Driving Profit Through Green Solutions Read on for actionable insights and strategic steps to align your business with environmental goals while capitalising on emerging opportunities.

Discover how sustainable practices can cut costs and drive growth in Entrepreneur UK's Q&A with Steve Haskew, Group Director of Sustainability and Growth at Circular Computing, a company that offers remanufactured, like-new IT products that are carbon neutral and socially responsible.

What innovative sustainability trends should entrepreneurs watch for?
The adoption of remanufactured devices is on the rise and a perfect solution for companies looking for a tech innovation, deliverable at scale, to help with their sustainability goals. For laptops, our thorough remanufacturing process sees individual components tested and replaced, producing second-life models that works 'equal to or better than new' models. Performance is guaranteed by the BSI kitemark and producing a remanufactured laptop uses 6.34% of C02 compared with new, as well as costing up to 40% less.

What's a common mistake startups make in sustainability, and how can it be avoided?
There are misconceptions among startups that they must go it alone regarding sustainability or make bold, unsubstantiated claims that they are doing their bit for the environment. Instead, founders should focus on their sustainability targets and seek help to achieve them incrementally.

Third-party accreditation and support in measuring carbon emissions are key to ensuring a business's actions provide the foundations for a carbon-neutral future. Plenty of government-backed schemes and programmes, such as those listed on the Zero Carbon Business website, are available. Founders should also consider small actions to make their businesses environmentally aware, such as ensuring they work with responsible companies throughout their supply chain.

Related: The Future of Sustainable Building

Can you share a success story where sustainability boosted a company's growth?
A recent partnership Circular Computing made with the Irish government demonstrates how a sustainable approach can deliver mutual benefits and growth. For our company, the deal to supply remanufactured notebooks to the Irish public sector over the next four years is worth €30m, while the adoption of sustainable IT also allows Ireland to be eligible for increased EU funding.

How can entrepreneurs effectively measure the impact of their sustainability efforts?
Entrepreneurs should conduct research to help them measure the impact of their sustainability efforts. Scope 3 emissions account for more than 70% of a business's carbon footprint, meaning auditing and aligning your supply chains to environmental accreditations is vital to measure the impact of sustainability more accurately. Entrepreneurs must also ensure they understand their suppliers' codes of conduct and that they are acting to achieve meaningful ESG outcomes that align with their own interests.

What role do partnerships play in advancing sustainability, and how can startups leverage them?Partnerships advance sustainability by pushing forward regulatory and policy influence. Collaborations, both within and outside the respective industry can influence sustainability policies and regulations, especially those involving industry coalitions or public-private partnerships. By utilising these partnerships, startups can advance a sustainability agenda not just within the business world but also in the political one.