This article brings hands-on examples to complement the recent piece "Circular Economy Mindset Traps and How to Avoid Them" published in Forbes, featuring Terraquota's co-founder Hélène Isermeyer, and support Industrials in overcoming traps that often derail sustainability initiatives.

In nature, everything operates in cycles, where resources are reused, and nothing goes to waste. However, the way we currently run our modern economy is quite the opposite: we extract resources, use them to create products, and eventually discard them as waste. This linear system not only exhausts finite resources but also contributes to environmental degradation and climate instability.

The circular economy (CE) provides a much-needed alternative. Since the concept was first popularized in the 1970s, it has encouraged businesses and governments to move toward a system where materials are kept in use for longer, with practices like reducing, reusing, repairing, and recycling. The potential benefits are enormous—not only for the environment but also economically, namely for Industries facing resources challenges.

At Terraquota, we understand and continuously explore the complexities that many businesses face when trying to embrace circularity.

Avoiding the Circular Economy Traps

While the concept of the circular economy offers a framework for sustainable development, many companies struggle to implement it effectively. Traps such as misaligned goals, improper resource management, and lack of accountability can cause more harm than good.

Our approach at Terraquota focuses on solving these challenges by providing expert consulting services that cut through the noise and address the root of the problem. We offer tailored ESG Strategy, Regulatory Watch, and Carbon Footprint assessments, helping businesses navigate the complexities of sustainability while avoiding common pitfalls. But we don't stop at theory—we put circularity into practice with our Consortium partner’ recycling operations.

MWT-Recycling Facility: Bringing Circularity to Life

Circularity isn’t just a buzzword for us. Our state-of-the-art recycling facility plays a critical role in closing the loop on resource use. With our unique 4-step process (sampling, analysis, recovery, and full financial and environmental transparency), we ensure that valuable materials are recovered and reused, rather than lost to landfills or inefficient systems. By recovering precious and strategic metals, we exemplify the core principles of the circular economy—keeping resources in use for as long as possible, minimizing waste, and reducing the need for new extraction. Our methods go beyond recycling; they contribute to a closed-loop system that generates real, measurable impact.

Expertise You Can Trust

Being featured in Forbes not only highlights our expertise in the circular economy but also validates the innovative solutions we bring to the table. We’re proud to be recognized as leaders in an industry that is shaping the future of sustainability. With the global push towards circularity, companies need partners who understand both the theory and the practice. At Terraquota, we are ready to guide you through the traps and towards a more sustainable, circular future. So If you’re looking to embrace the full potential of the circular economy for your business, reach out to us today.

About Terraquota: We are an environmental consultancy, part of an industrial consortium with MWT-Recycling. A powerful collective of engineering, regulatory, ESG strategy, and recycling experts. We help companies to reduce their environmental impact(s) all along the value chain. With our state-of-the-art recycling facility, we specialize in recovering critical metals and materials, contributing to the resilience of the EU industry.