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Matilda Jarbin of GIAB
Catherine Weetman talks to to Matilda Jarbin, Sustainability Manager of GIAB, a Swedish company with a business model based on the circular economy. In 2017 Matilda was nominated as one of the top 30 young sustainability talents in Sweden. She is also a board member of Cradlenet, which is Sweden’s platform for knowledge and networking around the circular economy.
GIAB works with a wide range of business partners, repairing products for reuse and resale. We’ll hear how GAIB got started, back in 2012, working with insurance companies. We find out how GIAB adds value for its clients, and how it’s expanding into new products, markets and services. It’s a fantastic example of how simple ideas can convert potential waste into valuable resources, providing wide-ranging benefits for both businesses and society.
Podcast host Catherine Weetman advises businesses, gives workshops & talks, and writes about the circular economy. Her award-winning book, 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:
- Catherine’s blog: Why reuse is #1 tool in the circular economy toolkit https://www.rethinkglobal.info/why-reuse-is-1-tool-in-circular-economy-toolkit/
- GIAB’s website godsinlosen.se/foretag and the shop www.returhuset.se
- GIAB on Linkedin: Godsinlösen
- Matilda Jarbin on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/matilda-jarbin-39a15a58/
- IVL, the Swedish Research Institute https://www.ivl.se/
About person
Matilda Jarbin is Sustainability manager at GIAB, a Swedish company with a business model based on the circular economy. GIABs business idea is to implement circular processes into organizations, mainly by reusing products.
In 2017, Matilda was nominated as one of the top 30 young sustainability talents in Sweden. She is also a board member of Cradlenet. Cradlenet is Sweden’s platform for knowledge of, and networking around the circular economy.
What we talk about
[00:00] We start by asking how GIAB got started, and what problem it solves for its customers. Matilda explains how the business model works, and how it creates value for its business clients and consumers.
Conversations with sustainability managers about reuse and repair
[03:40] Matilda tells us how she got involved in GIAB, back in 2015, and how talking about the sustainability benefits of what they do has opened up new markets and helped demonstrate the value of reuse and repair – for the client, for society and for our planet. GIAB now provides sustainability data for all its clients, helping them quantify the various environmental benefits that GIAB’s services provide.
We hear about the kind of customers GIAB works with, and how it has diversified from working with insurance companies and now provides services for logistics companies and e-commerce returns.
What’s next for GIAB?
[19:05] We hear how GIAB is expanding by offering services for additional products, is expanding into new geographic markets in the Nordics, and offering new services including consulting. GIAB is now working with big brands like IKEA, Apple and Samsung, helping them deal with e-commerce returns.
Matilda recommends…
[29:15] Malilda recommends Åsa Stenmarck of IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute as a future podcast guest, and tells us how we can find out more about GIAB.
To find out more about the circular economy, listen to Episode 1, read our guide: What is the Circular Economy or buy the book: A Circular Economy Handbook for Business and Supply Chains
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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 for Business and Supply Chains This comprehensive guide uses a bottom-up, practical approach. It includes lots 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 a Tweet: @Rethink _Global.
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.
Episode 7 Katie Whalen – fun and games with the circular economy
Episode 6 Adam Fairweather – reimagine waste
Episode 5 Katie Beverley – Ecodesign
Episode 4 Jo Godden – recycled ocean plastics
