Circular Economy 360 Video Series; Lysiane Serret, Envie Autonomie

With NHS budgets under constant pressure and increased efficiency often being sought, I was really looking forward to my interview with Lysiane Serret of Envie Autonomie.

Lysiane is the regional director of Envie Autonomie in the Northeast of France and graduated from Lorraine (France) and Vaasa (Finland) Universities 12 years ago in the fields of fragile people inclusion and project management. Since then, after some short foreign experiences in Europe, she has been working as a manager for a French recycling and social inclusion company: Envie Autonomie where her main duties are to identify potential partnerships, building strong networks and initiating economic activities to generate skilled jobs in the circular economy.

Envie Autonomie works across France to support the reuse of health equipment providing families and individuals with the resources they require to be supported at home during a time of need. Conceived primarily as a programme that could offer employment opportunities through the refurbishment of equipment, the programme has overcome a number of barriers to deliver across 11 locations.

As we heard in our Circular Economy 360 live sessions through the work of Redeem Exchange, the delivery to the health sector has brought challenges of scale and system flexibility. In addition, we note the extra responsibility around infection-control and key safety concerns, all of which help us to build a picture of the complexity involved in the projects of this type. While there are additional considerations, the opportunities are huge – and can reduce the NHS footprint, ensure equipment is not wasted and cut costs.

Crutches, walking aids, wheelchairs and mobility scooters are all items that can often be refurbished, and while are a number of organisations involved in this work there are still significant opportunities for growth. In the video Lysiane and I talk about their programme developed in France, the benefits it had to both carers and those in need, and in the creation of work and employment.

Once again our interview highlights how environmental and social objectives really do go hand-in-hand. Lysiane dreams about successful careers for their people, and works to raise skill levels among them. With this as her key motivation, the job requires optimism and creativity and we close this blog with her favourite sentence: “Every day is a chance, if not, the day after can be another one."