but may there is
more to it than that. What is remarkable is that Westerveld and Bammens have no own vision
on circular economy. As we have seen in §4.5 about discourse people involved give their vision
about the circular economy, but there we do miss a vision of representatives of Bammens and
Westerveld. In addition, the companies do not have a specific vision on sustainability or the
circular economy itself. A lack of vision on the circular economy could also been a cause of
the lagging involvement.
The involvement in the consortium of the specific representatives may also influence
the involvement during the pilot phase. This may also be since the Westerveld’s representative
joined the consortium in September 2018, when the consortium was already developing,
without any handover and explanation of his predecessor. This may have resulted in less click
and interest in the consortium.
Rules
Rules apply in the consortium and there are also rules that apply to the consortium. Both cause
problems in the arrangement. Not everything the consortium would like to do is possible due
the contracts that are still in force and which contain agreements that do not go hand in hand
with the consortium’s plans. And the consortium lacks resources to breach such contracts.
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When it comes to contracts, something else also plays tricks on the consortium. Tender
procedures are nowadays very common for organisations. Tenders are often put out to tender
for separate services, and usually not at the same time. As a result, contract terms always
overlap, making it almost impossible to sell the consortium’s one-stop-shop principle. Another
factor that makes this impossible is the fact that the consortium cannot bid for tenders, because
that requires a Kamer van Koophandel registration, which the consortium does not have.
Another issue within the consortium is the cooperation. Because everything is new, a
lot is not thought through yet. And discussing everything takes a lot of time and energy, while
time and energy somewhere else are needed. We see this when organizing the pilot phase:
which actor is doing what? So, there is a lack of coordination and rules on the division of tasks
within the consortium. But it also turns out that the consortium needs cooperation with the staff
of other facility services whose responsibility does not lie with a consortium actor.
A business rule at Sodexo is that business may only be done with suppliers who are
listed in the suppliers register. The partners the consortium works with are often not partners
of Sodexo. But the services are provided through Sodexo, so this causes problems. It is
therefore necessary for the parties to be included in the suppliers’ register, but sometimes they
are not eligible for this and the procedure takes several weeks. Officially, it is then impossible
to do business with such a partner.
The defined target group agreed by the consortium, office in the Utrecht region of 400
or more people, gives clarity but issues as well. It makes the pond smaller for fishing. When
organizations are interested but too small, the consortium will not accept them as clients, while
clients are particularly important in the start-up phase.
The consortium members have not made any official agreements about the ownership
of ideas and concepts, for example in contracts. Even though the members do not experience
this as a problem, it could become a problem in the future. The dividing line between the
consortium activities and the activities for their own companies is very thin. That why it is
important to make rules about what may only be deployed from within the consortium and what
the companies themselves may deploy.
Deployment of resources
There is no shortage of money, the only problem with this resource is its availability. Because
it is the rule that the Economic Board Utrecht manages the money, the consortium is depends
on their approval and the duration of their approval before expenditure can be made.
An uneven distribution of power has emerged within the consortium. Although the
consortium partners are okay with this, it has some consequences for the consortium. It
reduces, for example, the amount of resources, like time and knowledge, brought in and the
actors involved. The consortium’s activities are dependent when there is a second facility
services provider on the clients’ site. This reduces the consortium’s power. We also see
dependence around the development of the online tool for which an actor is hired to develop.
Because this actor has the necessary knowledge and resources, the consortium is dependent
on them for its development. In addition, we recognise this dependence in the relationship with
the Economic Board Utrecht, which makes decisions about the subsidy money.
A problem on technological source area, is CircularOffice’s website. The website of is
findable when searching for the consortium specifically, but when you are for ‘circular economy’
and ‘offices’ the website of CircularOffice does not appear on the first page of search results.
This does not contribute well to the promotion of the consortium’s services.
The network of each consortium member is very valuable for finding clients, but it is
less fruitful, because the rules, concerning tenders and overlap in contracts, prevent many
options from going ahead.
New knowledge are necessary, the operational staff on the location must be trained
and motivated for the new way of working. The staff is not involved in the creation of ideas for
52
CircularOffice, so it is ordered, as it were. The new ideas affect the way in how they work. An
actor of the consortium must invest time in instruct these employees. And then also keep an
eye on whether everything continues to go well. In this respect, maintaining a good relationship
with the employees is also very important.
As said, the withdrawal of two consortium members means that there is less knowledge
in the consortium active.
Differences in discourse
The four consortium members do not fully share the same view on sustainability and the
circular economy. The extent to which this plays a role in the organizations divided. This is a
problem in the discourse field. The discourse determines the principles of the CircularOffice
concept and lacking a shared same vision makes cooperation more difficult. This ultimately
results in less involvement by actors and less provision of resources. Besides, the actual
actions of the consortium were not entirely in line with the plans they had formulated. This is
largely due to the rules, like contracts. There is a danger here, however, if the consortium
communicates a fully circular concept and does not implement everything, so that there may
be greenwashing.
What opportunities and problems occur in the arrangement we have been able to read in this
section. There is no point in repeating it, but we can say something about the most influential.
In terms of opportunities, the money made available by the Economic Board Utrecht is very
important and decisive in the existence and development of the consortium. All actors together
have a great deal of knowledge about all kinds of expected issues and have a large network
of possibilities and expertise. But there are also problems in the arrangement. First of all, we
see that the cooperation between the actors is not going as intended and that there are
differences in the involvement in the consortium. This is made possible in part by existing rules
that are playing tricks on the consortium. Existing contracts make it difficult for the consortium
to carry out their full plans, this is to the detriment of the service but also of the opportunity to
get somewhere to work as consortium. For some resources the consortium is dependent on
others, so not everything is under their control. Also, new knowledge is needed for changes
made by the consortium. The lack of vision and limit by rules results in the discourse not being
able to fully preform what may seem like greenwashing.
5.4 | Factors of circularity This section discusses the factors that influence and determine the circularity in soft facility
services in an office building, what the research question is about. The previous three sections
have gathered sufficient information to answer this question. The factors have been classified
on the basis of the Policy Arrangement Approach dimensions, in order to be able to see clearly
how the roles of the dimensions are. These dimensions also form the basis for this section.
Each sub-section deals with one dimension. First, it describes what influences and determines
circularity and then a recommendation is formulated as a factor of how it should be or what is
important. What this factor is about can be seen as an answer to the research question, and
the substantive contention of the factor as the recommendation. For clarity, this section deals
with the answer to the research question and the recommendations together. At the end of this
section, Figure 22 gives an overview of the factors.
5.4.1 Actors
Collaboration is very important for the success of the circularity within soft facility services. This
is because various services are involved in circular solutions. In this case we see that different
companies are responsible for different services. The actors involved in the consortium and
53
the work carried out the consortium, should make equal efforts. We have seen that with
unequal commitment and involvement there is a restructuring within the cooperation. It is
important to keep the involvement at the same level, so that the input from resources remains
at a constant level. To ensure that actors continue to show the same commitment, some rules
need to be adapted and a joint discourse is also necessary. A factor for the theme of actors is:
equal involvement of actors.
5.4.2 Rules
Some rules in the arrangement disrupt the operation of the consortium. These are rules that
shape the consortium’s environment. To start with the contractual rules. The rules in these
long-term contracts sometimes make it impossible to carry out some of the circular office’s
plans. As a result, they are unable to fully realise their circular ambitions, which may lead to
the suspicion of greenwashing. Because these contracts have a long duration, it sometimes
take years before adjustments can be made. So, a factor for the theme of rules is: short term
contracts. The consortium wants to provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ principle, but this is made difficult
by the fact that organisations often put different services under separate contracts and the
validity of these contracts never relates to the same periods. To make it easier for the
consortium to carry out their plans, is a requirement: effective date similar to other contracts.
Another obstacle is the fact that the consortium cannot bid for tenders. In order to do this, it
requires a different company’s legal form and therefore a registration at the Kamer van
Koophandel. A factor for the theme of rules is: a company’s legal form that is allowed to bid for
tenders.
In contrast to existing rules in the arrangement, the lack of rules also causes barriers,
making it clear what factors are required for applying circularity in an office environment. The
consortium actors need a clear division of rules and must make agreements to this end. When
this is the case, scaling up the number of customers is not or less a problem. In addition, there
will be no disagreement about the insertion of resources and time. Nor is there any chance
that some actors will lag behind in deployment and end up in a second scale, with associated
consequences. A factor for the theme of rules is: a clear division of tasks. Besides rules
between the actors themselves, the consortium needs arrangements with the service providers
of the services for which the consortium has no responsibility. Within facility management we
see that the services are often dependent on each other, especially if, for example, one wants
to reuse waste streams, several services are involved. Collaboration and agreements with
others influences whether circularity succeed. The consortium needs influences in these
services as well. This increases the ability to implement the consortium’s plans. For this they
do depend on the resource power. A factor for the theme of rules is: agreements with other
facility parties/departments. A third thing regarding the rules within the consortium concerns
ownership agreements. Much is invested in the cooperation and the consortium, but besides
the companies are still companies on their own. In order to avoid disagreement about whether
or not to use consortium property and ideas in their own client situations, such agreements are
necessary. So that the actors can then focus on making offices circular, instead of having to
worry about it. A factor for the theme of rules is: ownership agreements of CircularOffice ideas
and programmes.
In order to ensure that the work can be carried out optimally by the consortium, the
companies of the consortium members must adapt their rules so that this is possible. Some
rules block the activities by the members on behalf of the consortium. So the partners of the
consortium, by definition, must also be included as partners of the consortium member
companies. A factor for the theme of rules is: include the partners of CircularOffice as their
own partners.
54
5.4.3 Resources
Circular applications are likely to be more costly than current applications in an office
environment. Money therefore influences whether or not circularity is applied. Therefore, it is
important that there is a willingness to make funds available to implement the circular
initiatives. A factor for the theme of resources is: availability of money. Because the idea of the
circular economy ensures that all processes in an office building are included, it is necessary
to have an influence on all these services. The consortium needs power to control these
services as well and change them into a more circular way. A factor for the theme of resources
is: authority over all the services necessary for circularity. The consortium’s network has to be
big, bigger than only the relations of the consortium partners. Because that decreases the
scope with potential clients. And in addition, an assignment from a client of one the consortium
members results that the actors do not make an equal contribution when that is for the best. A
factor for the theme of resources is: many relationships with non-consortium member clients.
To implement measures to create a circular system in an office environment, you need
expertise about this subject. Because facility management concerns a variety of services,
circular alternatives can be chosen in many areas. In order to make those choices, knowledge
is needed in those areas. A factor for the theme of resources is: knowledge about circular
alternatives/possibilities.
5.4.4 Discourse
The companies are working together on a concept in which sustainability, and specifically the
circular economy, is central. This requires a shared vision on the circular economy and its
application. When actors lack of an own circular economy vision, it makes it more difficult to
work with the vision of the consortium. This is because thinking and working on the basis of
this vision is not specific to the organization as such. It is important to think and work at the
same level because then the lag in deployment remains small. A factor for the theme of
discourse is: a shared definition for the circular economy and sustainability. Besides that the
companies need a shared definition for the circular economy, it would be best if it
corresponds as closely as possible to the theoretical definitions. If the consortium applies the
rules of theory, the chance of doing greenwashing is very small. If the consortium gives too
much of a turn of its own, it may deviate so much from the circular economy theory that one
may think that their activities do not match the communication about they work according to
the circular economy principles. A factor for the theme of discourse is: stay close to the
principles of reduce, reuse and recycle.
Figure 22: Overview of factors (own work).
55
5.4.5 Dimension’s influence
It is interesting to know which dimension of the Policy Arrangement Approach has the most
influence on the application of the circular economy concepts in soft facility services in an office
environment. To see this, we can take another look at Figure 22. What then immediately strikes
on is that the rules’ dimension has many factors. There are six of them and they are divided
over three rules themes. We see a distinction between rules that shape the arrangement, rules
within the consortium and rules at the companies of the consortium partners themselves.
Although this dimension has the greatest influence, the consortium has limited influence on
these rules. They have absolutely no influence on the rules that shape the environment of the
arrangement. And that is a pity for the consortium, because it is precisely these rules that
cause the greatest problems. They have a major impact on the ability to work for clients.
The consortium does, however, have an influence on the rules that apply within their
cooperation. In order to ensure that the cooperation runs better and that the rollout of a ‘circular
office’ runs smoothly, the consortium members can make good agreements. They can also
make agreements about ownership to ensure that the cooperation remains strong in the future.
The agreements needed for this are entirely in their own hands, so they are not dependent on
others. For the rules that apply from their own companies, they depend on their own
organizations. Changing these rules should not be a big problem, because after all, it is all
about one organization.
The resources also come up with several factors. We see here that it is mainly non-
material resources that are important. The only material resource concerns money, but we
should not underestimate the value of this. Without financial capital, it is almost impossible to
act. It increases the willingness of actors to make their own investments. The other non-
material resources should we not underestimate as well. The knowledge about circular
alternatives and possibilities is essential for application of the circular economy in office
environments. Without this, you can no do anything. The resources network is important for
creating potential clients, without locations and client the consortium will not survive. The last
resource, power over all services, is necessary to fully roll out the concept. Without it is also
possible, but then it will be more difficult or not complete.
The discourse dimension is responsible for two factors. Without the theory and
associated concept, the ‘CircularOffice’ proposition means nothing. The reduce, reuse and
recycle principles represent what the concept of CircularOffice implies. Without the inclusion
of these concepts, the service the consortium offer is worthless or can be called untrue
because they sell it as ‘circular’. That the actors have the same thoughts about reduce, reuse
and recycle strengthens cooperation within the consortium.
That the same ideas strengthen cooperation is also related with involvement. A lack of
shared ideas results in an unequal involvement and effect among the consortium members.
The actor dimension thus provides the factors that the actors must make an equal effort. In the
long run, an unequal involvement means that some actors are given a different position within
the cooperation, and therefore also contributes less to the resources.
5.5 | Circular scan Since the basis of this research is an internship, the research also pays attention to the advice
question with a more practical character. This advice question is: what should be asked in the
circular scan to have a useful result for the consortium and the potential clients as well? What
should be asked mainly involves themes that need to be mapped out. The consortium must
get a clear picture of what is going on at a potential client location.
The circular scan developed on the basis of this research took the form of an Excel document.
The choice for an Excel document is twofold. First, Excel’s filtering feature allows you to disable
certain services as a topic when they are not available at the location or select only the
questions for certain people. In addition, this way the document offers the possibility to
56
calculate a score automatically. This score indicates at what level an organisation is at and
therefore you can also see where an organization can improve. The score is calculated based
on different steps one can make within a given service to make it more circular. This
information ensures that the consortium can easily, clearly and consistently make clear to the
potential client what options are available when they hire the consortium.
The themes in the circular scan are shown in Figure 23. The top three in the figure,
organisation, communication and procurement, concern organisational information. This is
mainly intended to get a picture of the current organisation of all the different services, about
the collaborations between and who is responsible for the implementation. This largely relates
to rules, which we have seen have a major impact. This information has a general character
and is important for the consortium because it sketches a picture of the client and its location.
It is useful to know what the organisation is about, how the facility services are arranged and
how the theme of sustainability is approached. Because the consortium pays a lot of attention
to communication, it is good to know how the communication depart works, in which ways
communication is possible and whether the organisation distinguishes different target groups.
In addition to these more general themes, there are many facility specific themes. The
facility services in which the circularity concept can be applied are catering, vending, waste,
other waste streams, reception, repro and cleaning. For the consortium it is important to know
as much as possible about the way in which facilities services are now organized. As can be
seen in Figure 23, each facility service has its own focus and sub-themes.
Figure 23: Overview of the circular scan topic (own work).
The themes and sub-themes should be seen as discussion topics. In each case it is indicated
which questions can be asked in order to gain full insight. It is even indicated which questions
should be discussed with which functions in the organisation. The questions are about topics
that fit different organizational levels and therefore you should choose the right discussion
partner. Matching statements have also been formulated with options so that it is possible to
calculate the score. The questions and statements belonging to all themes can be seen in the
circular scan, which is included in Appendix VII. The Excel-document can be requested from
the researcher, see colophon.
57
5.6 | Recommendations in general On the basis of all the findings, some advice can be given to the consortium for its further
development. Despite the fact that the factors show that it is important to remain jointly involved
for a while, the consortium has already developed in such a way that there has been a shift in
involvement. It is highly recommended that the two main actors, Sodexo and Returnity, work
together to form a good vision. It is important that both organisations support this. Moreover,
the vision should very clearly include the three concepts of the circular economy. This provides
a strong basis for a future-proof service.
A recommendation of a general nature is addressed to the facilities sector.
Organisations should make informed decisions about how to outsource their services. For the
circular economy it is best if they use short term contracts or tender multiple services at once.
Or may be a neighbour organisation that wants to collaborate, which makes the circular
applications more attractive through economies of scales. The contracting organisations are
the first to influence changes, they ultimately determine what they do and do not buy.
58
6 | Reflection
This chapter reflects on this research. The first topic to be reflected upon is the theories used
in this research (§6.1). Then we look at the applied research method (§6.2). In the section that
follows, the contributions of this research to science and society is central (§6.3). It is indeed
as relevant as first argued? Finally, recommendations for follow-up research are given (§6.4).
6.1 | Theoretical reflection The choice for limiting the analysis to soft services within facility management has worked out
well, because this is exactly what the consortium focused on. It was possible that the
consortium focus was shifted during the research phase and that would have made things
complicated. It should be noted that mapping the arrangement was also possible without
applying the circular economy theory, but it made very clear what the research is about. The
circular economy concepts, reduce, reuse and recycle, turned out to be very understandable
and recognizable in practice. The accessibility of the theory made it easy to speak about it with
several people. That made it a good theory for this research. But of course, there was also a
difficulty. During the pilot phase it turned out that the three circular concepts were not very
similar to what the consortium did in practice. Because of this, it was sometimes difficult to link
activities in practice to theory, the expectation was to recognize this clearly. But eventually this
was a phenomenon from which conclusions could be drawn. The Policy Arrangement
Approach has served its purpose. Using this theory made it easy to describe all the
developments of the consortium and to make a good distinction between the different factors
of the cooperation between four companies.
In an advanced stage of research, a new theory was been discovered because it came
up in an interview. It concerns the 6S-model of Van Brandt. The model distinguishes between
six different layers in an office building. The six layers are from the inside out: social, stuff,
space, services, structure and site. What these layers contain can be seen in Figure 24. Social
is about liveability on that specific moment, stuff concerns loose fitting (1 to 5 years), space is
permanent fixture (10 years), services are installations (25 years), facade and roof is skin (50
years), the structure concerns the building structure (100 years), and the site is the plot (infinite)
(Cirkelstad, 2019). The layers of this theory could have been applied to this research. This
research concerns the soft facility services and the 6S-model specifies these even more. We
recognize that social, stuff and space have the most to do with the soft services. With the
application of this theory, a time dimensions could have been added to the circular economy
theory. Then conclusion could be drawn whether which circular concept (reduce, reuse,
recycle) fit which layer with corresponding characteristics.
Figure 24: 6S-model of Van Brandt (Circkelstad, 2019).
59
6.2 | Methodological reflection Using a single case design resulted in that overview could be maintained, both during the
research but also while writing the report. The case chosen provided sufficient information for
answering the questions. A comparison with other companies or consortia would also have
been interesting, but it is a rare phenomenon which made this comparison impossible. And the
questions asked could be answered because of this case. The fact that a specific, unique case
was central to this research makes it difficult to generalise the outcomes of this research,
although a thick description is available to be used for other studies. There is, however,
theoretical generalisation (Bryman, 2016, p.406). The use of clear and general theories like
the Policy Arrangement Approach and the three principles of the circular economy (reduce,
reuse and recycle) allows comparisons to be made based on theoretical concepts. Based on
the concepts used, statements can be made about phenomena and mechanism in comparable
cases. This is because the theoretical concepts used claim a generality that makes this
possible.
Due to the phase where the consortium was during the research, in development and
the roll out of a first pilot, few documents were available. Simply because they did not exist.
That is why the data of this study is largely based on the interviews held with various parties
involved. All the organisations involved is spoken to, except in the case of the Economic Board
Utrecht, where no conversations took place with the project leader because they thought it
more efficient to let one of them make time for an interview. So, it is assumed that this person
told her story on behalf of the organisation and her colleague. The content of the interviews
was effective in mapping out the arrangement. With hindsight, in some conversations there
could have been more emphasis on some parts of the arrangement in order to map this out
even better.
6.3 | Contribution In chapter 1 the relevance of this research is described. There was made a distinction between
societal relevance and scientific relevance. Let us look at the societal relevance first. Because
we have such an amount of square meters office area in The Netherlands, it is good that this
research provides more insight into the difficulties of applying circularity and the factors that
are important to make it a success. Also, this insight will benefit the ambitions of the
Netherlands to be half circular by 2030 and full by 2050.
Stahel (2016, p.246) stated that it was mainly the United States, South-Korea and
China that carried out research to promote the circular economy and that Europe lagged
behind. This research increases the number of studies on the circular economy within a
European context. There was a lack of research about measurement of the circular economy.
Although the research contributes to insight in organisational aspects of circularity, the
research does not contribute to measurement lack, but the circular scan developed does, but
not at a scientific level. Existing measurement tools were more or less focused on the buildings,
so the focus of this research contributes to the broadness of information.
6.4 | Research recommendations For follow-up studies it might be interesting to design a study around the 6S-model of Van
Brandt. This model makes a distinction between different functions of facility services. So
instead of focusing on soft or hard services, you can make the distinction on usage type or
purpose. This involves the dimension time and this along with the circular economy theory
concepts one can try to discover a link. Another possibility is to explore cooperations similar to
this one. Such an investigation can serve as an extension, confirmation or contrast. It would
be also interesting to investigate what, for example, should be regulated by the government in
order to make such concepts more successful. Or what corporate organizations consider
necessary to switch to a circular and therefore perhaps more expensive alternative.
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Wagenaar, H. (2011). Strategies of interpretive policy research (p.241-p.274). In Meaning in Action: Interpretation and dialogue in policy analysis. London: Routlegde. Westerveld. (2017, October 24). Hoe Westerveld van kantoren grondstoffendepots maakt. Retrieved on July 3, 2019, from https://www.westerveld.nl/nieuws/hoe-westerveld- van-kantoren-grondstoffendepots-maakt/ Westerveld. (2020). Over Westerveld. Retrieved on February 14, 2020, from https://www.westerveld.nl/over-ons/ Wit, M. de, Hoogzaad, J., Ramkumar, S., Friedl, H., en Douma, A. (2018). The Circularity Gap Report: An Analysis of the Circular State of the Global Economy. Retrieved on March 6, 2019, from http://www.sustainablebrands.com/digital_learning/research_report/next_economy/ circularity-gap_report_analysis_circular_state_global_ Worldometers. (2019). World Population Projections. Retrieved on March 25, 2019, from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/world-population-projections/ Van der Worp, E. (2019, May 6). Toilet roll holder with communication. Retrieved on February 20, 2020, from https://facto.nl/circulair-kantoor-uwv-utrecht- pilot/?vakmedianet-approve-cookies=1&_ga=2.56528738.810680934.1582209282- 511461706.1582209282 Van der Worp, E. (2019, May 6). Communication message about the croquettes made of oyster mushrooms. Retrieved on February 20, 2020, from https://facto.nl/circulair- kantoor-uwv-utrecht-pilot/?vakmedianet-approve- cookies=1&_ga=2.56528738.810680934.1582209282-511461706.1582209282 Van der Worp, E. (2019, May 6). The circular shop in UWV’s restaurant. Retrieved on February 20, 2020, from https://facto.nl/circulair-kantoor-uwv-utrecht- pilot/?vakmedianet-approve-cookies=1&_ga=2.56528738.810680934.1582209282- 511461706.1582209282 Veolia. (2017, March 28). Cover photo. Retrieved on April 7, 2020 from, https://www.livingcircular.veolia.com/en/eco-citizen/circular-economy-moves-office
Appendix I
Introductie
Aandachtspunten voorafgaand
• Voldoende geheugen om te kunnen opnemen
• Voldoende batterij om te kunnen opnemen
• Vliegtuigstand inschakelen
Voorstellen
Na het afronden van mijn studie Facility Management, had ik de ambitie om meer te doen met duurzaamheid. In september 2018 ben ik dan ook, na het afronden van de premaster Environment & Society, begonnen aan de Master Corporate Sustainability. Om deze master af te ronden ben ik bezig met het schrijven van een scriptie met als casestudy CircularOffice (bij UWV).
Achtergrond onderwerp
CircularOffice is een initiatief van een consortium, bestaande uit Westerveld, Bammens, Returnity & Sodexo. Daarnaast zijn enkele startups aangesloten. De ketensamenwerking is een succesfactor van circulariteit, vandaar deze samenwerking. Eerste locatie waar CircularOffice gaat draaien is UWV Utrecht.
Achtergrond onderzoek
Het doel van mijn onderzoek is om inzicht te krijgen in welke factoren circulariteit binnen de softe facilitaire dienstverlening bepalen. Daarnaast breng ik ook in kaart hoe het consortium in zijn werk gaat.
Doel interview Het doel van het interview is om inzicht te krijgen in hoe het consortium is ontstaan en hoe het werkt. Een ander doel van het interview is om inzicht te krijgen op welke manier circulariteit een plek heeft binnen de softe facilitaire dienstverlening.
Toestemming & behandeling gegevens
Vragen om toestemming om het gesprek op te nemen. Dat maakt het na afloop mogelijk om het gesprek te transcriberen. Dit doe ik zodat ik alle informatie goed en volledig kan verwerken. De opnames zal ik met niemand delen en uiteindelijk worden ze opgeslagen als bijlage bij mijn scriptie bij de Radboud.
Verloop interview
Het interview is als volgt vormgegeven. Eerst wat algemene vragen over jou en jouw werkzaamheden. Vervolgens wil ik het graag hebben over het consortium en daarna over circulariteit binnen facility management.
➢ Sommige dingen zal ik allicht al weten, maar voor de volledigheid van m’n scriptie is het erg waardevol om ze nogmaals te horen.
Interview
Algemene vragen • Kan je jezelf en je functie introduceren?
• Kan je vertellen over jouw functie met betrekking tot CircularOffice?
Consortium
• Op welke manier is het consortium ontstaan en heeft het zich ontwikkelt tot waar het nu is?
o Wie? o Rollen? o Middelen tot beschikking? Afhankelijkheid? Gemis o Welke wet- en regelgeving is er van toepassing? Positief/negatieve
invloed? Ontbreken wetgeving? o Welke informele regels zijn van toepassing (routines, gebruiken,
onderlinge afspraken)? Positief/negatieve invloed? Ontbreken regels
Circulariteit binnen FM
• Wat is voor jouw circulaire economie?
• Op welke manier kan dit, volgens jou, vorm krijgen binnen facilitair management?
• Ik heb negen stappen van circulariteit bij me, kan je per stap bedenken hoe facilitair management dit kan invullen?
Circulaire scan
• Welke ideeën heb jij over hoe de circulaire scan eruit moet zien?
• Een aanname is dat bij potentiële klanten circulariteit verschillende niveaus zal kennen. Wat is jouw idee over hoe dit verschil per organisatie kan worden aangeduid?
Afsluitende vragen
• Volgens mij zijn we aan het eind van het interview gekomen. Kunt u even nadenken of we iets niet besproken hebben wat in uw ogen wel belangrijk is? Dan neem ik even een momentje om m’n topic lijst door te nemen.
• Zijn er nog personen waarvan je denkt: die zou je moeten spreken?
Afronding interview
Uitleg vervolg
• De opname wordt getranscribeerd en vervolgens gedeeld ter controle.
• Als ik achteraf nog vragen heb, mag ik dan nog contact opnemen?
• Wanneer mijn scriptie afgerond is, zal ik u een exemplaar mailen.
Bedanken Bedanken voor het interview, moeite en de tijd.
Appendix II
Appendix III
Appendix IV
Appendix V
Appendix VI
Handboek Circulaire Scan 2.0
1 juli 2019 – 1e versie
Inhoud
1 | Circulaire economie 74
2 | Afnemen scan 74
3 | Basisinventarisatie 76
4 | Gespreksonderwerpen circulaire scan 77
5 | Betrokken startups 86
6 | Toelichting documenten 88
6.1 Score berekening: toelichting 88
7 | Adviezen 89
1 | Circulaire economie CircularOffice is gebaseerd op het gedachtengoed van de circulaire economie. Om tijdens de
gesprekken met organisaties goed te weten waar je hebt over hebt, is het goed bij de basis te
beginnen. Wat is de circulaire economie? Het is namelijk niet op alle gebieden even
gemakkelijk toe te passen, maar met de volgende vuistregel kom je een heel eind.
De basis van de circulaire economie zijn de volgende drie pijlers: reduce, reuse en
recycle. Als je één van deze drie thema’s de kern laat zijn bij een (onderdeel van een) facilitaire
dienst, dan weet je zeker dat je het gedachtengoed van de circulaire economie nastreeft en
hiermee dus waarde toevoegt aan CircularOffice.
Reduce: Slimmer productgebruik en productie in.
➢ Weigeren: Maak het product overbodig door zijn functie op te geven of door dezelfde
functie aan te bieden met een ander product.
➢ Opnieuw nadenken: Het productgebruik intensiever maken.
➢ Verminderen: Verhoog de efficiëntie van de productie of het gebruik van producten
door minder natuurlijke hulpbronnen en materialen te gebruiken.
Reuse: Einde gebruik van producten.
➢ Hergebruik: Hergebruik door een andere consument van afgedankte producten die nog
in goede staat zijn en hun oorspronkelijke functie vervullen.
➢ Repareren: Reparatie en onderhoud van het defecte product zodat het met de
oorspronkelijke functie kan worden gebruikt.
➢ Opfrissen: Herstel een oude productadvertentie om deze bij te werken.
Recycle: Afval en hergebruik van materialen en producten.
➢ Her-fabriceren: Gebruik onderdelen van afgedankte producten in een nieuw product
met dezelfde functie.
➢ Herbestemmen: Gebruik afgedankte producten of onderdelen daarvan in een nieuw
product met een andere functie.
➢ Recycle: Verwerk materialen tot dezelfde (hoogwaardige) of lagere kwaliteit.
2 | Afnemen scan Elke organisatie is anders net zoals de band die het consortium heeft met de organisatie. In
elk specifieke situatie moet gekeken worden op welke manier de organisatie benaderd moet
worden. Hier kan je geen standaard protocol voor vastleggen. Wat wel toepasbaar is, is een
checklist met punten waar je rekening mee dient te houden in de voorfase van het afnemen
van de circulaire scan.
2.1 Wie spreken?
Ten eerste moet je de relatie met de organisatie bekijken. Is de organisatie die zich aanmeldt
voor een circulaire scan een bestaande klant van één van de consortiumleden? Of is de
organisatie voor iedereen nieuw. Het kan ook zijn dat de organisatie bekend is geraakt met
CircularOffice via deelname aan de CircularOffice Accelerator. Als dit laatste het geval is, dan
is er bepaalde basisinformatie al beschikbaar.
Het is van belang een beeld te hebben van de organisatiestructuur: wie is
verantwoordelijk binnen de organisatie voor welke taken. Het kan namelijk voorkomen dat een
deel van de diensten is uitbesteed, in dit geval is het zaak om voor die betreffende diensten
met de verantwoordelijke van de aanbestede partij te spreken. Dit zorgt ervoor dat je direct de
juiste informatie krijgt van de juiste personen, zonder doorverwijzingen of navragen. Daarnaast
is het prettige voor de uitbestedende organisatie, zij hebben niet voor niets facilitaire diensten
uitbesteed.
Het is wenselijk dat het gesprek met derde partij(en) eerder plaatsvindt dan het gesprek
met de hoofdklant. Dit zorgt ervoor dat het consortium al meer weet van reilen en zijlen op de
locatie, voordat het in gesprek gaat met hoofdklant. Hierdoor komt het consortium goed over.
Daarnaast voorkom je op deze manier dat er toch onderwerpen aan bod komen die de
organisatie heeft uitbesteed aan de derde partij. Het beste beeld van de huidige
dienstverlening kan je vormen door te spreken met de operationeel dienstverantwoordelijke.
De Facility Manager zal algemene dingen wel weten over de diensten, maar echt inhoudelijke
vragen kan je beter stellen aan de operationeel manager.
2.2 Structuur gesprek
Dit handboek en het bijbehorende Excel-bestand (“Circulaire Scan 2.0”) zijn handvatten voor
de structuur van de gesprekken. Hoofdstuk 4 van dit handboek beschrijft bij alle onderwerpen
wat besproken dient te worden. Het Excelbestand geeft per thema weer met die je dit moet
bespreken. Omdat dit kan verschillen is het goed om eerst een overzicht te verkrijgen over de
diensten met per dienst de verantwoordelijke. Dan kan je per verantwoordelijke filteren wat je
van hen wilt weten. Wanneer je per gesprekspartner overzichtelijk hebt gemaakt wat je met
hen bespreekt, zorg je ervoor dat je deze onderwerpen en vragen voorbereid en meeneemt
naar het gesprek met de desbetreffende persoon.
Bij deze voorbereiding hoort ook het al invullen van beschikbare informatie. Sommige
informatie zal al bekend zijn, bijvoorbeeld doordat de organisatie een huidige klant van een
consortiumlid is of dat ze hebben deelgenomen aan de CircularOffice Accelerator. Zorg ervoor
dat je deze informatie alvast ‘invult’. Deze informatie kan je in het gesprek wel bespreekbaar
maken door te verifiëren of de informatie klopt.
Het is belangrijk om uit te leggen wat CircularOffice is en wat het doet. De klant moet
een goed krijgen van het concept. Daarnaast is het wenselijk om het komende traject uit te
leggen. Vertel over de circulaire scan, hoe het gesprek zal verlopen, met wie je allemaal
spreekt en wat de scan doet. Vervolgens is het goed uit te leggen welke vervolgstappen de
klant kan verwachten. Vertel de klant dat hij terugkoppeling krijgt op basis van de afgenomen
scan, en wanneer hij dit kan verwachten. Wanneer deze termijn niet gehaald wordt, breng de
klant hier dan tijdig van op de hoogte.
Vanaf het tweede gesprek met iemand binnen de organisatie, kan je diegene ook een
kleine samenvatting geven van wat er al besproken is met een vorige collega. Degene die je
dan spreekt, heeft dan de gelegenheid om hier op te reageren en aanvullingen op te doen. Dit
is gunstig voor de volledigheid van de informatie.
Het gesprek zal een semigestructureerd interview zijn waarin je de onderwerpen als
checklist beschouwt en je het gesprek spontaan ingaat.
2.3 Opname
Omdat er tijdens een scan gesprek veel informatie aan bod komt, die ook vaak nogal specifiek
kan zijn, is het verstandig de gesprekken op te nemen. Dit kan door middel van opname-
applicaties op de mobiele telefoon. Het is wel zo netjes om dit van te voren te vragen aan
degene die je spreekt. Deze opnames kan je terugluisteren wanneer je niet geheel zeker meer
bent van een antwoord.
3 | Basisinventarisatie Voor de scan is bepaalde basisinformatie van de organisatie nodig, die zich het beste laat
omschrijven als invullijst. Het betreft contactinformatie, pandinformatie en bedrijfs-
afvalinformatie.
3.1 Contactinformatie
Naam organisatie
Plaats organisatie
Contactpersoon
Deelname CircularOffice Accelerator
Ja/nee
3.2 Pandinformatie
Algemeen Wat is de primaire werkomgeving?
Hoeveel medewerkers zijn werkzaam bij de organisatie?
Werkplekken Op welke manier is de kantooromgeving ingericht?
Wat is het aantal werkplekken?
Wat is de bezettingsgraad van deze werkplekken?
Is er sprake van een clean desk policy?
Pand Wat is het totale oppervlakte van het pand ?
Hoeveel verdiepingen zijn er in gebruik?
Wat is het oppervlakte per verdieping?
Vergaderzalen Zijn er vergaderzalen aanwezig?
Hoeveel vergaderzalen zijn er?
Hoe wat zijn de groottes
Pantry's Hoeveel pantry’s zijn aanwezig in het pand?
Om hoeveel pantry’s per verdieping gaat het?
Containerruimte Is er een containerruimte aanwezig?
Hoe ziet deze containerruimte eruit?
Is er plek voor meer bij te plaatsen containers?
Bijeenkomsten personeel
Zijn er momenten dat alle facilitaire medewerkers samenkomen?
Met welke frequentie komt dit voor?
Welke diensten zijn hierbij aanwezig?
3.3 Bedrijfsafvalinformatie
Autobanden Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Elektrische en elektronische apparatuur
Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
EPS (piepschuim) Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Glas (verpakkingen) Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Glaswol / steenwol Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
GFT / GF / Swill Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Hout (pallets) Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Hout (overig) Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Metalen Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Papier en karton Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Plastic bekers Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Plastic folie Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Plastic overig Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Puin / beton / steenachtig materiaal
Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Textiel Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Chemisch afval totaal
Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Kantoor KGA Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Maintenance KGA Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
Overig KGA Hoeveelheden per week/maand/jaar?
4 | Gespreksonderwerpen circulaire scan
Om een volledig beeld te vormen van de organisatie tijdens de circulaire scan, komen allerlei
onderwerpen naar voren. Deze moeten worden besproken op een semigestructureerd manier.
Dat betekent dat de hieronder beschreven thema’s aan bod dienen te komen in een soepel
lopend gesprek.
4.1 Organisatie
Het eerste onderwerp gaat over de organisatie zelf. Hierbij is het belangrijk om een algemeen
beeld te vormen van de organisatie, denk hierbij aan de kerntaak, missie, visie, strategie en
dergelijken. Ga hierbij ook na of duurzaamheid, MVO of circulariteit een rol in spelen. Een deel
van deze informatie kan via de website van de organisatie worden verkregen, of is al bekend
als de organisatie een klant is van een consortiumlid. Daarnaast is goed te spreken over het
MVO-beleid van de organisatie en de doelstellingen die daarbij horen.
Naast de algemene organisatie is het ook belangrijk om de facilitaire organisatie in
kaart te brengen. Wat zijn de missie, visie, strategie en bijbehorende doelstellingen van deze
afdeling? En in hoeverre speelt duurzaamheid, MVO of circulariteit daarbij een rol?
Waarschijnlijk is deze afdeling verantwoordelijk voor het contact met CircularOffice (of
andersom) en daarom is het interessant te spreken over de motivatie waarom zij contact
hebben opgenomen.
Op basis van bovenstaande gespreksthema’s kan het consortium bepalen of
CircularOffice in een breder verband dan een facilitaire aangelegenheid kan worden ingezet.
Dit bespreek je niet met de organisatie, maar bepaalt het consortium voor zichzelf.
Het is van belang te weten op welke manier de organisatie omgaat met innovaties.
Bespreek dit onderwerp en vorm een beeld in hoeverre de organisatie hier actief mee is. Ga
ook na over wat voor type innovaties het dan gaat en wat de motivatie erachter is.
Daarnaast kan je nog vragen of er binnen de (facilitaire) organisatie budget is voor (circulaire)
projecten. Je wil er eigenlijk achter komen op welke manier de organisatie besluit geld uit te
geven. Het kan namelijk ook zo zijn dat er per project een businesscase gevormd moet
worden. Dit is voor het consortium goede informatie om over te beschikken.
Mogelijk vragen:
➢ Wat is de missie van de facilitaire organisatie?
➢ Wat is de visie van de facilitaire organisatie?
➢ Wat zijn de doelstellingen van de facilitaire organisatie?
➢ Wat zijn de doelen/ambities van de facilitaire organisatie?
➢ Speelt bewustwording en een circulaire voorbeeldfunctie een rol binnen de
bedrijfsvoering en communicatie van het facilitaire bedrijf?
➢ Wat is de reden geweest om mee te doen met de CircularOffice Accelerator?
➢ Wat is de reden dat er interesse is in de circulaire scan van CircularOffice?
➢ Vindt er samenwerking tussen (een deel van) de afdelingen Facility Management,
Inkoop, CSR/MVO en Communicatie plaats?
➢ Wat houdt deze samenwerking in?
➢ Van welke facilitaire diensten is sprake op de locatie?
➢ Welke diensten zijn uitbesteed?
➢ Met welke leveranciers zijn er contracten gesloten?
➢ Tot wanneer lopen deze contracten?
➢ Is het mogelijk om het concept rondom CircularOffice te combineren met de kerntaak
van de organisatie?
➢ Is het mogelijk om een profiel te creëren wat bij de organisatie past?
➢ Kan je dit commercieel benutten?
➢ Wordt er actief gestuurd op innovaties?
➢ Waarom wordt er (niet) actief gestuurd op innovaties?
➢ Waar zijn deze innovaties op gericht?
➢ Is er budget voor circulaire projecten?
4.2 Communicatie
Communicatie speelt binnen het concept CircularOffice een belangrijke rol. Er vindt rondom
CircularOffice veel communicatie plaats richting de pandbewoners. Wanneer men in gesprek
is met een potentiële klant, is het goed om te informeren naar diverse sub thema’s binnen het
thema communicatie.
Ten eerste is het goed om te informeren of er al communicatie plaatsvindt rondom MVO(-
doelstellingen), duurzaamheid en/of de circulaire economie. Daarbij gaat het erom wat er
gecommuniceerd wordt, op welke manier en wie de doelgroep van de communicatie is.
Wanneer een organisatie beschikt over een afdeling MVO/CSR, is het interessant om te weten
of de afdeling Communicatie met hen samenwerkt.
Ten tweede is het goed om te informeren naar de bestaande communicatiekanalen binnen de
organisatie. Daarbij is het van belang te weten op welke manier de verschillende kanalen
beheerd worden, wie deze beheerd en wie inhoudelijk goedkeuring moet geven voor
boodschappen.
Ten derde is het goed om te weten wat voor doelgroep zich binnen de organisatie bevindt.
Wellicht heeft de afdeling communicatie hier profielen voor opgesteld. Anders is het goed om
te kijken naar verschillende werkomgevingen, zoals kantooromgevingen,
productieomgevingen en magazijnen. Deze werkomgevingen bieden werk aan verschillende
type medewerkers, welke wellicht om andere vormen van communicatie vragen.
Ten vierde, wanneer er al sprake is van afvalscheiding (twee of meer stromen) op een locatie,
is het interessant om te weten op welke manier hier over gecommuniceerd wordt. En wat de
ervaringen hiervan zijn. De communicatie kan plaatsvinden bij alleen de afvalbakken zelf, maar
de communicatie kan ook breder zijn opgezet waardoor er op andere plaatsen dan afvalbakken
ook gecommuniceerd wordt over het afval scheiden. Daarbij is het goed te informeren wat de
huidige ervaringen hiermee zijn.
Mogelijke vragen:
➢ Wordt er gecommuniceerd rondom MVO, duurzaamheid en/of circulaire economie?
➢ Waarom wordt er wel/niet gecommuniceerd rondom MVO, duurzaamheid en/of
circulaire economie?
➢ Wat is het doel van de communicatie?
➢ Wat wordt daarover gecommuniceerd?
➢ Wie is de doelgroep van de communicatie?
➢ Op welke plekken vindt de communicatie plaats?
➢ Wat is de reactie van de doelgroep/pandbewoner op de communicatie?
➢ Via welke kanalen is het mogelijk te communiceren op de locatie?
➢ Op welke manier is de goedkeuring voor communicatie geregeld in de organisatie?
➢ Op welke manier is de goedkeuring rondom het gebruik van communicatiekanalen
geregeld in de organisatie?
➢ Vinden er campagnes plaats over het scheiden van afval?
➢ Op welke manier zijn deze campagnes georganiseerd?
➢ Wordt er bij de afvalbakken gecommuniceerd over stromen?
➢ Op welke manier wordt er gereageerd op deze communicatie? (reactie & actie)
➢ Hoe ziet de communicatie rondom MVO eruit?
4.3 Inkoop
Inkoop is verantwoordelijk voor alle diensten en producten op een locatie. Zij zijn daarmee
verantwoordelijk voor alle grondstoffen binnen de organisatie. Juist deze afdeling heeft de
meeste invloed op de grondstoffen in de organisatie en kunnen van te voren al de beslissing
nemen iets wel of niet in te kopen.
Het is goed om te informeren bij de inkopers van de organisatie of zij bij het selecteren
van leveranciers bepaalde criteria aanhouden. Het is dan vooral van belang te weten of deze
criteria iets te maken hebben duurzaamheid of circulariteit. Wanneer dit het geval is, is het
goed te weten welke elementen een rol spelen in de besluitvorming.
Naast de selectie, is het ook van belang dat huidige leveranciers zich inzetten om hun
dienstverlening en producten te verbeteren. Je kan hierbij denken aan het verminderen van
verpakkingsmateriaal of het verminderen van het aantal logistieke bewegingen. Een ideaal
hierin is dat verschillende leveranciers hun logistiek combineren. Het is goed om te informeren
of de leveranciers van de organisatie hier mee bezig zijn.
Producten en diensten die de afdeling Inkoop inkoopt, bevinden zich in een keten
waarvan de betreffende organisatie deels onderdeel van is. Dit betekent dat er voordat en
nadat de organisatie een product of grondstof ‘in huis’ heeft, er ook nog van alles mee gebeurt.
Het is belangrijk te informeren in hoeverre de organisatie hier interesse in heeft en zich
hiervoor verantwoordelijk voelt. De organisatie heeft namelijk via haar inkoopbeleid invloed op
de volledige keten, door wel of geen keuze te maken voor bepaalde ketengewoonten.
Een ander onderwerp van inkoop is startups. Dit zijn startende ondernemingen die vaak
innovatief bezig zijn op het gebied van duurzaamheid. Zij bieden vaak duurzame oplossingen
en opschaling door bijvoorbeeld grote organisaties als nieuwe klanten is daarbij belangrijk.
Vaak zijn de startups onervaren en klein, waardoor het andere type bedrijfjes zijn. Het is
daarom interessant om te vragen aan de potentiële klant, of zij al samenwerkingen hebben
met startups. En wat de reden is dat zij dit wel of niet hebben.
Mogelijke vragen:
➢ Op welke criteria worden leveranciers geselecteerd?
➢ Op welke product(categorieën) wordt een circulaire toets gedaan?
➢ Op hoeveel procent van de inkoopcategorieën wordt een circulaire toets gedaan?
➢ Waar houdt de inkoper rekening mee?
➢ Welke condities zijn er nodig om met een leverancier in zee te gaan?
➢ Speelt de circulaire economie een rol tijdens aanbestedingen?
➢ Op welke manier speelt de circulaire economie een rol tijdens aanbestedingen?
➢ Zijn er samenwerkingen met leveranciers om het verminderen van
verpakkingsmaterialen aan te pakken?
➢ Zijn er samenwerkingen met leveranciers om het aantal logistieke bewegingen te
verminderen?
➢ Hoe actief zijn de leveranciers hier (zelf) in?
➢ In hoeverre heeft de organisatie inzicht in de keten?
➢ Hoeveel belang hecht de organisatie bij inzicht in de keten bij de partners? Wordt hier
actief op ingezet?
➢ Wat weet de organisatie van de ketenpartner voor hen over wat zij doen met het
product?
➢ Wat weet de organisatie van de ketenpartner ná hen over wat zij doen met het product?
➢ Wordt er al samengewerkt met startups?
➢ Wat is de reden dat er wel/niet wordt samengewerkt met startups?
➢ Hoe wordt deze samenwerking ervaren?
➢ Zijn er belemmeringen die een samenwerking bemoeilijken?
4.4 Catering
Om een beeld te vormen van de restauratieve voorziening op de locatie, zijn onderwerpen
zoals het aantal lunchgasten, openingstijden, contractvorm en aanbod maaltijdtypen nodig om
te bespreken. Een belangrijk thema binnen de catering is voedselverspilling.
Het eerste inhoudelijke onderwerp wat besproken moet worden met de
cateringmanager betreft inkoop bij de catering. Door te veel of verkeerd in te kopen, kan
voedselverspilling ontstaan. Het is goed te informeren naar de manier van inkoop. Denk hierbij
aan de verschillende partijen waar men inkoopt, met welke frequentie er wordt ingekocht per
partij en welk type artikelen wanneer geleverd wordt. Daarbij is van belang te informeren of
men zich bewust is van de THT-datum bij het bestellen in combinatie met wanneer het nodig
is, en of men rekening houdt met producten zoals biologische producten.
Het tweede onderwerp betreft bereiding. Tijdens de bereiding is het mogelijke bepaalde
overgebleven producten van een dag eerder te gebruiken. Hiermee voorkom je dat het
weggegooid wordt. Het is daarom van belang te informeren of de catering hier al ervaring mee
heeft. Daarnaast is het interessant om te horen welke producten er na bereiding vaak
overblijven en wat ze met die producten doen. Je kan ook informeren naar hoeveel liter soep
er wordt gemaakt per dag/maand/jaar.
Het derde onderwerp is de verkoop. Daarbij kan je informeren of de catering dagelijks
op de hoogte is van het aantal pandbewoners. Dit kan bijvoorbeeld doordat medewerkers in-
en uitklokken. Daarnaast kan je vragen of men tijdens de openingstijden van het restaurant
het aanbod bijmaakt. Hiermee voorkom je dat je in één keer te veel maakt, op deze manier
kan je zien waarvan extra nodig is. Informeer ook of men (kortings)acties inzet aan het einde
van de openingstijden, zodat ook de laatste producten gekocht worden. Iets anders om naar
te informeren is wat men doet met de overgebleven producten? En wat ook erg belangrijk is
om naar te informeren, is of de producten die overblijven worden geregistreerd met type en
aantal. En of er nog iets met deze informatie gedaan wordt. Daarnaast is het ook goed te weten
wat voor producten erover blijven.
Het vierde onderwerp is banqueting. Dit is een onderdeel van de catering waar vaak
voedselverspilling optreedt. Het is goed om te informeren of men inzicht heeft in hoeveel er is
besteld en hoeveel er overblijft per bestelling en wat er dan overblijft. Het is ook goed te
informeren of men voor het maken van een bestelling contact heeft met degene die bestelde,
om te verifiëren of het aantal personen en de wensen nog steeds kloppen.
Het vijfde onderwerp betreft de verpakkingen in het restaurant. Hierbij is het belangrijk
te informeren naar wat voor kunststofverpakkingen er in het restaurant aanwezig zijn. Dit geldt
hetzelfde voor de monoverpakkingen en drankkartons.
Het zesde onderwerp is energieverbruik. In de keukens staat energie-verbruikende
apparatuur en het is belangrijk dat de medewerkers zich hiervan bewust zijn en hier naar
handelen. Informeer hiernaar.
Het zevende onderwerp is afvalinzameling. Informeer ernaar of men in de keuken en
in het restaurant aan afvalscheiding doet. Daarbij is het ook van belang te vragen of de
cateraar zelf verantwoordelijk is voor de afvoer van het afval, of niet. In de keuken komt veel
gft-afval vrij, wordt dit apart ingezameld en gecomposteerd?
Het achtste onderwerp betreft sinaasappelschillen. Informeer ernaar of er in de keuken
sinaasappelschillen vrijkomen en om hoeveel dit per dag/maand/jaar gaat. Vraag of ze hier
iets anders mee doen dan weg te gooien (als gft).
Het negende onderwerp gaat over disposables. Het is goed te informeren of de
cateraar disposables als rietjes, borden en bestek inzet. Daarbij is het van belang te weten of
dit kosteloos of tegen een vergoeding wordt verstrekt. En of dit ‘vrij toegankelijk’ is of dat men
er specifiek naar moet vragen.
Het tiende onderwerp betreft de verse kruiden. Informeer ernaar of men deze bestelt
via de distribiteur of hoe deze worden aangeleverd.
Het elfde onderwerp is left-overs. Informeer naar wat de catering momenteel doet met
left-overs. Hebben klanten de mogelijkheid om dit mee te nemen? En zo ja, in wat voor
materiaal kan dit dan?
Mogelijke vragen:
➢ Wat is het aantal lunchgasten?
➢ Wat zijn de openingstijden van het restaurant?
➢ Welke voor contractvorm is van toepassing?
➢ Welke maaltijdtypen worden aangeboden?
➢ Is er een frituurinstallatie aanwezig?
➢ Is er vetvangpunt aanwezig? [inhoud, slanglengte]
➢ Is er een overzicht van de producten die ingekocht worden?
➢ Hoe vaak wordt er ingekocht?
➢ Is het verplicht om je aan een menu/producten houden? In hoeverre ben je hier flexibel
in?
➢ Ben je je bewust van de THT datum bij het bestellen?
➢ Houdt je rekening met duurzaam inkopen, bijv. biologisch, duurzame disposables, ‘niet
verkoopbare groentes’?
➢ Wat doe je met de producten die tegen de THT datum aanlopen?
➢ Welke producten zijn dat zoal?
➢ Wat doe je met producten die overblijven na bereiding?
➢ Welke producten moet je weggooien en welke kun je hergebruiken?
➢ Hoeveel liter soep per maand wordt er gemaakt?
➢ Zijn er snijresten mogelijk?
➢ Is men op de hoogte van het aantal pandbewoners per dag?
➢ Wordt er tijdens de lunch bijgemaakt?
➢ Worden er (kortings)acties ingezet voor de late gast of tht-producten?
➢ Wat wordt er gedaan met niet verkochte producten?
➢ Worden niet verkochte producten geregistreerd op de kassa?
➢ Worden er lunches bestelt bijv. bij een vergadering?
➢ Is er persoonlijk contact met degene die de bestelling doet?
➢ No shows, komt dat vaak voor?
➢ Wat doet men met left-overs uit de vergaderzalen?
➢ Is er inzicht in wat er het meeste overblijft?
➢ Wat wordt er aan banqueting aangeboden?
➢ Welke kunststofverpakkingen worden aangeboden?
➢ Welke artikelen worden er in mono-verpakking aangeboden?
➢ Welke drankkartons worden aangeboden?
➢ Is men bewust van het gebruik van energievreters in de keuken?
➢ Hoe laat wordt de soep opgezet?
➢ Wordt er bewust omgegaan met watergebruik?
➢ Zijn er teamsessies waarin dit onderwerp met het cateringpersoneel wordt besproken?
➢ Zijn er middelen beschikbaar om in het restaurant afval gescheiden in te zamelen?
➢ Zijn er middelen beschikbaar om in de keuken afval gescheiden in te zamelen?
➢ Werkt men met gekleurde afvalzakken?
➢ In hoeverre/op welke manier is de cateraar verantwoordelijk voor de afval(afvoer)?
➢ Wat zit er bij het afval? [hele porties, halve porties, oneetbare delen]
➢ Wordt het gft afval gecomposteerd?
➢ Komen er sinaasappelschillen vrij in het cateringproces?
➢ Om hoeveel kilo gaat dit per maand?
➢ Doet de organisatie iets anders met deze sinaasappelschillen dan weggooien?
➢ Waar in de organisatie komen deze sinaasappelschillen vrij?
➢ Zou aparte inzameling van de sinaasappelschillen tot de mogelijkheden behoren?
➢ Worden rietjes verstrekt?
➢ Met welke doel worden deze rietjes verstrekt?
➢ Wanneer worden deze rietjes verstrekt?
➢ Worden plastic borden versterkt?
➢ Met welk doel worden deze plastic borden versterkt?
➢ Wanneer worden deze plastic borden versterkt?
➢ Wordt plastic bestek verstrekt?
➢ Met welk doel worden het plastic bestek verstrekt?
➢ Wanneer worden het plastic bestek verstrekt?
➢ Wordt er gebruik gemaakt van verse kruiden?
➢ Op welke manier worden deze momenteel verpakt/aangeleverd?
➢ Is er een mogelijkheid om gekocht eten mee te nemen in een doggy bag?
4.5 Vending
Binnen het thema vending spelen drie sub thema’s een rol. Het eerste betreft de
koffiedrab die vrijkomt na het maken van koffie. Omdat koffiedrab gebruikt kan worden als
grondstof voor in nieuwe processen, is het zaak te informeren of men al iets doet met de
koffiedrab. Daarnaast is het interessant om te weten om hoeveel koffiedrab het gaat (informeer
naar de inkoopcijfers, GRO heeft hier een formule voor). Daarnaast is het van belang te
informeren bij de catering of het mogelijk is om producten van GRO toe te voegen aan het
menu.
Een tweede onderwerp betreft de bekers die de organisatie inzet om koffie en andere
dranken in te doen. Het is belangrijk in beeld te krijgen of de koffieautomaten machinaal of
handmatige bekers verstrekken en waarvan deze bekers gemaakt zijn. Informeer daarnaast
ook naar de mate waarin het hergebruiken van single-use bekers wordt gestimuleerd. Het
apart inzamelen van de koffiebekers is afval-gerelateerd, maar kan ook hier gevraagd worden.
Het derde onderwerp heeft te maken met disposables. Informeer welke disposables bij
de koffieautomaten worden aangeboden en van welk materiaal deze gemaakt zijn. Denk hierbij
aan roerstaafjes, drinkbekerdeksels en de verpakkingen van de thee, suiker en melk. Hierbij
is het ook goed te informeren of de vendingautomaat wel of geen mogelijkheden heeft om
suiker en melk toe te voegen aan de drank.
Mogelijke vragen
➢ Hoeveel kilo koffie wordt er op de locatie(s) in totaal gebruikt per jaar? (Hoeveel wordt
er exact ingekocht)
➢ Op welke manier wordt deze koffiedik / afval momenteel afgevoerd?
➢ Welke kosten betaalt u specifiek voor het afvoeren van koffiedik? En bij wie?
➢ Zijn er specifieke opslag eisen aangaande koffiedik bij u organisatie van toepassing ?
➢ Heeft u inmiddels al een andere circulaire oplossing in gebruik voor koffiedik welke
geen relatie heeft tot voedsel? Zo ja welke?
➢ Hoe zit het met de mogelijkheden om producten van GRO op het menu te zetten?
➢ Op welke manier worden koffiebekers versterkt? [handmatig, machinaal]
➢ Is het mogelijk eigen koffiebekers/mokken in de automaat te plaatsen?
➢ Welk soort bekers worden er gebruikt?
➢ Op welke plekken/gelegenheden worden welke soorten ingezet?
➢ Worden de koffiebekers apart ingezameld?
➢ Wordt hergebruik van de koffiebekers gestimuleerd?
➢ Wordt er gebruik gemaakt van koffiepads/cups?
➢ Wordt er gebruik gemaakt van roerstaafjes?
➢ Van welk materiaal zijn deze roerstaafjes?
➢ Op welke plaatsen zijn deze roerstaafjes te verkrijgen?
➢ Wordt er gebruik gemaakt van drinkbekerdeksels?
➢ Van welk materiaal zijn deze drinkbekerdeksels?
➢ Op welke plaatsen zijn deze drinkbekerdeksels te verkrijgen?
➢ Welke merk/type theezakje wordt er gebruikt? In geval van losse thee, kan men dit in
een composteerbak deponeren?
➢ Welke suiker- en melkzakjes worden er gebruikt? Worden er bijvoorbeeld plastic
melkkuipjes gebruikt?
4.6 Afval
Het thema afval speelt een grote rol binnen CircularOffice. Dit komt omdat een ideaal
CircularOffice geen afval heeft, maar dat er enkel grondstoffen vrij komen. Daarom is het goed
om een beeld te krijgen hoe de organisatie nu omgaat met haar afval. Daarbij is het relevant
om te weten wie de huidige afvalverwerker is. Informeer daarom of er afvalscheiding
plaatsvindt en wat hier de ervaringen bij zijn. Hierbij is het handig om ook te specifiek te vragen
naar vertrouwd papier, omdat dit een schone afvalstroom betreft.
Daarnaast is het goed om te weten van welk soort afvalbakken de organisatie
momenteel gebruik maakt. En welke ervaring zij met de huidige afvalbakken hebben, qua
grootte, scheiding en gemak voor schoonmakers.
Daarnaast is het van belang om een plattegrond te ontvangen van waar de afvalbakken
momenteel gesitueerd zijn. Daarbij is het goed te weten wat het aantal medewerkers per
afvalbak/eiland is.
Indien een organisatie afvalscheiding toepast, is het goed te informeren of de stromen
ook gescheiden meegenomen worden. Oftewel, beschikt de afval/schoonmaakkar over
compartimenten zodat het afval gescheiden kan worden meegenomen? Informeer naar hoe
dit proces nu in zijn werk gaat. Vanaf de afvalbak tot aan de containerruimte.
Informatie rondom het ophalen van het afval is ook interessant. Informeer bij de organisatie of
zij gebruik maken van een perscontainer en rolcontainers. Neem ook een kijkje bij de
containerruimte en maak een inschatting hoeveel ruimte er is voor eventueel gescheiden
bakken. Daarnaast is het relevant om te weten wat de afvalverwerker doet met het afval.
Neemt deze het afval gescheiden mee (indien van toepassing) en verwerkt deze het
gescheiden?
Als de organisatie deelnemer is aan de CircularOffice Accelerator dan zijn de
bedrijfsafvalgegevens bekend. Net als het aantal medewerkers. Je kan dan al het gemiddelde
aantal kilo’s restafval per medewerker berekenen. Deze informatie kan je tijdens het gesprek
delen. Dit werkt wellicht het beste wanneer de organisatie een slechte scoren heeft, zodat
deze feiten de organisatie de urgentie van deelname aan CircularOffice ziet.
Mogelijke vragen:
➢ Welke afvalstromen worden onderscheiden?
➢ Wat is de ervaring hiermee?
➢ Is er sprake aparte afvoer van vertrouwelijk papier?
➢ Wat voor type afvalbakken zijn er geplaatst?
➢ Wat is de capaciteit van de afvalbakken?
➢ Hoe wordt de capaciteit van de afvalbakken ervaren?
➢ Op welke plaatsen zijn afvalbakken gesitueerd?
➢ Beschikken de medewerkers over afvalbakken onder hun bureaus?
➢ Om hoeveel afvalbakken (per stroom) per type ruimte gaat het?
➢ Om hoeveel afvalbakken per X medewerkers gaat het?
➢ Beschikt degene die de afvalbakken ledigt over gescheiden compartimenten in de kar?
➢ Wat zijn het aantal ledigingen per dag?
➢ Hoelang is een medewerker per dag bezig met de ledigingen?
➢ Neemt de afvalverwerker de afvalstromen die onderscheiden worden ze in die stromen
mee?
➢ Verwerkt de afvalverwerker de afvalstromen die onderscheiden worden apart?
➢ Wat is de tijd dat gemiddeld afgelegd moet worden naar de containerruimte?
➢ Wordt er gebruik gemaakt van rolcontainers?
➢ Wordt er gebruik gemaakt van een perscontainer?
4.7 Schoonmaak
Het is belangrijk inzichtelijk te maken hoe de huidige schoonmaak geregeld is. Denk hierbij
aan de huidige schoonmaakpartij, de contractduur en het type contract. Ook informatie over
de frequentie en manier van schoonmaken is interessant. Hierbij is het goed te informeren
naar welke middelen er worden gebruikt, denk hierbij aan chemische of natuurlijke middelen.
Je kan ook informeren naar de mate van bewustheid van de schoonmaakmedewerkers
rondom waterverbruik. De materialen waar de schoonmaak gebruik van maakt, kunnen
gemaakt zijn van nieuwe of recyclede materialen, informeer hier ook naar. De keuze voor
schoonmaakapparatuur kan gebaseerd zijn op specificaties betreffende water- en
energieverbruik. Informeer bij de organisatie in hoeverre zij actief heeft gestuurd op het
inzetten van water- en energiezuinige apparatuur. Het is interessant te informeren wat de
organisatie/schoonmaakpartij doet met de apparatuur wanneer dit aan het einde van zijn
(geplande) levensduur is.
Het is goed om te informeren wat voor middel de organisatie inzet voor handdrogen.
Stel dat men gebruikt maakt van tissueproducten, dan is het goed te weten om welke tissues
het gaat en om welke hoeveelheden. Daarnaast is het type zeep wat de organisatie inzet goed
om te inventariseren. Ook het type toiletpapier is interessant, let hierbij op de recyclebaarheid
en de hoeveelheid.
Mogelijke vragen:
➢ Wie is de schoonmaakleverancier?
➢ Tot wanneer loopt het schoonmaakcontract?
➢ Van wat voor een type contract is er sprake? [resultaatgericht,
schoonmaakwerkprogramma etc.]
➢ Wat is de frequentie van de schoonmaak?
➢ Welke schoonmaakmethodiek wordt er toegepast?
➢ Welke middelen worden er gebruikt?
➢ Welke materialen worden er gebruikt?
➢ Speelt het water- en energieverbruik een rol bij het selecteren van
schoonmaakapparatuur?
➢ Wat wordt er gedaan met de apparatuur aan het einde van de levensduur?
➢ Welk type handdroogmateriaal wordt gebruikt?
➢ Hoeveel tissue producten worden er maandelijks ingezet?
➢ Wat zijn de producteigenschappen van de tissue producten?
➢ Welk type zeep wordt aangeboden?
➢ Hoeveel zeep wordt er maandelijks ingekocht?
➢ Wat voor type toiletpapier wordt er gebruikt?
➢ Hoeveel toiletpaper wordt er maandelijks ingekocht?
4.8 Repro
Rondom repro komt veel papier vrij, wat goed te recyclen is. Breng in kaart op welke manier
de service rondom de multifunctionals is ingericht. Daarnaast is het goed om te weten hoeveel
multifunctionals er op de locatie zijn geplaatst en wat aantal medewerkers per multifunctional
is. Het is ook goed te informeren wat voor type printpapier er wordt ingezet, wel of niet
gerecycled. Ook de retourstromen van de toner zijn belangrijk.
Mogelijke vragen:
➢ Is er sprake van een servicecontract?
➢ Wat houdt deze globaal in?
➢ Wie beschikt er over het eigendom van de kopieerapparaten?
➢ Hoeveel kopieerapparaten staan er in het pand?
➢ Wat is de gemiddelde bediening (medewerkers) vaneen kopieerapparaat?
➢ Welk kopieerpapier wordt er ingekocht?
➢ Hoeveel kopieerpapier wordt er ingekocht?
➢ Hoe is de tonerafvoer georganiseerd?
➢ Is er sprake van afvoer van vertrouwelijk papier?
4.9 Receptie
Op het gebied van receptie zijn enkele sub thema’s van belang om in beeld te brengen.
Informeer naar de gewoonten bij de receptie. Zoals het wel of niet aanbieden van wat te
drinken aan gasten. Let hierbij op de middelen die hiervoor gebruikt worden. Informeer of de
gasten een badge krijgen en waarvan dit materiaal gemaakt is. Hierbij is het ook belangrijk het
retourproces te bespreken: komen deze allemaal weer terug of raken ze ook eens kwijt?
Wanneer gasten Informeer wat de receptie doet als gasten het pand verlaten, krijgen zij
bijvoorbeeld iets mee, zoals flesjes drinken, fruit? Daarnaast moet je een beeld vormen over
de werkzaamheden bij de receptie met betrekking tot digitale of papieren administratie. Als
laatste kan men inventariseren of er mogelijkheden zijn voor het opladen van elektrische
auto’s, en zo ja: zijn deze voor iedereen toegankelijk?
Mogelijke vragen:
➢ Wordt er bij de receptie de gasten iets te drinken aangeboden?
➢ In welk materiaal wordt dit geserveerd?
➢ Worden er badges uitgegeven?
➢ Van welk materiaal zijn die badges gemaakt?
➢ Hoe is het retourproces rondom de badges georganiseerd?
➢ Worden er bij receptie aan (vertrekkende) gasten presentjes meegegeven? [fruit,
waterflesjes, verpakte pepermuntjes]
➢ Van welke middelen maakt de receptie gebruik? [papier, digitaal]
➢ Zijn er elektrische laadpalen aanwezig?
➢ Hoeveel elektrische laadpalen zijn er aanwezig?
➢ Voor wie zijn de elektrische laadpalen toegankelijk?
4.10 Overige stromen
Bij overige stromen horen bedrijfskleding, kantoormeubilair, verbouwingen, interne en externe
verhuizingen, opruimingen en ICT. Het is goed om kaart te brengen of er sprake is van
bedrijfskleding, om hoeveel dit gaat en met welke omloopsnelheid dit afgedankt wordt. Bij
kantoormeubilair is het goed te informeren of er binnen de organisatie behoefte bestaat aan
nieuw meubilair. Of dat er binnen de organisatie materialen/objecten zijn die erg typisch zijn
voor de organisatie (zie uitleg PlanQ voor meer info). Informeer ook of de organisatie het afval
wat vrijkomt bij verbouwingen, interne en externe verhuizingen speciaal behandelt. Hierbij is
het belangrijk dat de ook hierbij moeite gedaan wordt om verschillende stromen te scheiden.
Hetzelfde geldt voor opruimingen van archief en voorraad. Als laatste is het interessant te
weten hoe de organisatie omgaat met de ICT apparatuur. Hoe wordt er opgegaan met de
laptops, muizen, toetsenborden en mobiele telefoons? Hier zitten namelijk veel grondstoffen
in en verkeerd weggooien geeft milieuschade.
Mogelijke vragen:
➢ Is er sprake van bedrijfskleding?
➢ Hoeveel kledingstukken worden er verstrekt?
➢ Wat is de gemiddelde omlooptijd?
➢ Wat is het proces rondom het retourneren van de kledingstukken?
➢ Hoeveel kilo textiel afval is er op jaarbasis?
➢ Hebben de bedrijfskleding een uitgesproken/kenmerkende kleur?
➢ Welke reststromen zijn aanwezig in het huidige pand, met name aan meubilair?
➢ Wat is de policy rondom het meenemen van bedrijfsmiddelen?
➢ Welke behoeftes zijn er in het nieuwe kantoor aan losse inrichting maar ook vaste
inrichting, hoeveelheden van werkplekken, is er een bedrijfsrestaurant, balie’s,
concentratieplekken, vergaderruimtes etc.?
➢ En is er een architect al betrokken of een partij die gaat over de esthetiek van het
nieuwe kantoorpand waar wij op kunnen aansluiten en vanuit een circulair design
oogpunt mee op kunnen trekken?
➢ Welke stromen zijn bedrijfsspecifiek, denk aan oude waterleidingen van een
waterschap, beroepskleding in herkenbare kleuren, of bijvoorbeeld treinrails van de
NS, een stukje geschiedenis. Welke een iconische plek terug verdienen in het nieuwe
kantoor?
➢ Is er behoefte aan akoestische materialen?
➢ Hoe wordt omgegaan met voorraadvernietiging?
➢ Hoe wordt omgegaan met het opruimen van ordners?
➢ Hoe wordt omgegaan met het opruimen van kantoorartikelen?
➢ Hoe is de afvoer van laptops georganiseerd?
➢ Om hoeveel laptops op jaarbasis gaat dit?
➢ Hoe is de afvoer van muizen georganiseerd?
➢ Om hoeveel muizen op jaarbasis gaat dit?
➢ Hoe is de afvoer van opladers georganiseerd?
➢ Om hoeveel muizen op jaarbasis gaat dit?
➢ Hoe is de afvoer van mobiele telefoons georganiseerd?
➢ Om hoeveel mobiele telefoons op jaarbasis gaat dit?
5 | Betrokken startups
Het consortium heeft startups aan zich verbonden. Elk bedrijf heeft zijn eigen expertise en
kwaliteit. Om deze startups bij klantlocaties in te zetten, is het noodzakelijk goed te weten wat
zij kunnen doen.
5.1 GRO
Na het maken van koffie blijft er koffiedrab over. Deze koffiedrab gebruikt GRO als
voedingsbodem voor oesterzwammen. De oesterzwammen komen terug in verschillende
producten: oesterzwamkroepoekchips, vegetarische oesterzwambitterballen, vegetarische
oesterzwamkroketten, vegetarische oesterzwamragoutbroodjes en gemengd of vegetarische
oesterzwamburgers. Deze producten zijn te verkrijgen bij de landelijke distributeurs. Het is de
bedoeling dat de locatie de koffiedrab apart inzamelt en meegeeft aan de bezorger van Bidfood
wanneer zij de locatie bevoorraadt. Omdat het een circulair concept betreft, is het de
noodzakelijk dat er GRO producten worden afgenomen door de locatie.
Aandachtspunten
➢ Mogelijkheden inzamelen koffiedrab
➢ Bidfood als leverancier (voor retourlogistiek)
➢ Mogelijkheden GRO producten op menu
5.2 PeelPioneers
Na het persen van sinaasappels blijven er sinaasappelschillen over. Deze sinaasappelschillen
gebruikt PeelPioneers voor twee verschillende stromen: pulp en essentiële olie. De pulp wordt
bijgemengd bij veevoer en de essentiële olie wordt door verschillende partners gebruikt voor
producten zoals limonadesiroop, bonbons, (alcoholvrij) bier, zeep en allesreiniger. De
sinaasappelschillen worden opgehaald via Renewi.
Aandachtspunten
➢ Automatische sinaasappelpers
➢ Renewi als afvalverwerker
5.3 i-did
Van afgedankte bedrijfskleding maakt i-did producten zoals tassen en etuis, maar ook
akoestische panelen en plafondplaten. Hier zijn grote aantallen bedrijfskleding nodig, de
machine start pas op vanaf 4.000 kilo kleding. Deze optie is pas interessant wanneer de
organisatie beschikt over veel afgedankte bedrijfskleding per jaar, of moet dit lang opsparen.
In 2020 gaat het bedrijf experimenteren met een machine die kleinere oplages kleding kan
verwerken, dus dan is het ook interessant voor organisatie die te maken hebben met kleinere
hoeveelheden afgedankte bedrijfskleding.
Aandachtspunten
➢ Grote hoeveelheden oude kleding
➢ Behoefte aan relatiegeschenken, akoestische- of plafondplaten
5.4 PlanQ
PlanQ is een ontwerpstudio die zich voornamelijk bezig houdt met het ontwerpen van meubilair
en producten op basis van overgebleven grondstoffen. Daarbij vinden zij het belangrijk dat het
een hoogwaardig product is. Daarnaast is storytelling heel belangrijk: zij noemen dit ook wel
experience design. Het betekent dat er een heel verhaal achter het product zit. De
ontwerpstudio kan voor organisatie ontwerpen maken waarbij de oude kenmerkende
organisatievoorwerpen zijn verwerkt. Wanneer een klant van CircularOffice gaat verbouwen,
verhuizen of herinrichten is het interessant om de klant voor te stellen hun oude
organisatievoorwerpen terug te laten komen in een nieuwe producten of meubels.
Aandachtspunten:
➢ Iconische voorwerpen
➢ Verbouwing, verhuizing
➢ Herinrichting (meubilair)
6 | Toelichting documenten Dit hoofdstuk geeft de nodige toelichting en uitleg bij diverse bestanden.
6.1 Score berekening: toelichting
In het bestand ‘Circulaire Scan 2.0 – rekenmodel’ is het mogelijk om via stellingen een
organisatie beoordelen op zijn circulariteit. Hiermee krijg je per thema inzicht in de score.
Doordat je per thema inzicht hebt, kan je ook direct zien op welke gebied de organisatie goed
scoort en op welk gebied de meeste winst te behalen valt.
Er zijn per thema stellingen waarbij je kan kiezen tussen de rood en dikgedrukte opties.
Het meest passend antwoord vul in je in het lichtgroene vakje. Het document vult automatisch
de bijbehorende punten in. De totaalscore wordt ook automatisch berekent.
De score is nu gebaseerd op vijf gelijke niveaus. De behaalde punten worden
vergeleken met het totaal te behalen aantal punten en die procentuele score wordt aan een
cijfer (2-4-6-8-10) gekoppeld. Zoals de formules nu zijn opgesteld is tot 20 procent een 2, van
20 tot 40 procent een 4 enzovoorts. Je kan er ook voor kiezen om bijvoorbeeld een 10 pas toe
te wijzen bij 95 procent of hoger. Dan kan je dit gemakkelijk aanpassen in de formule. In de
huidige formule moet je de getallen 20, 40, 60, 80 moeten aanpassen om een nieuwe
schaalverdeling te krijgen.
De huidige formule:
=ALS(H17<20;"2";ALS(H17<40;"4";ALS(H17<60;"6";ALS(H17<80;"8";10))))
Kolom D, G en H zijn verborgen, omdat deze enkel nodig zijn voor de formules.
Wanneer je aanpassen gaat maken aan de formules, is het zaak deze weer zichtbaar te
maken. Dit kan door op de bovenste as op de rechtermuisknop te klikken ‘zichtbaar maken’ te
selecteren.
Wanneer je stellingen wil toevoegen, is het een kwestie van kopiëren-plakken. De
formules in de F-kolom zijn afhankelijk van het aantal antwoordmogelijkheden. Nadat je een
stelling hebt geformuleerd, zoek je een stelling op met evenveel antwoordmogelijkheden, en
die formule kopieer je naar de nieuwe stelling. Dan pas je de cel-verwijzing aan naar de huidige
rij en de antwoordmogelijkheden pas je ook aan in de formule. Let erop, dat je het aantal in de
verborgen ‘Meetlat’-kolom (G) aanpast. Dit getal geeft aan hoeveel punten er in totaal behaald
kunnen worden. Als je dit niet doet, klopt de verhouding niet meer.
6.2 Circulaire Scan 2.0 – volledige bestand
Het volledige bestand van de Circulaire Scan 2.0 bevat informatie die ook in deze handleiding
per thema is beschreven, vertelt wie de doepgroep is waarmee je de onderwerpen moet
bespreken, geeft de beoordelingsstellingen weer (zie 6.1) en bevat ook bijbehorend advies
(welke ook opgenomen zijn in dit document). Omdat het document zoveel omvattend is, is het
niet het fijnste document om mee te werken. Advies is dan ook om dit handboek te gebruiken,
in combinatie met het rekenmodel.
7 | Adviezen De uitleg waarom bepaalde thema’s besproken moeten worden, is besproken in hoofdstuk 4.
Dit is verhalend geschreven, waardoor het wellicht lastig is om concrete adviezen hieruit te
halen. Daarom bevat dit hoofdstuk nog eens per thema’s opgesomde adviezen.
7.1 Organisatie
➢ Adviezen Advies om circulariteit te definiëren en op te nemen in de doelstellingen en
ambities van de organisatie. Daarnaast is het beste om deze SMART te formuleren.
➢ Advies is om circulariteit/duurzaamheid terug te laten komen in de visie van de
organisatie.
➢ Advies is om circulariteit/duurzaamheid terug te laten komen in de strategie van de
organisatie.
➢ Advies is om de doelen/ambities smart te formuleren. Dit betekent dat specifiek,
meetbaar, acceptabel, realistisch en tijdsgebonden moet zijn. "
➢ Advies is om een voorbeeldfunctie te zijn en dit uit te dragen in de bedrijfsvoering en
communicatie.
➢ Advies is om circulariteit/duurzaamheid terug te laten komen in de missie van de
facilitaire organisatie.
➢ Advies is om circulariteit/duurzaamheid terug te laten komen in de visie van de
facilitaire organisatie.
➢ Advies is om circulariteit/duurzaamheid terug te laten komen in de strategie van de
facilitaire organisatie.
➢ Advies is om de doelen/ambities smart te formuleren. Dit betekent dat specifiek,
meetbaar, acceptabel, realistisch en tijdsgebonden moet zijn. "
➢ Advies is om een voorbeeldfunctie te zijn en dit uit te dragen in de bedrijfsvoering en
communicatie.
➢ Circulariteit/duurzaamheid is een onderwerp wat enkel goed binnen een organisatie
uitgedragen kan worden als meerdere (of alle) afdelingen hier mee bezig zijn. Hoe
sterker deze samenwerking, hoe beter de uitkomst van de inspanningen. Advies is dan
ook om zoveel mogelijk samenwerking te realiseren tussen Facility Management,
Inkoop, CSR/MVO en Communicatie.
➢ Advies is om open te staan voor circulaire innovaties.
7.2 Communicatie
➢ Afval scheiden werkt het beste met communicatie daarover. Activeren en uitleggen is
hierbij erg belangrijk. Advies is om de pandbewoner uit te leggen waarom het belangrijk
is, welke doelen hiermee gehaald worden en toe te lichten wat er in welke bak moet.
➢ Hoe breder je de communicatie doet, hoe steviger het concept binnen de organisatie
zal staan.
7.3 Inkoop
➢ Advies om de leverancier te benaderen om het reduceren van verpakkingsmateriaal
aan te kaarten en hier samen verbeteringen in te vinden en door te voeren.
➢ Advies om de leveranciers (gezamenlijk) te benaderen om samen een plan te maken
om het aantal logistieke bewegingen te reduceren.
➢ Advies om inzicht in de keten te verkrijgen, door in gesprek te gaan met de
ketenpartners en ze kritische vragen te stellen. Wat doen zij doen zij aan circulariteit?
➢ Advies om meer inzicht te krijgen in de ketenpartners. Ga in gesprek en ben niet alleen
tevreden met hun ‘verkoop’ verhaal, wees kritisch. "
➢ Vaak hebben startups duurzame oplossingen en hebben zij behoefte aan (grote)
klanten. Daarom is het leuk om met hen samen te werken.
7.4 Catering
➢ Advies om in de toekomst wel bewust met de THT datum om te gaan tijdens het
bestellen. Borg dit principe in het proces.
➢ Specificeer met het team wat jullie onder duurzaam inkopen verstaan en borg dit
principe in de inkoopprocedure.
➢ Zorg ervoor dat je inzicht krijgt in welke producten er vaak overblijven en zorg ervoor
dat je dit vermindert. Daarnaast kun je de producten nog gebruiken bij andere
recepten/bereidingen. Zoals de broodjes beleggen met kaas uit de monoverpakkingen
die de THT bereiken.
➢ Sodexo heeft het Food Future Lab waarbij onderzocht wordt op welke manier je
voedsel kan 'hergebruiken'. Wanneer er resultaten bekend zijn, is het zaak deze te
communiceren naar de cateringmanager van locaties die deelnemen aan
CircularOffice.
➢ Advies om binnen de organisatie te bespreken hoe er voor gezorgd kan worden dat de
catering elke dag op de hoogte is van het aantal pandbewoners. Voorbeeld: de receptie
kan inzien hoeveel mensen er zijn ingeklokt.
➢ In plaats van alle gerechten van te voren te bereiden, ga je nu een deel maken en
maak je tijdens de lunch gerechten bij. Dit zorgt ervoor dat je beter kan inspelen op de
vraag en minder hoeft weg te gooien.
➢ Advies om aan het einde van de lunch acties te ondernemen omtrent de
beschikbaarheid van gerechten. Zo kan je bijvoorbeeld korting geven op bepaalde
producten die anders na de lunch overblijven en weggegooid moeten worden.
➢ Advies om de niet verkochte producten te gaan registreren. Dit zorgt ervoor dat de
catering op de hoogte is welke producten en welke hoeveelheden worden weggegooid.
Deze gegevens kunnen gebruikt worden om in de toekomst beter in te spelen op de
vraag.
➢ Advies om het opnemen van persoonlijk contact op te nemen in het banqueting proces.
Dit zorgt ervoor dat je als catering op de hoogte bent van de laatste wijzigingen rondom
de groepssamenstelling en het beste kan inspelen op de vraag. Zodat
voedselverspilling minimaal is.
➢ Advies om alles wat overblijft na banqueting te registreren. Met deze informatie kan de
samenstelling en hoeveelheid in de toekomst worden aangepast, zodat het beter op
de vraag aansluit.
➢ Sodexo heeft expertise op het gebied van 'Plastic Vrij Restaurant'. De maatregelen die
hierbij horen, moeten worden gedeeld met de cateringmanager van de locatie die
deelneemt aan CircularOffice. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan het inkopen van
bulkverpakkingen en de producten in het restaurant te serveren in schaaltjes, borden
en bakjes.
➢ Advies om het cateringpersoneel bewust te maken van de energieverbruikers in de
keuken. Het is goed om samen na te gaan of bepaalde handelingen eerder, later of
anders gedaan kunnen worden om zodoende te besparen.
➢ Advies om het cateringpersoneel bewust te maken van de waterverbruikers in de
keuken. Het is goed om samen na te gaan of bepaalde handelingen eerder, later of
anders gedaan kunnen worden om zodoende te besparen.
➢ Advies om in het restaurant middelen te plaatsen die het scheiden van afval mogelijk
maken.
➢ Advies om in de keuken middelen te plaatsen die het scheiden van afval mogelijk
maken.
➢ Wanneer afvalscheiding wordt toegepast, is het zaak om gekleurde zakken te
gebruiken om de stromen gescheiden te kunnen afvoeren. Alleen dan is het mogelijk
aan de buitenkant te zien welke stroom het betreft.
➢ Advies is om regelmatig de afvalbakken bij de afruimband te bekijken. Wanneer er veel
porties in liggen, is er wellicht wat mis met de smaak en als er veel halve porties in
liggen, zijn wellicht de porties te groot. En zo zijn er nog andere conclusies die men
ken trekken op basis van het afval.
➢ Advies is om geen rietjes van plastic te verstrekken. Voor bijvoorbeeld medische
aandoening is het gebruik van een rietje soms nodig, dan is het goed om een rietje op
verzoek te verstrekken.
➢ Advies is om geen plastic borden te verstrekken.
➢ Advies is om geen plastic bestek te verstrekken.
➢ Sodexo biedt de mogelijkheid om een kruidentuin in het restaurant te plaatsen,
waarvoor het inkopen van kruiden (in plastic) niet meer nodig is.
➢ Advies is om klanten deze mogelijkheid te geven, hierbij is het belangrijk dat de tasjes
gemaakt zijn van papier (en niet van plastic). Daarnaast kan je de klant stimuleren het
tasje vaker dan een keer te gebruiken.
7.5 Vending
➢ Het advies is om gebruik te maken van het concept van GRO.
➢ Wanneer de locatie hier niet zelf over mag beslissen, degene die hier wel over mogen
beslissen inspireren om deze producten op te nemen op de kaart.
➢ Het beste is als de koffiebekers handmatige geplaatst moeten worden. Hierdoor zijn
mensen in de gelegenheid om hun koffiebeker her te gebruiken of hun eigen beker te
gebruiken.
➢ Wanneer handmatig plaatsen niet mogelijk is, is het goed contact op te nemen met de
leverancier van de koffieautomaten om te zien of er mogelijkheden zijn voor andere
instellingen, zodat dit wel mogelijk is.
➢ Als de organisatie nog beschikt over porselein is het advies om dit aan te houden.
Plastic bekers zijn niet wenselijk, omdat het materiaal warmte slecht isoleert.
Kartonnen bekers met een PLA-coating zijn niet te recyclen, iets wat wel kan met
kartonnen bekers met PE-coating (RECYCLE).
➢ Het apart inzamelen van koffiebekers heeft verschillende voordelen. Ten eerste zorgt
het ervoor dat de bekers minder volume innemen, omdat ze nu gestapeld worden
ingezameld. Daarnaast is het mogelijk (afhankelijk van het type beker) de bekers te
recyclen. (REDUCE/RECYLE)
➢ Dezelfde kartonnen beker kan 3 tot 5 keer gebruikt worden, voordat hij zijn functie
verliest. Wanneer medewerkers hun bekers 3 tot 5 keer vaker hergebruiken, scheelt
dit 3 tot 5 keer op de inkoop en afval (REDUCE).
➢ Advies om geen plastic drinkbekerdeksels te verstrekken.
7.6 Afval
➢ Het advies luidt om vijf fracties te scheiden, namelijk: plastic, gft, koffiebekers, papier
en rest.
➢ Advies om geen afvalbakken te plaatsen bij bureaus. Dit zorgt voor minder taken voor
de schoonmaak, maar ook dat men niet al het afval in één afvalbak deponeert.
➢ Het advies is om met de afvalverwerker in gesprek te gaan en te vragen of hij het afval
gescheiden wil behandelen. Dit betekent gescheiden meenemen. Dit is ook erg
belangrijk voor de geloofwaardigheid richting medewerkers.
➢ Het advies is om met de afvalverwerker in gesprek te gaan en te vragen of hij het afval
gescheiden wil behandelen. Dit betekent gescheiden verwerken. Vanuit een
grondstoffenoogpunt is het spijtig wanneer er moeite gedaan is om afval te scheiden
en het vervolgens als één stroom behandelt wordt.
7.7 Schoonmaak
➢ Advies om veel waarde te hechten aan de specificaties rondom energie- en
waterverbruik bij de keuze voor apparatuur.
➢ Advies om apparatuur niet zomaar weg te doen, liever laten repareren of herplaatsen.
➢ Advies om zo min mogelijk schoonmaakmiddel te gebruiken, en wanneer dit wordt
gebruikt, schoonmaakmiddel op basis van natuurlijke ingrediënten.
7.8 Repro
Mogelijke adviezen:
➢ Hoe minder multifunctionals in een pand, hoe minder er geprint wordt. Hoe verder een
medewerker moet lopen, hoe minder vaak zij iets zullen printen. Omdat het dan relatief
veel moeite is, zal niet alles even 'nodig' zijn te printen.
➢ Het advies om recycled kopieerpapier in te kopen. Je kan zelfs gebruik maken van het
printpapier-lease concept van Returnity.
7.9 Receptie
➢ Het aanbieden van drinken kan het beste in servies. Dit servies kan meegenomen bij
de afwas in de spoelkeuken van de keuken.
➢ Als we naar nieuw aan de schaffen badges kijken, is het beter om papieren aan te
schaffen. Als ze badges als in eigendom zijn, is plastic ook oké. Zolang het maar zo
vaak mogelijk gebruikt wordt.
➢ Het is van belang dat deze middelen zo vaak mogelijk gebruikt worden. Daarom moet
het retourproces van de badges zo zijn geregeld, dat alle badges weer terug komen bij
de receptie om opnieuw ingezet te kunnen worden ingezet.
➢ Het meegeven van flesjes water of andere producten in (plastic) verpakking is af te
raden. Dit zorgt voor extra afval. Producten zoals fruit zonder verpakking zijn wel prima
om mee te geven. In plaats van een plastic flesje water mee te geven, kan je de
vertrekkende gast er ook aan herinneren zijn eigen drinkfles te vullen voordat hij/zij
gaat.
➢ Het beste is om zoveel mogelijk digitaal te werken, zodat er zo min mogelijk papier
gebruikt wordt.
➢ Het beste is dat iedereen die op het parkeerterrein is, zijn elektrische auto kan opladen.
Zorg ervoor dat dit systeem aanwezig is en toegankelijk voor iedereen.
7.10 Overige stromen
➢ In geval van grote hoeveelheden kan de organisatie een samenwerking aan gaan met
i-did. De stoffen kunnen weer een tweede leven krijgen in de vorm van tassen en
panelen. Deze zijn dan speciaal voor de organsiatie ontworpen. Ook kan PlanQ de
materialen verwerken in hun ontwerpen. In geval van kleine hoeveelheden kleding, kan
dit wel worden afgevoerd in een kleding/stoffenstroom, zodat ze in een algemeen
recycle proces terecht komen.
➢ Als de organisatie dit wel toestaat, krijgen de overige bedrijfsmiddelen nog een tweede
leven op een andere plek. Dit is altijd beter dan dat ze direct worden weggegooid.
➢ Het is zaak om bij voorraadvernietigen contact op te nemen met de afvalverwerker, om
te kijken welke speciale acties ondernomen kunnen worden, zodat zoveel mogelijk
grondstoffen gescheiden kunnen worden.
➢ Bij het opruimen van ordners en administratie komt veel papier vrij. Het is erg makkelijk
dit in de perscontainer af te voeren, maar je kan ook je afvalverwerker vragen om een
oplossing voor deze opruimingen. Zoals het tijdelijk plaatsen van een extra papierbak.
➢ Ook hiervoor kan de afvalverwerker meedenken om zoveel mogelijk grondstoffen te
scheiden.
➢ De organisatie moet borgen dat elk uitgegeven laptop retour komt en er zorg voor
dragen dat deze op een juiste manier wordt afgevoerd, zodat de grondstoffen die erin
zitten weer gebruikt kunnen worden.
➢ De organisatie moet borgen dat elk uitgegeven muis retour komt en er zorg voor dragen
dat deze op een juiste manier wordt afgevoerd, zodat de grondstoffen die erin zitten
weer gebruikt kunnen worden.
➢ De organisatie moet borgen dat elk uitgegeven opladers retour komt en er zorg voor
dragen dat deze op een juiste manier wordt afgevoerd, zodat de grondstoffen die erin
zitten weer gebruikt kunnen worden.
➢ De organisatie moet borgen dat elk uitgegeven mobiele telefoon retour komt en er zorg
voor dragen dat deze op een juiste manier wordt afgevoerd, zodat de grondstoffen die
erin zitten weer gebruikt kunnen worden.
