But Mark, what is the circular economy? I hear you ask. Great question.

It is about moving away from "a take it, make it, break it and throw it out" lifecycle to a "reuse, repurpose, repair, remanufacture and recycle" mentality. It saves waste going into landfill, carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere, water going down the drain and money going out of businesses' pockets.

Northern Tasmania Development Corporation has joined its member councils - George Town, City of Launceston, Meander Valley, Break O'Day, Flinders Island, West Tamar and Northern Midlands - through the Northern Tasmania Waste Management Group to trial a digital platform called ASPIRE that connects producers of waste with those who can reuse, repair, repurpose and recycle the products.

Like a matchmaking website, it uses an algorithm to connect people with similar interests, only in this case it is waste products not love. The great thing about ASPIRE is people and businesses in NTDC's council areas with fewer than 20 staff can use it for free, while larger businesses are encouraged to also join for a fee. ASPIRE was started at the CSIRO and has worked with hundreds of councils and businesses across Australia to drive environmental and economic benefits.

One example of a manufacturer of yeast for the baking industry saw it divert more than 160,000 tonnes from landfill to feedstock for supplements for nearby farms and produce electricity via methane power from bio-digestion. The financial and environmental cost benefits were also substantial with the company saving more than $40,000 per year in getting the waste to landfill and preventing more than 3000 tonnes of landfill, more than 700 tonnes of carbon dioxide and saving more than 60,000 litres of water.

Another example was a company called Aximill, an Australian manufacturer of commercial grinders, who have been working with global giants Boral and McDonalds to reuse their respective waste products: broken plasterboard and coffee grounds.

Plasterboard is a fragile product and anything broken during manufacturing would go straight to landfill. Through ASPIRE, the company got access to that waste plasterboard and uses it to make a compostable kitty litter. With McDonalds, Aximill is using 220 kilograms of waste coffee grounds each week to reduce dust from kitty litter.

These simple measures have stopped 11.5 tonnes of used coffee and more than 1000 tonnes of plasterboard and paper going into landfill each year.

The construction industry, which accounts for about 80 percent of waste products, is also seen as a potential user. But there would be immense opportunity in food manufacturing, agriculture and even retail that sees a lot of packaging wasted.

The 12-month trial of ASPIRE is being overseen by NTDC and the Northern Tasmania Waste Management Group.

Northern Tasmania Waste Management Group chairman and George Town Council general manager Shane Power said consumers were becoming more environmentally aware and socially conscious, which was reflected in their buying decisions.

"Businesses that demonstrate commitment to the circular economy will appeal to this market segment as well as doing their bit to reduce environmental impacts," Mr Power said.

"We expect existing businesses will benefit through reducing costs associated with landfill but also add new revenue streams through maximising value from their business processes from large manufacturing to small niche industries or even service providers. We also expect new businesses will evolve in the remanufacturing and recycling processing space, creating job opportunities, including social enterprise, maximising resource value and enhancing the regional economy."

Mr Power said Northern Tasmania already had some great examples of local business and industry leading the way in the circular economy and was confident ASPIRE would provide a marketplace that complements established circular economy ventures.

Embracing circular economy principles using the ASPIRE platform makes perfect sense and is a win-win for businesses, whether you are looking for the environmental outcomes and the economic gains are a bonus, or the economic imperative is what's needed and the environmental positives are an added benefit.

If you are interested in the benefits of a circular economy, I encourage you to head to aspiresme.com to register (for free if your business has fewer than 20 employees).

It will be a match made in heaven and the start of a beautiful relationship with the circular economy.