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Artwork for episode 145

145 Evolena de Wilde of Faircado: your AI-powered second-hand shopping assistant

Evolena de Wilde d’Estmael is co-founder & CEO of Faircado, a Berlin-based startup that provides the first AI-powered second-hand shopping assistant in Europe. Faircado’s technology helps people find the best second-hand alternatives to what they are searching for online. Driven by the mission to reduce global waste and support the shift to a circular economy, Faircado’s goal is to help make second-hand goods the first choice for consumers.
Evolena was born in Belgium and is proud to be an impact entrepreneur, committed to the circular economy and sustainability. She was named one of the top 100 women in social enterprise in 2022 and is an EU Climate Pact Ambassador. Evolena is also the co-founder of Solidartsy, a non-profit dedicated to bridging the art world’s gender pay gap.
Faircado is available as a browser extension, working in the background to search for second-hand alternatives to whatever you’re looking to buy, and Evolena explains why they decided to start with a browser extension rather than an app or a website.
Until recently, Faircado was available only in Germany, and yet already has 100 million products integrated from 60 different partners. Evolena talks about the numbers and the partnerships, including how this works commercially and how companies like eBay are reacting.
We hear about the underlying principles for designing the technology, and how Faircado has used research into habits and behaviours to make it easy for people to adopt.
Evolena shares some of her fascinating backstory too, which blends a deep sense of purpose with making interesting and maybe unexpected choices at various forks in the road.

Artwork for circular economy podcast episode 144

144 Chris Allen of Decathlon: ever-evolving circular design

Chris Allen, Sustainability Leader and Head of Circular Business Development at Decathlon UK. You’ve probably heard of Decathlon, which is the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, with over 1,700 stores in more than 70 countries. It’s a family-owned company, founded in 1976, and inspired by the belief that the best sports products should be accessible to everyone.
Chris Allen has 15 Years experience in Decathlon spanning various retail management roles, including several years in Category Management and Head of Outdoor before being appointed to his Sustainability role in 2022. Chris has a degree in Sports Engineering and is an advocate of all things outdoors, and loves being out on his bike or at the local climbing wall.
Decathlon describes itself as specialising in the creation and production of innovative sporting goods designed to delight and move people through the wonders of sport, including cycling, hiking, running, swimming and football.
Decathlon sees its mission as ever-evolving and high-performance design, the best quality at the lowest possible price, and expert advice that customers of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels can access in-store or online, from anywhere, at any time.
Decathlon has an integrated business model, with over twenty in-house brands as well as supplying well-known brands including Asics, Adidas, Garmin, Puma, Quiksilver, Reebok, Salomon, and many others.
In the UK, Decathlon offers a 2-year warranty on its own brand products, has buy-back programme so customers can save money and trade in their old gear. It sells through it’s retail stores and online, and offers a 365-day returns policy, giving customers a whole year to decide if something is right for them.
Chris will talk us through Decathlon’s approach, including how the buy-back, second-life and repair programmes work in practice, and how he’s working with the in-house and external product and design teams to implement a whole-systems approach to sustainability.

Circular economy rebound qualitative vs quantitative

Circular economy rebound – is it always problematic?

Unpacking the tricky topic of ‘circular economy rebound’: when circular solutions end up causing MORE production and consumption, not less. But is it always a problem? I suggest that some forms of circular economy rebound could be a good outcome for people and planet. I bring in research on rebound, and highlight examples of rebound for clothing, mobility, and smartphones.