After evaluating almost fifty proposals received under the Call for Expression of Interest to participate in a pilot programme aimed at supporting the private sector to use the economic crisis as an opportunity, five companies were selected to undergo a business transformation and reinvent some of their linear business practices towards more sustainable and greener businesses models.

Our circular economy forerunners are the following companies:

1. Biona&Beyond from Sarajevo, with their proposal “Zero Waste Food Production”
2. Milinković from Banja Luka, with their proposal “Processing of secondary raw materials”
3. Šumska tajna from Ribnik, with their proposal “Wastewater treatment and biological waste composting”
4. Empress from Zenica, with their proposal “Circular solutions for greener business practices”
5. Energo Max Oil from Gradačac, with their proposal “Socially responsible citizens”

All selected companies come from industries affected by the COVID-19-related economic downturn in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This intervention will support them in recovering smarter and better by:

• Devising a longer-term roadmap towards circular and green approaches for their business, and
• Piloting concrete short-term interventions towards circularity of the business operations, to support sustainability of the economic recovery efforts.

This intervention is supported by the UNDP Rapid Response Facility as part of the UNDP COVID-19 response and recovery framework, which focuses on innovative approaches for economic revival and job retention in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The introduction of a circular and regenerative business models entails that not only the environmental impact is minimized, but that the economic and social impact is positive, leading to sustainable growth and expanded business opportunities, even at a time of crisis.