“The difference between rich and poor is not wealth but opportunity. The poor are the world’s greatest entrepreneurs. Each day they must innovate in order to survive.”

CirculaRise aims to support the socio-ecological economy transformation through the adoption and implementation of socially inclusive, circular economy strategies. The programs are unique in that they enable participants with the knowledge and skills to ensure a Just Transition in their business operations and along their value chain.

Yunus Environment Hub is running the Innovate2Prevent program on behalf of the PREVENT Waste Alliance, with 15 selected innovators from around the world. The program aims to inspire and mobilize creative minds globally to develop innovative, inclusive, and data-driven circular business solutions. Combining an innovation contest with business acceleration, it offers a unique platform for innovators, environmentalists, and forward-thinkers to showcase and advance their groundbreaking ideas for a more sustainable future.

Yunus Environment Hub conducted a research report on behalf of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH ““Towards a Sustainable Future: Recommendations for a Just Transition in Waste Management and Circular Economy in the ASEAN Region”. The report is part of the GIZ regional project ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to Protect the Marine Environment and Coral Reefs’ (3RproMar), which operates across ASEAN countries with a focus on curbing plastic pollution.

Yunus Environment Hub Vietnam, in partnership with the GIZ Go Circular Program and CIRCO, has launched the CIRCO Hub in Vietnam. CIRCO Hub Vietnam aims to drive the adoption of circular economy practices by training companies in the ideation and implementation of circular design strategies and business models using the internationally tested CIRCO method.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a key concept for ‘closing the loop’ in the packaging value chain. The EPR Toolbox is a collection of internationally relevant knowledge on the topic of EPR for packaging. Its aim is to promote knowledge exchange and enhance development of EPR systems worldwide. The EPR Toolbox contains detailed training materials on EPR, practical country examples and a set of FAQs.

SINA – Soziale Innovationen für Nachhaltigkeit (in English: Social Innovations for Sustainability) is a 3-year program implemented by Yunus Environment Hub on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. The program focuses on developing policy recommendations to support the social innovation ecosystem in Germany to achieve the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda.

StartNow is a self-learning platform where aspiring entrepreneurs interact and build a social business plan to address an environmental challenge. With a combination of online and offline experiences, participants advance the creation and testing of their business plans and discover tools to track their progress after finalising the self-learning experience. The process is accompanied by weekly mentoring sessions for ongoing feedback

GrowUp supports early-stage social business entrepreneurs with an environmental focus who have proven their business concept and want to grow up their ventures to become self-sustainable. During 6 months, participants receive tailored mentorship based on their needs, interactive capacity building workshops and networking opportunities with international and local partners and peer-to-peer support.

The Business Incubator and Accelerator (BIA) for Mountains and Islands program is aimed at increasing local communities’ resilience by supporting innovative entrepreneurship in agricultural and textile value chains. Yunus Environment Hub conducts technical assistance, capacity training and individual coaching for over 100 producer organisations in 10 countries and tracks the social, environmental and economic impact.

The Amazon Rainforest is not only home to a variety of endangered animal and plant species, but constitutes one of the world’s most important regions for our global climate. Yunus Environment Hub engages in the preservation of the Amazon Rainforest and indigenous culture through social business support programs to enhance regenerative entrepreneurship and income opportunities for local communities.

Yunus Environment Hub conducted a baseline report on behalf of EIT Climate-KIC to map out the circularity innovation ecosystem in Bengaluru with a particular focus on solid waste management. The aim of the report is to inform Climate-KIC investment in the development of Bengaluru’s circular economy ecosystem.

Yunus Environment Hub supports the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in the Improved Service Delivery to Citizens in Cambodia (ISD) project, focusing on waste management. We conduct workshops and provide expertise for local decision-makers, experts, and stakeholders from Districts and Municipalities in partner provinces in Cambodia aimed to assist in formulating waste management plans.

The Smart Cities Innovation Program specialises African Innovation Support Organisations to promote cities to become the drivers for climate action and inclusive development. Yunus Environment Hub delivers specialised trainings to increase internal capacities, provide access to global networks and ecosystems and tools to strengthen the support offered to startups and innovators.

Based on a modular social business approach, the ZPWC program aims to improve municipal solid waste management systems, with a particular focus on empowering informal waste workers and vulnerable communities. Yunus Environment Hub conducts feasibility studies, trainings and venture building programs to prevent plastic waste leaking into the environment.

ValuCred offers solutions for the design and financing of sustainable plastic waste management systems.  ValuCred has developed a Standard Process Model (SPM) for the transparent calculation and valorisation of voluntary EPR and other financing schemes such as plastic credits.

Yunus Environment Hub published a report conducted on behalf of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), “A qualitative study on risks and opportunities of plastic credit financing instruments being introduced into the informal waste management sector” to offer recommendations for policy makers and practitioners on this important topic. 

The “Marine Debris Framework – Regional hubs around the globe “(Marine:DeFRAG) grant program implemented by Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV), supports projects that actively contribute to preventing the discharge of waste into the oceans. Yunus Environment Hub conducted an integrative literature review to evaluate the grant guideline against marine litter.

The Waste Wise Partnership (WaP), led by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) within the Waste Wise Cities programme, was co-founded by Yunus Environment Hub. It aims to improve municipal solid waste management in cities, facilitating the transition from linear to circular economies for healthier ecosystems and communities. WaP brings partners together to enhance coordination and cooperation, offering aligned products and methodologies to support sustainable MSW management and circular economy initiatives worldwide.

We offer trainings for informal waste sector workers and actors along the value chain to improve working conditions and minimize negative environmental impacts, including: Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), digital skills, and financial skills.