LAST month, Oxford's Seacourt printing company won 'the most prestigious award in sustainability' – the European Commission's EMAS.

Here, joint-owner and managing director Gareth Dinnage gives his prescription for how Oxford could turn into a zero-waste city.

DONALD Trump, please read this – it just might save us all.

Today’s linear economic model of ‘take, make, and dispose’ relies on large quantities of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy.

It is a model that is reaching its physical limits and is unsustainable.

Put simply, we consume too much, we waste too much and we see waste as waste, not as valuable resources that could be re-used.

Ultimately, we are out-consuming the planet – and overheating it in the meantime.

I don't want to be alarmist, but instead to point the spotlight on something which is, in fact, a very positive approach to this problem: the circular economy.

If you are not familiar with the term, it is simply about designing waste out of production cycles: materials that are left at the end of one process become a resource for the next process, and so develop a second use.

At Seacourt (the UK’s sustainable printers and according to The Environmental Commission the most sustainable SME in Europe), we have been working within the circular economy since October 2009. That was the month we sent our last ever waste collection to landfill.

Since then we have ensured that all materials which enter our facility either end up as part of the finished product delivered to our clients, or are collected by our recycling partners for second-generation use.

These materials are all sorts of things – paper, printing plates, plastics, printing blankets, ink... the list goes on.

You see, we don’t believe in waste at Seacourt.

We simply have materials – valuable resources – that we can no longer use which we pass onto other companies for secondary products and processes.

We believe, like so many others, that the circular economy is a fundamental approach which all businesses should adopt in order to transition to a low or zero–waste economy.

This is good not only for the environment, but also for business. By its nature, the Circular Economy keeps costs down and maximises the efficient use of resources. Such sound thinking positively contributes to a company’s reputation, trust and, of course, its financial position.

If we as a manufacturer can manage this (even the Queen recognises our achievements as, in the last nine years, we have won three Queen’s Awards for Sustainable Development) then I challenge all businesses, education institutions, councils and charities, to take a long hard look at their own impacts.

Where to start?

First, understand the metrics of environmental impact: set a baseline and measurable targets to minimise impact.

Then build plans to design waste out of the supply chain.

All of this is possible, it just takes a bit of vision, innovation and determination.

And, in my view, these are the three key attributes which make Oxford stand out – they are literally in our DNA.

I also believe that Oxford has the ambition to be the UK’s most sustainable city.

Put these things together and we could do something really meaningful to reduce our environmental impact.

Imagine Oxford as the first city in the world with zero waste to landfill.

Now that would be something, right?

Find out more about Seacourt at seacourt.net