Circular Economy Podcast

Podcasts

How circular approaches make a better business (and a better world): for you, your partners, and your customers. Catherine Weetman, of Rethink Global will be chatting with those inspiring people who are making the circular economy happen: rethinking how we design, make and use everything. We’ll talk to entrepreneurs & business owners, social enterprises, and leading thinkers. We’ll find out how they are using circular principles to create value, increase resilience and reduce risk: to make a competitive, sustainable organisation. You’ll find the show notes and links at www.circulareconomypodcast.com, where you can subscribe to updates and useful resources.

How circular approaches make a better business (and a better world): for you, your partners, and your customers. Catherine Weetman, of Rethink Global will be chatting with those inspiring people who are making the circular economy happen: rethinking how we design, make and use everything. We’ll talk to entrepreneurs & business owners, social enterprises, and leading thinkers. We’ll find out how they are using circular principles to create value, increase resilience and reduce risk: to make a competitive, sustainable organisation. You’ll find the show notes and links at www.circulareconomypodcast.com, where you can subscribe to updates and useful resources.

Location:

United Kingdom

Genres:

Podcasts

Description:

Twitter:

@Rethink_Global

Language:

English

Website:

http://www.circulareconomypodcast.com/

Email:

hello@rethinkglobal.inco

Episodes

Episode 50 – Thinking differently

4/3/2021

In this season, we’ve featured another 9 amazing, talented people, helping to make the circular economy happen. Our guests have been from the USA, Chile, Ghana, Spain and the UK. We’ve heard valuable insights, shared by people working in startups, in well-established companies, and working to support those with new ideas, or to make existing businesses more circular. And yet again, I’m struggling to fit all the brilliant tips and lessons learned into this round-up episode. A recurring theme...

Duration:01:50:01

Episode 49 – Ryan Edwards of Naked Innovations

3/20/2021

Ryan Edwards is Co-founder of Naked Innovations, an eclectic mix of entrepreneurial “co-creators, fresh-thinkers, disruptors, shakers and provocateurs” that create and connect agrifood ecosystems to re-align the planet, business and people. Ryan is passionate about transforming and innovating the agrifood industry by developing successful businesses, communities and teams. His background includes over 15 years international leadership experience at Cargill as European Marketing & Innovation...

Duration:00:40:34

Episode 48 – Paraskevi Fotoglou of Camira Fabrics

3/6/2021

Paraskevi Fotoglou is Sustainability Engineer at Camira Fabrics, a UK textile manufacturing company for task and soft seating. Paraskevi has expertise in circular economy projects and innovative design ideas. She is exploring new sustainability paths and enhancing circular initiatives with the design, innovation and manufacturing teams across the business. At Camira she has developed a broad knowledge on environmental accreditation, VOC emissions, the use of chemical substances used within...

Duration:02:38:16

Episode 47 Joanna Bingham of Footprints Africa

2/20/2021

Joanna Bingham, the founding CEO of Footprints Africa, is focussed on using the circular economy to support sustainable, scalable and inclusive approaches to development of local African economies. Joanna is also a founding partner of the CE360 Alliance, and leads the Ghana chapter for the African Circular Economy Network. She studied at Bradford University, the first degree-level circular economy course, supported by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Through Footprints Africa, Joanna runs a 6...

Duration:00:43:33

Episode 46 Gary Giles – OGEL

2/6/2021

Gary Giles is another entrepreneur inspired by the circular economy. Gary set up his company, OGEL, to use a material that is quite difficult to recycle and very bulky, so transporting it to be recycled is expensive. We’ll hear how Gary was inspired by the modular design of Lego, and how he’s developed a way of constructing durable buildings that use only 3 shapes, are easy to assemble and need very few tools. Plus Gary tells us what a ‘full stop product’ is!

Duration:01:43:00

Episode 45 Peter Desmond African Circular Economy Network

1/23/2021

Peter is a circular economy coach, workshop facilitator and strategic advisor, and cofounder of the African Circular Economy Network. He helps businesses find circular opportunities, create a compelling business case, and broaden their networks. We hear about some of Peter’s work with SME’s and start-ups, helping them use the circular economy to succeed and prosper.

Duration:01:43:35

Episode 44 Tamsin Chislett of Onloan

1/9/2021

Catherine Weetman talks to Tamsin Chislett, cofounder of fashion subscription startup Onloan, which has grown strongly this year despite lockdown. Onloan is a bit different to other UK fashion rental options because it partners directly with top contemporary fashion brands, and it focuses on 'elevated daywear' rather than occasion wear. Onloan is also different because it does all its garment care and logistics in-house. Onloan offers its customers a way to enjoy all the newness and variety...

Duration:00:41:59

Episode 43 Richard James MacCowan of Biomimicry Innovation Lab

12/19/2020

Richard is the Founder and Creative Director of the Biomimicry Innovation Lab, with a mission to inspire and share how the natural world can deliver unique solutions by radically reducing the need for resources. Richard kindly wrote a brilliant piece on Biomimicry for the 2nd edition of Catherine’s Circular Economy Handbook. We talk about different aspects of biomimicry and how it can inform the design of objects, systems and much more, including Structure and materials, Swarm behaviour, 3D...

Duration:00:41:05

Episode 42 – Brian Bauer of Algramo

12/5/2020

Brian Bauer explores how we can use circular approaches for plastic packaging, so we get the benefits of plastic, without the impacts of mismanaged plastic waste. Brian works with Algramo, a Chilean startup that refills product by the gram from vending machines. These refills provide better value for money as well as offering convenience and reducing waste. Algramo is working with Unilever, Colgate Palmolive and other brands, and is expanding to the US and Europe. With Algramo, Brian focuses...

Duration:01:48:34

Episode 41 Sandra Goldmark – Fixup and Fixation

11/21/2020

“Have good stuff, not too much, mostly reclaimed, care for it, pass it on”. Catherine Weetman talks to Sandra Goldmark in the United States. Sandra is a designer, teacher, and entrepreneur whose work focuses on circular economy solutions to overconsumption and climate change. She is the author of Fixation: How to Have Stuff without Breaking the Planet, published in October 2020. Sandra is also an Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Theatre and Director of Sustainability and...

Duration:00:49:54

Episode 40 – Sharing data and values

11/7/2020

We round up themes from the last nine episodes, exploring how data is the key to solving problems of waste and underused assets, and why aligning values with your customers is important. Plus, Catherine is celebrating publication of the new edition of her award-winning A Circular Economy Handbook, and shares a code so you can save 20 percent on the print or e-book, worldwide.

Duration:00:44:13

Episode 39 – Rob Thompson of Odyssey Innovation

10/24/2020

Rob Thompson, of Odyssey Innovation in the UK, is an Multi-award winning Innovator, a Marine Conservationist, and a Social Entrepreneur. Rob started Odyssey Innovation to find a way to create value out of beach litter and marine plastics, and is now recycling those plastics into kayaks and other useful products. Rob also supports the Paddle for Plastic campaign.

Duration:00:41:13

Episode 38 – Zaqiya Cajee of SwopItup

10/10/2020

Zaqiya Cajee is a young entrepreneur in the UK who has set up a not-for-profit scheme. SwopItUp helps young people to swap their fashionable clothes, so they can experiment with different trends, colours, shapes and so on, without being part of the throwaway culture – and save money! We’ll hear how SwopItUp is developing technology to engage users and to help overcome the challenges of distancing during lockdow, to reduce the risk of the virus spreading via the clothes, and to track and...

Duration:00:38:46

Episode 37 – Lieke van Kerkoven of FLOOW2

9/26/2020

We talk to Lieke van Kerkhoven, Co-founder of FLOOW2 Healthcare. Lieke aims to drive the global change towards a circular economy, by bringing the innovative concept of sharing to the healthcare sector. FLOOW2 is a business that helps other organisations to share all sorts of resources. It helps ‘intensify’ resource loops, so we can get more use and productivity out of many different kinds of resources, everything from equipment to staff. Back in 2012, FLOOW2 Healthcare became the first...

Duration:00:44:05

Episode 36 – Dan Dicker of Circular&Co

9/12/2020

In this episode, Catherine talks to Dan Dicker,the Founder and CEO of Circular&Co, the new brand name for ashortwalk Ltd and rCUP®. Dan began his career as a product designer at Dyson, but had a strong desire to live and work a short walk from the sea. So, back in 2003, Dan founded a pioneering Circular Design practice ‘ashortwalk’. Now Circular&Co invent solutions that keep our materials and finite resources in use for as long as possible, whilst preventing them from ever reaching landfill...

Duration:00:45:57

Episode 35 Sophie Segal – the power of play

8/29/2020

We talk to Sophie Segal, founder of the Reading chapter of the CEC, in the south of England. Sophie uses games to engage people in sustainability and encourage us to think differently, to think about the system that we’re all part of. Sophie wears a few hats, including with Co-CREATE ImpACT - providing innovative social impact training, and Together Dragonflies – Using value creation and innovation to shape new customer experiences. She helps organisations with their purpose, to design value...

Duration:00:45:21

Episode 34 – Noreen Kam and Michael Brown of LUP Global

8/15/2020

Catherine Weetman talks to Noreen Kam and Michael Brown about the circular asset management solution they’ve developed for LUP Global’s customers. We hear about the opportunities for companies to reduce their capex, improve the performance and lifetime cost of equipment, and to recover value from the equipment at the end of its service period. Michael explains how this approach is normal in the airline industry, where often the airline doesn’t own anything – the plane, the engines, even the...

Duration:00:58:18

Episode 33 – Greg Lavery of Rype Office

8/1/2020

We talk to Greg Lavery of Rype Office, which remanufactures high quality office furniture. We hear why Greg decided that office furniture is ideal for a circular business, how Rype’s customer base is evolving and why people are switching to remade furniture. A civil engineer by training, Greg has focused his career on improving the sustainability of the built environment. He began by working for Arup and Greg was awarded a PhD in sustainable building design in the 1990s. He built, from...

Duration:00:45:54

Episode 32- Christian van Maaren of Excess Materials Exchange

7/18/2020

Christian van Maaren is co-founder of Excess Materials Exchange, based in the Netherlands. Excess Materials Exchange is saving the planet by running a dating site, which at first sounds improbable, and then sounds intriguing! Christian believes the circular economy is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to achieve the Paris climate goals, and we hear how Excess Materials Exchange helps customers measure the value of their exchange options, in financial, environmental and social impacts....

Duration:00:39:16

Episode 31 – Tom Fecarotta of Rheaply

7/4/2020

Rheaply’s mission is to make the world’s resources more discoverable and transferable through technology. Rheaply combines enterprise asset management with a virtual marketplace, which allows organizations to track inventory and depreciation. It helps people to visualize, quantify and utilize surplus assets, and to offload end-of-life, unwanted assets to organisations that need them. We hear about Rheaply’s core technology, its Asset Exchange Manager, and how this allows people to highlight...

Duration:00:31:42