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Catherine Weetman talks to Simone Andersson, Chief Commercial Officer at WEEE Centre, a Kenyan social enterprise that’s been expanding safe e-waste management and circular solutions across East Africa, since 2012.
Simone’s background is in communication and sustainability action around waste and water management, and before joining the WEEE Centre she was at RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), where she led innovative developmental projects on resource efficiency, circular economy systems, traceability, precious materials and various solid and liquid wastes.
Her mission is to create awareness about the possibilities and prosperity of Green Business and Clean Tech.
The WEEE Centre focuses on people, planet and prosperity, in particular by helping young people improve their social and economic circumstances. It’s aiming to expand the collection infrastructure to cover all Kenyan Counties and to increase local recycling by bringing more advanced technologies. It also wants to reach other African countries, starting with neighboring Uganda and Tanzania.
By 2019, the WEEE Centre had recycled more than 10,000tons of e-waste, serving over 8,000 clients across Africa, and creating hundreds of jobs. It became the first and only e-waste management organization to be ISO certified with multiple awards. WEEE Centre has the capacity to recycle all types of e-waste, and has trained many other African countries on safe e-waste recycling.
We’ll hear about the operational complexities, some of the collaborations and partnerships they’ve fostered to overcome the challenges of being a relatively small enterprise, and how they’re trying to make sure they create value-adding circular flows, rather than focusing on recycling.
Podcast host Catherine Weetman is a circular economy business advisor, workshop facilitator, speaker and writer. Her award-winning book: A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business includes lots of practical examples and tips on getting started. Catherine founded Rethink Global in 2013, to help businesses use circular, sustainable approaches to build a better business (and a better world).
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Read on for a summary of the podcast and links to the people, organisations and other resources we mention.
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Links we mention in the episode:
- A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business – buy from any good bookseller, or direct from the publisher Kogan Page, which ships worldwide (free shipping to UK and US) and you can use discount code CIRCL20 to get 20% off. It’s available in paperback, ebook and Kindle. If you buy it from online sources, make sure you choose the new edition with an orange cover!
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WEEE Centre
- YouTube: youtube.com/c/WEEECentre
- Facebook: facebook.com/WEEECentre
- Twitter: @TheWEEECentre
- Instagram: @weeecentre
- LinkedIn: The WEEE Centre linkedin.com/company/weeecentre/
- Website: weeecentre.com
Circular Innovation Hub, CIH
- Facebook: facebook.com/CircularIHub
- Twitter: @Circular_IHub
- Instagram: @circularinnovationhub
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/circularinnovationhub/
- Website: circularinnovationhub.com
About Simone Andersson
Simone Andersson is the Chief Commercial Officer at WEEE Centre, a Kenyan social enterprise, expanding safe e-waste management and circular solutions across East Africa, since 2012. With a BSc in Environment and Health from Umeå University, Sweden, she has +19 years’ experience of communication and sustainability action around waste and water management. Previously, at RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), she led innovative developmental projects on resource efficiency, circular economy systems, traceability, precious materials and various solid and liquid waste in society.
Her mission is to push development of society positively forward by creating awareness about the possibilities and prosperity that lays in Green Business and Clean Tech. She takes pride in being an enabler and communicator – creating awareness, finding constructive collaborations and inspiring to action for holistic structures.
About WEEE Centre & the Circular Innovation Hub
WEEE Centre is a social enterprise with a mission to provide a green and safe environment through a circular vision for e-waste management – design and policy dialogues, collection, reuse and material recovery of electrical and electronic waste. In 2012, it sprung out of the NGO Computers For Schools Kenya, after some years of creating a take-back scheme from beneficiary Learning Institutions. The company is now ISO-certified for 9001 (quality) and 14001 (environment) and runs environment friendly operations with focus on people, planet and prosperity through involvement of youth to improve their social and economic circumstances. The aim is to expand the collection infrastructure to cover all Kenyan Counties and to increase the local recycling by bringing more advanced technologies and also open entities in other African countries, starting with neighboring Uganda and Tanzania.
To tackle issues regarding the lack of start-up and innovation support, as well and insufficient research and development infrastructure related to the Circular Economy in Kenya, WEEE Centre founded the Circular Innovation Hub (CIH) in September 2021. It highlights and supports solutions to Circular Economy problems through innovation, training, awareness creation and research & development. The CIH seeks to be the one-stop-shop where businesses, academia, entrepreneurs, authorities and investors can tackle common problems and find joint opportunities in the emerging Green/Clean Tech Industry.
Interview Transcript
Click here to open the transcript…
Want to find out more about the circular economy?
If you’d like to learn more about the circular economy and how it could help your business, why not listen to Episode 1, or read our guide: What is the Circular Economy?
To go deeper, you could buy Catherine’s book, A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business. This comprehensive guide uses a bottom-up, practical approach, and includes hundreds of real examples from around the world, to help you really ‘get’ the circular economy. Even better, you’ll be inspired with ideas to make your own business more competitive, resilient and sustainable.
Please let us know what you think of the podcast – and we’d love it if you could leave us a review on iTunes, or wherever you find your podcasts. Or send us an email…
Podcast music
Thanks to Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow, otherwise known as the brilliant, inventive and generous folk duo, O’Hooley & Tidow for allowing me to use the instrumentals from the live version of Summat’s Brewin’ as music for the podcast. You can find the whole track (inspired by the Copper Family song “Oh Good Ale”) on their album, also called Summat’s Brewin’. Or, follow them on Twitter.
91 Michael Smith – Investing in regenerative startups
90 – Does circular mean it’s sustainable?
89 Simon Hombersley – plastics from plant protein
88 Alexandra Rico-Lloyd – the Bike Club
