Searious Business

12/01/2026

One last chance to find out how to apply for the Sustainable Small Grants programme in the Caribbean for innovative plastic waste reduction and circular economy projects.

Open to MSMEs, community groups, and women- and youth-led entrepreneurs—including waste management, fisheries, tourism, retail, HoReCa, and public sector—in Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines!

The hashtag project is implemented by UICN México, América Central y el Caribe, and supported by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (MAECI).

📅 Date: 22 January 2026
⏰ Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST
🔗 Teams: https://lnkd.in/e-z8qGi2

✅Register FREE: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=PpXhdy3RcEiP52CB9TdrgvzOLoBNGe9OuMbN-Y6ziCNUODM0WDJEOVU4NEdWOTlOTkYzTFIzQUNOUy4u&route=shorturl

06/01/2026

Searious Business is officially joining the movement for ! 🤝

On January 6, we join others in declaring that the era of throwaway culture must end. But reuse doesn’t happen by accident. It has to be built. - by business.

Reuse systems that actually work require budget, time, and leadership focus—not underfunded pilots or side projects, but real investment to test, learn, and scale new systems and protocols.

European rules will soon require reusable packaging. Now is the moment to jump in with two feet and build solutions that work for your business—before compliance becomes a scramble.

At Searious Business, we design reuse systems that succeed 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, across food, beverage, transport, household, industrial cleaning, and hospitality.

If you’re ready to move from talk to action, let’s explore what reuse can look like for your business.

👉 https://www.seariousbusiness.com/reusable-packaging

Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)

05/01/2026

💰 New funding opportunity in the Caribbean!

Are you a woman- or youth-led MSME, a community group, or an innovative entrepreneur — including waste management companies, fisheries, tourism operators, retailers, HoReCa businesses, or public sector entities— in Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, or St. Vincent & the Grenadines, don’t miss the 2nd Sustainable Small Grants Program webinar!

Discover how you can secure funding for pioneering plastic waste reduction and circular economy initiatives — register today!

If you'd like a quick preview, you can download the slides from the first webinar on our website: https://www.seariousbusiness.com/ccpt-small-grants

This grants program is part of the Closing the Caribbean Plastic Tap project, implemented by UICN México, América Central y el Caribe and supported by the Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo (AICS) and Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale(MAECI).

Webinar Details:

📅 Date: 22 January 2026

⏰ Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST

🔗 Microsoft Teams:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YTVhOGJlMTQtZDlhOS00Y2YyLTkxNDQtMTZkZDhjNTUzYzJl%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2277e1953e-d12d-4870-8fe7-6081f5376b82%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22802ecefc-194d-

✅Register Now (FREE):

https://forms.office.com/e/jwqWQUiAig

01/01/2026

December 2025 Recap - creating impact with circular plastics - Searious Business - https://mailchi.mp/seariousbusiness/searious-business-monthly-recap-december-2025

19/12/2025

Dear Searious Friends,

As the year draws to a close, the Searious Business team is signing off for the holidays. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all our friends, clients, partners and followers for your trust, collaboration and continued support over the past 12 months.

2025 has been a remarkable year for us. From insightful reuse research and technological progress to meaningful collaborations and impactful new legislation, each step has strengthened our belief in a truly circular future. Together, we are proving that plastic belongs in our economy — and out of our ocean.

Gifts from 2025:
🎁 Bringing Industry together to hashtag
🔗 https://lnkd.in/ektKSpEs
🎁 Proving reusable big bags have an environmental and a business case
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eWeaDvUK
🎁 Saving our FMCG clients an average of 8% material costs and 64% CO2 emissions
🔗 https://lnkd.in/eXqChtMv
🎁 Advancing Extended Producer Responsibility implementation in the Pacific 🔗https://lnkd.in/eXXAY-3G
🎁 Forming an industry consortium to build reusable transport packaging system for large household appliances 🔗https://lnkd.in/efqc5v7Z
🎁 Scaling reusable takeaway packaging and waste-to-product recycling in the Caribbean
🔗 https://lnkd.in/ebHe65Rf

Looking ahead to 2026, we are energised by the initiatives already in motion. It is a year for creating business opportunities, thinking beyond the obvious, forging new connections and accelerating the circular transition. We warmly invite the ambitious and forward-thinking among you to turn your resolutions into action and help drive innovation and lasting impact.

For now, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to staying connected and continuing our work together in 2026.
Festive greetings,

The Searious Team x

16/12/2025

Nice to see Searious Business recognised in the MT/Sprout , ranking 9th in the Sustainability Consultants category.
What we value most about this recognition is that it comes from Dutch business decision-makers — peers who experience our work in practice, not on paper.

It reinforces our commitment to what we do every day:

👉 helping clients and partners turn plastic circular, unlock real economic opportunities, and "𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯".

We’ll keep focusing on practical solutions, system change, and radical collaboration — because that’s where impact happens.

15/12/2025

Thanks to Verpakkings Management for this insightful article featuring our CEO & founder Willemijn Peeters, following her keynote at the Sustainable Packaging Summit 2025 in Utrecht.

Willemijn challenges the industry to move beyond compliance and box-ticking, and to see circular design as a strategic driver for innovation, resilience, and long-term value creation — not just as a sustainability obligation.

★ Compliance alone won’t get us where we need to go
★ Circular design can shift sustainability from cost to opportunity
★Real-world cases show reduced costs, lower CO₂ emissions, and stronger customer retention

👉 Read the full article here:
https://www.verpakkingsmanagement.nl/duurzame-verpakkingen/willemijn-peeters-circulair-ontwerp-opent-nieuwe-businessmodellen

Because real impact starts with redesigning the system — not just improving it.

08/12/2025

If you're in , , , , , and you have a circular business or maybe an idea for a business working within the circular economy for plastics - There's still time to register for our webinar today where we will explain how small businesses in the Caribbean can apply for funding from the Sustainable Small Grants program.

If you're wondering what counts as a circular business - It could be anything that either reduces plastic from being created, extends the lifecycle of that plastic or enables it's circularity through increasing recyclability or recycling rates.

Ideas💡: Setting up refill stations for household products, arranging a reusable packaging service for food vendors, developing eco-friendly packaging for the fishing industry, scaling bottle to bottle collection or scaling a waste-to-product recycling initiative. There are countless ways!

You just need to be from one of the participating islands and priority will be given to companies demonstrating commitment to women/youth leadership.

Come join us and find out more!

It's at 10am Eastern Standard Time (3pm Central European Time). Register here: https://lnkd.in/egWFt9De

The grants program is part of the project Closing the Caribbean Plastic Tap, that is implemented by the UICN México, América Central y el Caribe, and supported by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale(MAECI).

05/12/2025

🚀 Today we’re proud to publish the full outcomes of the oceanBag project — now live on our website!
🔗 Full report: https://www.seariousbusiness.com/oceanbag

Over the past year, our consortium — Royal LC Packaging / WorldBag, Re3v, TrackOnline ♻️ developed by Bexter-IT, Bas van den Ende Recycling, and Searious Business — supported by the Nederland Circulair Moonshot Programme — has been investigating how to develop a scalable reusable Big Bag system for Europe.

🔍 Top findings:
There is now clear evidence that reusable Big Bags are:
✔ technically feasible
✔ hygienically safe
✔ operationally workable
✔ economically attractive (with major cost-savings potential)

In short: — and it’s ready to scale.

With PPWR reuse targets approaching, reusable systems are no longer optional. They are a strategic, future-proof solution for every industry that relies on bulk packaging.

🌍 We are now preparing the next phase: a large-scale, multi-company pilot to bring reusable Big Bags to market reality.

👉 If your organisation wants to be part of this next step, we’d love to hear from you. Contact rosemarie@seariousbusiness.com

01/12/2025

💰New funding opportunity in the Caribbean!

If you’re a woman- or youth-led MSME, a community group, or an innovative entrepreneur — including waste management companies, fisheries, tourism operators, retailers, HoReCa businesses, or public sector entities driving green procurement — in Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, or St. Vincent & the Grenadines, don’t miss your chance to join the Sustainable Small Grants Program webinar.

Discover how you can secure funding for pioneering plastic waste reduction and circular economy initiatives — register today!

The Request for Proposals (RfP) will open at the end of February 2026.

This grants program is part of the Closing the Caribbean Plastic Tap project, implemented by UICN México, América Central y el Caribe, and supported by the Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo(AICS) and Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale(MAECI).

🗓 Date: 08 December 2025
⏰ Time: 10-11 AM EST
🔗 Teams: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NzAzYWMyODMtOWUzZi00MWQxLWEwMjYtM2ExYTg0MzQ5MTRh%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b"Tid"%3a"77e1953e-d12d-4870-8fe7-6081f5376b82","Oid"%3a"802ecefc-194d-4eef-b8c6-cdf98eb38823"%7d to join
✅ Register FREE: https://forms.office.com/e/n07BXYdDvB
or scan the QR code!

01/12/2025

November 2025 Recap - creating impact with circular plastics - Searious Business - https://mailchi.mp/seariousbusiness/searious-business-monthly-recap-november-2025

13/11/2025

To Policymakers - Right the imbalance between virgin and recycled plastic and secure consistent demand. We can't wait 4 more years.

To Brands - By focussing on recyclability without buying recyclate at the other end you are missing the point. The circular economy can only keep turning with a push AND a pull.

To the wider plastics industry - Start treating recycling as core business strategy and not a technical side-project.

To Recyclers - Think less like engineers and more like entrepreneurs. Collaborate and create your own markets.

Packaging Europe

https://packagingeurope.com/news/plastics-value-chain-players-call-on-european-commission-to-close-gap-between-virgin-and-recycled-plastics-prices/13622.article

Over 110 organisations from across Europe's plastics value chain have united to deliver an Industry Statement to officials at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment (DG-ENV), calling to 'close the gap' between virgin and recycled plastic prices.