A modern, regenerative industrial area with warehouses, showcasing advanced smart technology. Visible features include an autonomous sorting robot in the sorting yard, solar panels, an information board displaying open data, an electric transport truck (smart logistics), and green surroundings with trees and a meadow.

PLUTO

Development of data-based services and regenerative operating models in circular economy SMEs

Project information

Project	Development of data-based services and regenerative operating models in circular economy SMEs – PLUTO (A81304)
Duration	1.1.2025 – 31.12.2026
Implementer	The project is administered by Häme University of Applied Sciences
Funder	European Regional Development Fund
Action Line	2 Carbon-Neutral Finland
Specific Objective	2.3 Promoting the Transition to a Circular Economy
Budget	276 529 €, of which EU funding is 193 564 €

In small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the circular economy sector, there is a recognised need to upcycle recycled materials processed and produced by companies, thereby developing regenerative business operations. Additionally, there is a need to diversify and develop the business operations of circular economy companies through data-driven servitization.

Efficient circulation of materials and the promotion of recycling are the cornerstones of circular economy. Traditional circular economy thinking emphasizes the reuse and recycling of materials into new products for as long as possible. To enable circular economy to be efficient, profitable and effective, instead of just recycling materials, it should strive to increase their processing value. Upcycling is an operating model that increases the recycled materials’ extent of value. By upcycling it is possible not only to create new recycled products, but also to create a profitable business for circular economy companies, which contributes to increasing the circulation and reuse of materials. In this way, it is possible to create regenerative operating models, where along with new materials and products, effects that renew the environment can be created.

The goal of the PLUTO project is to promote the ability of circular economy companies to develop their operating methods and business to follow the principles of regeneration, e.g. by improving the extent of value of the material flows and by adopting regenerative operating models. Another key goal is to promote the ability of circular economy companies to build and offer services based on their customers’ data, which customer companies can use, for example, in monitoring, developing and improving their processes or preparing various reports. By developing a data-based service business, circular economy companies can strengthen their own business and create growth.

The project involves close cooperation and joint knowledge creation in the interaction between companies and HAMK. In the project, company-specific case analyses, benchmarks and company-oriented workshops are conducted. The results of the project include pilots and concepts built based on the needs of companies, as well as development and action proposals. The results of the project are widely communicated both to the companies that are the target group of the project and, more broadly, to the actors of the circular economy ecosystem.

Target group

The main target groups of the project are businesses engaged in circular economy, waste management, and material cycles in the Tavastia Proper.

Operating area

Tavastia Proper.

Project Objectives

Identify and recognise company-specific solutions for upcycling material flows, for example through new products, operating models, processes, or customer relationships.
Develop the operating methods and business of circular economy companies to adhere more closely to the principles of regeneration, in addition to increasing the degree of processing, by seeking new regeneration-supporting operating models through benchmarks and workshops.
Enhance the capabilities of companies operating in the circular economy sector to offer services based on customers’ waste and material flows, which can help customers develop their own processes or businesses, improve profitability, or manage sustainability reporting.
Identify suitable best practices from the circular economy and other relevant sectors, as well as from research, for the development of data-based services for customers through both domestic and international benchmarks.
Build service concepts based on the data of the customers of the companies involved in the project.