Turning Circularity into Business Value

This article was contributed by Terrascope.

How Terrascope and Winning Group helped quantify avoided emissions and unlock clearer sustainability decisions

Sustainability efforts are often visible. Their impact is not.

For many businesses, circular initiatives like recycling, take-back programs or waste reduction are well established. But without clear measurement, it’s difficult to understand what those efforts are actually achieving or how they contribute to broader business goals.

This is where Terrascope works.

In partnership with Winning Group, Terrascope helped turn long-standing circularity programs into measurable, decision-ready data.

The challenge: Strong sustainability programs, limited visibility on impact

Winning Group had been investing in circularity since 2005 through its product removal and recycling program.

The results were tangible:

• Over 80,000 tonnes of appliances and materials diverted from landfill
• Expansion into recycling packaging, mattresses and electronics
• Recognition through national sustainability and logistics awards

But like many organisations, they faced a common challenge:

They couldn’t clearly quantify the climate impact of these initiatives.

At the same time, the business needed:

• A consistent and detailed carbon footprint across multiple years
• Clear visibility on Scope 3 emissions
• Preparation for mandatory reporting under Australia’s ASRS

Sustainability data existed, but it was fragmented and difficult to translate into action.

The solution: Full carbon visibility and avoided emissions measurement

Terrascope supported Winning Group to move from fragmented data to a complete emissions picture.

This included:

• Full Scope 1–3 carbon measurement across FY21–FY25
• Identification of emissions hotspots across the value chain
• Quantification of avoided emissions from circular programs

For the first time, Winning Group could measure what their circularity efforts were actually preventing.

The result:

• Climate impact from avoided emissions: Winning Group quantified the climate impact of its longstanding removal and recycling program for the first time, revealing ~ 8.2 kilotons of CO2e avoided.
• Scope 3 hotspots: Winning Group also measured their carbon footprint for FY21-FY25 and identified their emission hot spots. Scope 3 accounted for a significant proportion, with use of sold products and purchased goods & services representing material emissions sources.

These avoided emissions were driven by improved waste treatment (including refrigerant recovery and appliance recycling) and replacement of virgin materials through recycled inputs.

Critically, the avoided emissions exceeded the company’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions in FY2024.

What this unlocked for the business

This level of clarity changed how sustainability showed up internally and externally.

Winning Group could now:

• Translate circularity into measurable climate impact
• Communicate results in clear, relatable terms
• Identify where emissions reduction efforts would have the greatest effect
• Build a stronger, data-backed sustainability narrative

It also created a clear pathway for compliance with evolving reporting requirements.

Why this matters for other businesses

Most organisations are already doing sustainability work.

The gap is visibility.

Without measurement, progress is hard to prove, investment is harder to prioritise and sustainability remains disconnected from business value.

What this case shows is simple:

When you can quantify both emissions and avoided emissions, sustainability stops being a story and becomes a decision-making tool.