“Companies must actively engage and work with local communities, parish councils and regulators to promote a culture of good governance, transparency and accountability” says Bower. “Earning the trust of the community and regulators requires a lot of hard work but it is the best way to create a positive legacy.”

Thirdly, Bower believes there is a genuine need for industries such as the energy sector, the construction industry and many other trades “to understand their waste better”.

“Many companies, particularly those in hard-to-abate sectors, outsource brokers to manage their waste,” he says. However, Bower explains that if leaders have a holistic understanding of what is in their waste, and why it was produced in the first place, it makes Augean’s job easier. “Then, we can work in partnership with the organisation to achieve a much more effective circular outcome.”

Exploration and decommissioning in the oil and gas sector provides a good example of the circular economy in action. By removing oil from drill cuttings at its facility in Peterhead, Augean can use the recovered oil, which last year totalled over 318,000 litres, to power the machinery used to recover the oil in the first place, with any excess sent to third parties to produce processed fuel oil.