Episode 7 Katie Whalen – fun and games with the circular economy

[00:00] Katie tells us how she started by studying ship design in the United States, followed by industrial design at TU Delft in the Netherlands, before moving on to do a PhD at Lund University in Sweden.

Katie was introduced to the circular economy by Professor David Beck at TU Delft, and was inspired by the idea of rethinking how we use products, rather than designing them to just ‘be a bit less bad’.

Katie’s first job was at consultancy Circle Economy, leading their circular design program.

Circular economy games

[05:18] Katie explains how the idea for the In the Loop game emerged from her studies at TU Delft, where she realised that the complexity of the circular economy sometimes put people off.  Could she make the topic more accessible (and help engage people) by making a circular economy game?

The circular economy game she developed, ‘In the Loop’, features twelve of the resources classified as ‘Critical Materials’ by the European Union.  Many of these are used in technology products, such as smartphones.

[09:50]  Katie tells us a bit about how the game works, and how it helps people to think about the resource risks their business might face, and possible circular economy strategies that can reduce these risks.

[14:51 We talk about Barry Waddilove’s circular economy system design game, featured in Catherine’s Circular Economy Handbook.  Through using this game with companies, Barry discovered the value of discussing linear and circular strategies with functional teams first, before consolidating the findings for the organisation as a whole.

Engaging and motivating people to make the circular economy happen

[16:56] Katie tells us about her experience helping companies, including GIAB and INREGO, both of which are involved in the recovery and reuse of products.

We talk about the need to engage and motivate people to make a change towards circular products and business models, for example from selling products to selling product-service systems.  Here, the role of the sales team is critical.

[23.11] Katie was impressed by Interface and its founder (and circular economy pioneer) Ray Anderson.  It was important that everyone in the company bought into the mission.

We discuss Ken Webster’s adage from Katie’s Getting in the Loop podcast episode: “don’t kill your customer, and don’t kill their custom.” 

[26:13] Katie feels the circular economy has moved into general public consciousness but thinks we also need to be alert to ‘greenwashing’ and to be careful the circular economy doesn’t just become a buzzword.  Katie gives the example of Apple’s design for recycling as an example of the change in company approaches.

What’s next for Katie and In the Loop?

[29:26] We talk about Katie’s new podcast, Getting in the Loop, where Katie and her guests explain what’s happening in the circular economy.

Katie is developing further circular economy games.  She is currently working on a second iteration of her In the Loop circular economy game, and has launched a new game: Risk and Race.  This has an entrepreneurial focus and examines the business aspects of the circular economy.  For instance, if you are thinking about a product-service system, how might this affect your balance sheet, how do you work with potentially limited resources, and so on. 

Favourite circular economy examples

[32:23] Katie’s favourite company examples include GIAB and Norsk Ombruk, a remanufacturing specialist currently focused on white goods (for example washing machines).