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During a meeting with Caroline Louis, Manager Circular Economy for Paris 2024, we learned a lot about the organization of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A circular economy strategy has been put in place by Paris 2024, to make the Olympic Games as circular as possible.

The Paris 2024 circular economy strategy

Goal: 2/3 of resources will be recirculated.

Paris 2024 opts for a circular economy strategy based on 5 pillars:

• Rethink the way we do things, with the goal of causing local change. We must first preserve the resources and then think about recycling them.
• Reduce resource use by encouraging the use of existing materials.
• Recycle our products to contribute to changes in people’s behavior.
• Reuse our equipment as well as the working tools to leave the French public a “legacy” of the Olympic Games.
• Bringing together our ecosystem around the circular economy to mobilize all stakeholders.

Some key facts about the organization of the world’s largest sporting event:

As Caroline Louis said so well, there is a huge delivery challenge.

• 15,000 athletes, to be housed, fed and equipped;
• 208 delegations;
• 32 Olympic sports, in which sports facilities must be provided;
• 22 Paralympic sports, which also require equipment;
• 45,000 volunteers;
• 13 Million meals;
• 878 events;
• 13.4 million viewers;
• 3 billion television viewers;
• 20,000 journalists.

Resources mobilized

Paris 2024 estimates that the material footprint would be 270,000 tons of resources mobilized. These are divided into 5 poles:

• Celebrate 6% : this concerns merchandise and ceremonies. Partners will be offered best practices for the design of their product.
• Host 9% : refers to services that affect the audience. The objective here is to reduce food waste, facilitate sorting and raise awareness about water resources.
• Equip 1% : the venues and players of the Games. All sports equipment is intended to be reused, to extend their life span, and to promote an eco-responsible textile industry.
• Fitting out 11% : corresponds to the furnishing and decoration of the sites. Paris 2024 wants to ensure the second life of the used furniture by renting it, but also to support the reduction of packaging.
• Building 72% : temporary site works and infrastructure. The organization will rely on existing or temporary structures, act for eco-design, accelerate the dynamics of reuse.

Comparison with previous Olympic Games

During the London 2012 Olympic Games, more than 40 million items were sold in the official stores.

In addition, many Olympic stadiums are now named “White Elephants”. An expression that comes from India. The White Elephants are prestigious gifts that princes gave to each other. The princes who received this sacred gift were obliged to treat them well and therefore not to make them work. This is how stadiums that have only been used for a few months are called.

Among them are:

• The Olympic Stadium in Montreal

• The Olympic stadium of Seville, city in which the Olympic Games of 2004 and 2008 had to take place but which finally took place in Athens and Beijing.
• The springboard of Dauphiné of Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte built for the Winter Olympics of 1968.

A circular event that will give a new start to our consumption patterns?

At Paris 2024, there is a certain desire to set an example in terms of the circular economy. 13 million spectators, 3 billion television viewers, the most famous event in the world, all this will be a vector of communication for the circular economy. Show and prove to more than 3 billion people that the circular economy has a strong impact for the environment and a lower cost for us.

If it is possible to make the world’s biggest event a circular one, then it is possible to change our consumption patterns by rethinking our ways of doing things, by reducing our consumption of new products, by recycling our products, by reusing everything that can be reused, and finally by all of us coming together around the same cause.

That’s why CircularPlace has developed a marketplace allowing the resale of your non-food waste between professionals, and puts you in touch with non-profit organizations to recover your products.

You can also opt for a white label solution that will allow your company to achieve internal circularity of your equipment and to engage your employees around ecological themes.

Don’t throw away any more, opt for the second hand!