• Consulting firms are often able to work both onsite and remote. By promoting remote work and therefore reducing the office space to a minimum, they could reduce energy consumption within the building. Additionally, the consultants will commute less which reduces energy consumption and pollution. Possibly this policy can even lead to more cooking at home and reduced waste for coffee-to-go or food-to-go for lunch.

• When I work onsite, we often get our lunch at some food stands nearby the office. It is a big area with lots of employees from different branches. Most of the people I see regularly getting food do not use their own recipients but take the disposable plastic ones from the stand. Even if at first sight it is not much of a problem, over the years and multiplied by the number of people and the spots existing, it sums up to a huge amount.

• Another idea would be the sourcing of materials in general. Consultancy firms usually have good profit margins. They should try to source their materials locally and from sustainable sources. It might not always be possible, but I am convinced that, especially for small and mid-sized companies, there is a lot of potential there. This group of firms is often private owned and does not have to state a sustainability report. There is also a lack of knowledge about the topic.

• One idea is to reduce waste by donating leftover food or turning it into compost for gardens. Having a waste management program in general.

• Another approach is to buy products like shampoos and other amenities in bulk to reduce packaging and make refilling easier.

• Another idea is to install water and energy-saving systems, such as low-flow showers and LED lighting, to reduce overall resource consumption.

1. Digital Platforms for Resource Sharing and Service Exchange

Service-based industries can create or participate in digital platforms that enable the sharing or exchange of underused resources. For instance:

• Banks and Consulting Firms: Instead of discarding unused or obsolete IT infrastructure or office equipment, these firms can adopt a circular model by creating shared IT hubs or platforms where different organisations (even competitors) can exchange or lease technology assets. This would reduce waste and the demand for new equipment, thus cutting down the resource extraction involved in producing new IT equipment.

• Cleaning Services: These companies could use platforms to share eco-friendly cleaning tools, machinery, and materials, collaborating with other local firms. By doing so, they optimise the use of equipment that otherwise may lie dormant for much of the time.

This model encourages better utilisation of assets, prolonging their life cycle, reducing the need for new products, and helping to decrease waste.

2. Circular Workforce Models through Skill Sharing

Service industries heavily depend on human resources. They can transition into a circular model by adopting skill-sharing frameworks where employees or freelancers are shared across different organisations or industries, particularly during downtime:

• Public Services and Hospitals: By pooling talent and resources, these institutions can set up shared labour pools where professionals, such as administrators, technical staff, or healthcare specialists, can rotate between hospitals or public service offices, optimising workforce usage while reducing the costs of underemployment or overstaffing in one location.

• Consulting Firms: Through cross-industry collaboration, consultants can offer services to a broader network of companies, reducing the need for redundancies while ensuring continuous professional engagement. This not only makes workforce management more efficient but also reduces the environmental and financial costs associated with turnover and re-hiring.

3. Waste-to-Service Solutions through Energy Circularity

Many service industries consume large amounts of energy, particularly in sectors like hospitals, public services, or large-scale banks. To integrate circularity into their operations, these companies could implement waste-to-service solutions by converting waste into energy:

• Hospitals: They could install on-site biogas facilities or partner with local waste processing units that transform medical and organic waste into renewable energy, which is then fed back into the hospital to power operations, reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

• Public Services: Municipal offices can adopt energy circularity by utilising excess heat generated from data centres or municipal services to power other buildings, thereby creating a closed-loop energy system.

1. Digitization- Going paperless and operating digitally can significantly reduce paper consumption contributing significantly to environment sustainability.

2. Internal sustainable practices- Initiate recycling and waste reduction practices within the branches. Encourage employees to use re-usable products instead of one-use.

3. Sustainable Financing- Issue Green Bonds for eco-friendly projects. Provide easy loans to businesses that are investing in eco-friendly projects.