O-krug

The team behind O-Krug is a group of young people who want to be a part of the solution instead of the problem, having Marija, Marko and Matea as the 3 musketeers surrounded by a growing army of volunteers and supporters. In our everyday lives we are highly aware and conscious of our waste footprint, and this is exactly what drives them every day to lower it in every way possible, providing innovative solutions to these local and global problems.

The idea for O-Krug was born on a Sunday afternoon in the city park in Skopje, where they saw crates and crates filled with citrus waste from the fresh orange juice drank that day. Living in a family where food waste is the word of the day, every day, they became aware of the harm these peels do when left untreated, while hiding potential waiting to be squeezed out.

The natural oil from the peels is the purest form of essential oil, having therapeutic and antibacterial properties, while the natural air freshener which is a hydrolate of the oil and distilled water, is a natural and safe alternative for the toxic chemical fresheners on the market, without leaving a CO2 footprint.

Their journey started with the idea generation process back in 2020, following up with the process of educating themselves and accelerating the idea into a real sustainable business model. Today, they have secured a facility for our offices and production site, registered a legal entity, and won the competitions: Social Impact Award and Balkan Green Ideas, awarding them the seeding fund to start production and put the theory into practice.

O-Krug is a social business as it is a business that employs young people, focusing on young people from marginalized categories as well as bettering the wellbeing of the community. It is a green business as it is a circular business that will convert bio waste that if left untreated will pollute the air by releasing greenhouse gases and the soil by releasing toxic oils that harm the soil and plant life.

The inspiration to have a merge of social and green comes first of all from the family business Mamaorgna, which is also a circular social startup. Coming from a single parent family, the founder, herself is a marginalized young person having first-hand experience of the lesser opportunities for marginalized youth, and as of the green point, living in a household where composting, recycling, upcycling and reuse are core values, you cannot not think green and search for green innovative solutions to everyday environmental problems.

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