The initiative

From TheCircularLab we support and encourage young talent, through the creation of Circular Talent Labs, formed by multidisciplinary teams of university students and from other higher education levels. Participants work for 3-6 months in a defined challenge in the circular economy environment and within an open innovation ecosystem, where they can gain experience and boost their professional development.

For Ecoembes and TheCircularLab young talent occupy a high priority, which is why special attention is given to the selection of team members. Once defined the challenges (which can be raised by both Ecoembes and collaborating companies) the most appropriate teams are selected to solve them and the exact duration of the lab, as well as the mentors who will guide them and the training program they will follow. The ultimate goal is to obtain a viable minimum product that the company can industrialize.

The members of the lab participate in an unconditioned ideation process and within an environment of work and collaboration, which added to the mentoring and validation of the company, guarantee the success of the results after several editions.

This experience and specialization allows them to access the labor market of companies and entrepreneurs, in many cases of TheCircularLab’s own ecosystem.

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The initiative
Benefits for trainees

Benefits for trainees

  • Specific training
  • Results oriented work
  • Multidisciplinary teamwork
  • Work experience
  • Creative environment
  • Mentoring by experienced professionals
  • Inclusion in the E-Talent community of Ecoembes

Benefits for collaborating companies

  • Availability of a multidisciplinary work team external to the company
  • Groundbreaking ideas
  • Different points of view for a challenge
  • Supervision of work by experienced professionals
  • Candidates trained and validated for future hires of the company
  • Access to the TheCircularLab ecosystem (facilities, entrepreneurs, specialists, etc.)
  • Communicative potential and CSR
Benefits for collaborating companies

Labs and Mini Labs

Labs and Mini Labs are challenges, proposed by Ecoembes or collaborating companies, in which a young multidisciplinary team selected by TheCircularLab works to develop new projects that are related at all times to the circular economy.

The project’s duration determines whether it is a Lab (six months) or a Mini-Lab (three months).

To date five editions of the Lab and two editions of the Mini-Lab have been held, in which participants have come up with ideas, developed and produced some of the following projects:

CircularTalentLab

CONTENEDOR CONECTADO

El reto impulsaba a los jóvenes participantes a innovar en el diseño de un contenedor que conectase a los ciudadanos con el proceso del reciclaje. Y, de esta forma, cambiar el estigma social asociado a los residuos y a la clasificación de los mismos en los diferentes contenedores.
Por ello, los participantes de esta edición propusieron la creación de un módulo externo que estuviese conectado a los contenedores, tanto de envases de plástico, latas y briks (amarillos) como de papel-cartón (azules) y resto, y los mantuviese bloqueados, de forma que solo se abriesen cuando recibiesen la orden del ciudadano a través de dicho módulo.

CircularTalentLab

RECYCLED MATERIALS
This challenge set out to achieve a viable minimum product that would raise the value of waste packaging that is selectively deposited in the yellow container.
Therefore, participants in this edition sought a way of giving these recycled materials with a lesser value a second life and, at the same time, raising awareness among the population regarding the importance of the circular economy. They did so through the design and creation of an active classroom, built with recycled materials, in which the protagonist was the educational value of the process of recycling and the circular economy.

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CircularTalentLab

RECYCLING OUTSIDE OF THE HOME
On this occasion, the challenge consisted of seeking solutions to facilitate the recuperation of a larger quantity of containers in areas where people spend a large part of their time (business centres, universities, stations, etc.)
For this reason, participants in this edition designed a festival ticket windows with Eco-Pack, which consisted of a recycling system to be installed mainly at festivals with a camping area, although it is also adaptable to beaches and campsites. This system implies an environmental awareness on the part of the public, as it connects the recycling idea with a leisure scenario in which users are not used to recycling.

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CircularTalentLab

GRANJA SAN FRANCISCO PROJECT
On this occasion, participants had to develop a project for the Granja San Francisco company. This consisted of redesigning its 350gr anti-drip honey bottle (PET) in order to improve its recyclability through an ecological and sustainable design.

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CircularTalentLab

PROJECT FOR DIAGEO
The challenge for this edition was proposed by the Diageo company, and consisted of making improvements to the recyclability of their 20cl colour PET bottle (Pocket Scotch) by means of an ecological and sustainable design.

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