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Catherine Weetman

Catherine Weetman MSc FCILT FRSA - Director, Rethink Global Catherine gives talks, workshops and advice on the circular economy and sustainability. Her award-winning book, A Circular Economy Handbook for Business and Supply Chains, published by Kogan Page, includes wide-ranging examples and practical tips. Catherine has over 25 years' experience in contract logistics, manufacturing, retail and supply chain consultancy, and her career spans food, fashion and logistics, including Tesco, Kellogg's and DHL Supply Chain. She is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Huddersfield, and a Mentor and Regional Organiser for the Circular Economy Club

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 35 Sophie Segal - the power of play

Episode 35 Sophie Segal – the power of play

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 propositions and customer experiences that resonate. She is also bringing people together in her community to amplify local circular initiatives.
Sophie loves the idea for rethinking existing business models and engagement for the good of tomorrow. Sophie uses value creation, innovation and different approaches to shift mindsets.
In her latest ventures, she uses the transformative power of play with organisations: to bring to life customer focus and engage employees in sustainability and the circular economy.

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 34 Noreen Kam and Michael Brown of LUP Global

Episode 34 – Noreen Kam and Michael Brown of LUP Global

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 seats. Everything is owned, provided and maintained by the suppliers – you may have heard of the Rolls Royce example, selling power by the hour so you purchase the performance of the engine, instead of buying the engine itself.
Noreen and Michael realised that many other industry sectors don’t use these approaches, and so they are helping companies benefit from circular asset management, starting with laboratory equipment.

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 33 - Greg Lavery of Rype Office

Episode 33 – Greg Lavery of Rype Office

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 startup, what is now Australia’s largest solar business, Origin Solar, and as a consultant, assisted organisations with innovative sustainable business models, including Masdar City, Interface, Shell and ClimateWorks Australia.

Ep 32 Christian van Maaren of Excess Materials Exchange

Episode 32- Christian van Maaren of Excess Materials Exchange

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.
Christian tells us about the kinds of companies and materials they match up, using a combination of blockchain and AI, and how they actively match supply & demand for materials to ensure high value re-use.

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 31 Tom Fecarotta of Rheaply

Episode 31 – Tom Fecarotta of Rheaply

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 those unused assets. We hear about the focus on Zero Waste in the US, and how Rheaply uses gamification to help people become Zero Waste Heroes in their organisation. We also find out why assets that still have value get discarded, and why looking at your internal operations first can pay dividends for resource efficiency and sustainability.

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 30 - what have we learnt?

Episode 30 – What have we learned?

We review the last 9 episodes, exploring key themes & summarising what we’ve learned. Plus, we hear from Geoff van Sonsbeeck, on womenswear brand Baukjen’s packaging approach.
The wonders of online communication mean we’ve been to the United States, Jordan, Uganda, Canada and Ghana in the last nine episodes. We’ve talked to a start-up looking for funding, two social enterprises, two charities, a community cooperative, and several businesses that have been growing for 15-20 years.
If we look at the circular economy strategies of these organisations: five are helping to ‘Close the Loop and Regenerate’, two are ‘Slowing the Flow’ of materials through more durable, circular designs, and two are ‘Intensifying the Flow’ through sharing services.
We’ll also look at how these different organisations are creating value for different groups – for their customers, suppliers, employees, communities – and for our planet.

Circular Economy Insights #23

Circular Insights #23

A purpose beyond profit

Dignified Wear in Ghana | The Thingery| ikigai for business purpose | Terracycle: doing the right thing for people and planet | Digital platforms for fashion supply chains | Fashion’s reset?|HP and Circular Computing |

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 29 - Mabel Suglo of Dignified Wear

Episode 29 – Mabel Suglo of Dignified Wear

In this episode, we’re talking to Mabel Suglo, the founder of Dignified Wear, a social enterprise in Ghana. It aims to economically empower people with disabilities and rural women through decent jobs. It trains and then employs them to handcraft durable, versatile and fashionable shoes, handbags, locally woven fabrics, clothing and traditional jewellery.

ikigai for business purpose beyond profit

Ikigai for business: a purpose beyond profit

Ikigai is a Japanese philosophy dating back three millennia, and translates as a ‘reason for being’. It helps people get clear on their purpose in life, leading to wellbeing and satisfaction. As companies begin to emerge from the Coronavirus lockdown and rebuild more resilient, sustainable businesses, we look at how to use ikigai principles to clarify and realign business purpose for people, planet and profit.

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 28 Chris Diplock - The Thingery

Episode 28 (revised) Chris Diplock – The Thingery

Chris Diplock is the Founder and CEO of The Thingery, the parent organization of neighbourhood Thingery branches, and a leader in Vancouver’s collaborative economy. You could describe the Thingery as a ‘library in a box’ – the box being a shipping container! The containers are solar-powered and so can be sited in disused spaces near the communities that will use them. Technology allows people to access the container and then use the built-in systems to easily log what they are borrowing or returning. That means it is less reliant on volunteers, and can be open 24/7 if needed. Chris wants to make it easy for any community, worldwide, to set up their own Library of Things. We hear about the concept, the funding model, and the practicalities.