Have you heard the saying ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’? Well, this platform takes it to the next level, creating a marketplace for businesses to share their unwanted resources for free or sell them to generate additional revenue. With all types of products and resources in demand, you might not know what goldmine you’re sitting on.

Brisbane City Council has recently purchased a license to the ASPIRE platform, meaning all small and medium businesses (up to 100 FTE employees) within the Brisbane City Local Government Area have free access to the circular economy platform.

How it works

The ASPIRE platform connects you with other businesses that might be interested in your unwanted resources. This might be a by-product – such as yeast from a local brewery, surplus materials on hand, or even office furniture you don’t need anymore.

All you have to do to use the ASPIRE platform is create an account (see instructions below) and then you can start using the marketplace.

Why having an ASPIRE account makes good business sense

When we keep resources in our economy for longer – instead of throwing them in landfill – everyone wins. Not only is taking a circular economy approach better for the environment, it’s often good for business. Organisations that are part of ASPIRE, enjoy many benefits such as:

• New revenue streams
• Creating sustainable business models and supply chains
• Lower waste levy costs with reduced waste
• Unlimited resource listing and technical support
• Receive free promotional material for your network
• Capture measurable data around disposal/procurement cost savings, tonnage diverted from landfill and CO2 emission savings for each transaction
• The chance to be a featured case study in the ASPIRE newsletter
• Access to the ASPIRE community network with over 1,000 Australian businesses.

How to register and use ASPIRE

When you make an account and input your business address, the platform will automatically register your location within the Brisbane City LGA and reduce your registration fee to $0.

Once you’ve set up and logged in, there are four different pages with useful information:

• The dashboard provides an overview of your company’s savings in waste, emissions and total revenue and savings.
• Use the marketplace to view everything that is being sold or given away for free.
• Resources provides a snapshot of everything that you’ve put out to the marketplace and everything you’ve bought in, either for free or by purchasing.
• Matches helps you keep an eye on items and products that may be particularly relevant to your company. Use the ‘interests’ section to select types of products and commodities that you may want to bring into your business’s supply chain from the ASPIRE platform.

If you want to sell or give away resources, simply click the ‘add’ button at the top right-hand side of the screen.

How to get started

It’s simple to get started. All you have to do is visit aspiresme.com and click ‘login’. Then choose the ‘don’t have an account’ drop-down button and click ‘sign up’.

When you enter your ABN, the account will automatically register that your business is within the Brisbane City Local Government Area and make your payment free.

For more details on the benefits of ASPIRE and how to get started, view the Brisbane business welcome pack.

What kind of resources are on the marketplace?

Anything! All kinds of products and resources that may have value to another business model can be listed on the ASPIRE marketplace. Some common examples include:

• Plastic pallets, containers and buckets
• Scrap metal, wood and spare tires
• Coffee grounds (great for composting for food growers!)
• Unused equipment and machinery
• Insulation
• Tyres
• Furniture
• Food and garden waste
• Office and electrical equipment
• And much, much more!

Please note: