Manutan and Ares: inspiring testimonials from organisations on the circular economy

A few weeks ago, Pierre-Emmanuel Saint-Esprit, Circular Economy Director for the Manutan Group and Executive Director of the Circular Economy Chair at ESSEC Business School, announced the launch of the very first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) dedicated to the deployment of the circular economy within organisations. The course, offered by ESSEC Business School and Circulab, contains inspiring testimonials from associations and businesses committed to this approach.

The Ares group, a promoter of social projects

For the past ten years, the Ares group (Association pour la Réinsertion Economique et Sociale) has been stepping up its efforts to develop circular economy activities. In addition to waste sorting and recycling, the organisation now includes the repair and re-use of several types of product in its range of services.

Fabien de Castilla, Joint Managing Director of the Ares group, explains why: "Firstly, because we were aware that this is a fast-growing sector, which will be able to generate activity for our integration programmes. Secondly, because it's a sector that's going to employ people. As a result, the people who come through our doors will be able to find work in this field. And finally, because it's a sector that offers jobs with a lot of meaning."

To continue this dynamic, the structure is also banking on social joint ventures. These are companies co-created by a non-profit organisation with a social and/or environmental project, and companies developing an activity, product or service in a given market.

At Manutan, priority is given to products and services

The Manutan Group also wants to put the circular economy at the heart of its business model.  Today, 92% of our company's greenhouse gas emissions come from products. This is why our circular transition focuses primarily on our product and service offering. 

Marine Varret, CSR Offer & Supply Chain Manager, explains: "Our Products and Purchasing teams are developing an eco-responsible product offer. Today, we are able to offer over 30,000 eco-responsible products for businesses and 50,000 for local authorities. We have also considerably increased the visibility of these products on our website, in our marketing campaigns, and soon in our purchasing optimisation tool".

At the same time, we also want to introduce circular services. This began with the launch last year of our collection and recycling service for electronic equipment, which will eventually be extended to other product categories such as office furniture.

All the testimonials are available to everyone in this brand new MOOC, in French and English, via the Coursera platform. It's a fantastic opportunity to familiarise yourself with the challenges and opportunities of the circular economy, so that you can get on with the job.