Recycling Wins: How the Olympic and Paralympic Games can power the Circular Economy

This blog is part of our series on “Leveraging the Olympics and Paralympic Games for Local Development”. By sharing insights, best practices and success stories, this campaign seeks to inspire and guide future host cities and relevant stakeholders in maximising the benefits of such global events.

Paris’ Olympic and Paralympic Games is a huge opportunity to win hearts and minds as well as medals. Through its approach, Paris is seeking to show the world the potential of the circular economy by organising the Games with fewer resources, making better use of these resources by promoting eco-design and ensuring the second life of resources after the Games.

As part of this strategy, since 2019 it has applied a Responsible Purchasing Strategy to all its procurement, which prioritises businesses who fulfil circular economy criteria, including those that offer solutions for second life and end-of-life of products. My company – Vesto – is part of that mission, and is set to supply 370 refurbished ovens, dishwashers and other catering machines to the event organisers saving over 200 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

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Waste no opportunity

But first, our story. As students, Anne-Laurène Harmel, Wilfrid Dumas, and I shared a passion for tackling the world’s  growing problem with waste. We teamed up to focus on the waste generated by the restaurant industry — a staggering 40,000 tonnes annually in France. I discovered this during the year I spent in the kitchens of the three-star Michelin chef Pierre Gagnaire.

To address this significant waste, we looked for ways to extend the life of equipment, more than half of which was still usable, according to Vesto co-founder Wilfrid Dumas. Initially, we tried to connect owners of used equipment with new restaurant owners. However, reliability proved to be an issue, with nearly 25% of the equipment experiencing issues within the first few months.

The art of industrial refurbishment

To tackle this, Vesto transitioned into an industrial refurbisher. We decided to systematically test each machine, replace defective parts, and thoroughly clean the equipment. This is a model inspired by mobile phone refurbishment in the telecommunications industry that had proven effective a decade earlier.

The company quickly gathered momentum, and in 2021, less than a year after starting, we secured our first round of funding, allowing us to open a reconditioning workshop in the heart of the Department of Seine-Saint-Denis. Two years and a second funding round later, Vesto and our 35-member team opened a 7000m² factory in the Île-de-France.

A social-industrial enterprise

Vesto’s success is largely attributed to our uncompromising commitment to industrialising the second-hand market. From the outset, we developed standardised tests for each refurbishment stage, optimised processes, and implemented continuous improvement systems, reducing the failure rate by two-thirds in under three years.

Industrialisation also reduced the need to hire high-skilled technicians. With appropriate training, Vesto now enables young people still in training to start their careers in this promising field. 

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Using the Olympic and Paralympic Games as a laboratory

Vesto’s journey led us to engage with the Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee in 2022 to integrate refurbished equipment into the event kitchens. Although the equipment wasn’t directly purchased by the Organising Committee but by their catering contractor, the Committee facilitated the connection and encouraged the contractor to incorporate circular economy principles in their procurement.

The requirement was twofold: source second-hand equipment for the Games and manage the end-of-life of this equipment post-Games, addressing both environmental and economic concerns in the process. Initially, a contract demanded very specific machine models, which Vesto could only fulfill about 60% due to sourcing challenges.

A subsequent contract allowed for the substitution of equivalent models based on specifications rather than exact models, enabling Vesto to meet 100% of the demand.  Additionally, a third component was added: repurposing around 800 pieces of equipment post-Games to avoid nearly 40 tonnes of waste.

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Making history with the Games

Through the example of kitchen equipment, the Organising Committee demonstrated how a committed procurement policy could benefit the social and circular economy. For Vesto, this opportunity was crucial in learning the nuances of public procurement. This is particularly important as French municipalities will soon be required to allocate a portion of their budgets to reusing goods (20% in 2024 and 30% in 2030).

The Games also provide 2 key lessons for successful circular purchases:

First, ensure the availability of substitute options for equivalent models.

Second, set an ambitious quota and adhere to it despite potential challenges.

I hope that today, this dual lesson will leave a mark on history as much as the achievements of our athletes.

For this social enterprise, the Games has provided an opportunity to demonstrate to France – and the world – how a strong commitment and supportive policies can help the circular economy thrive and deliver better outcomes for people and the planet.

This article is also available in French.

The OECD Programme on global events (cultural, sports and business) helps those involved build a legacy of local development. We work with event hosts from national or local governments, the private sector, and cultural, sports or business associations to reap greater local benefits from such events.