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social value

Social benefits from circular approaches, including regeneration of local resources, creating jobs for disadvantaged or excluded groups, social enterprises, and so on.

142 Anna De Matos – igniting circular communities

Anna De Matos is the founder of several community-focused sharing initiatives, and a force of nature.
Originally from Brazil, Anna De Matos went to university in the UK and moved to Iceland in 2017. Inspired by a visit to Toronto’s tool library, Anna started a tool library and repair café, and managed to bootstrap and crowdfund her way to establishing these – all whilst dealing with the serious challenges of autoimmune disease.
Anna has degrees in Conservation and Restoration and is now channelling her skills and experience into helping people conserve and restore their things. She founded the Munasafn RVK Tool Library to promote shared resource use and has organized numerous repair café events, fostering a culture of repair and reuse within Icelandic communities.
Anna’s skills go beyond organising and bringing people together, and she’s also created a technology add-on to MyTurn’s Library of Things software to provide a self-service kiosk option for Libraries of Things.
Anna’s hands-on experience in running these initiatives provides her with unique insights into the practical needs of communities, which she has channeled into the creation of the Circular Library Network (CLN), helping communities around the world manage their own “libraries of things,” promoting sustainability through shared access to essential items – so we can all get more, from less.
Anna’s story is inspiring, and fascinating, with many forks in the road that led her to what she’s doing now.

141 Joel Tasche: scaleable solutions to plastic pollution

Joel Tasche founded CleanHub, a Berlin-based company that provides a scalable solution to plastic pollution. CleanHub connects coastal communities to proper waste collection in places where that doesn’t exist, at the same time creating safe and dignified jobs. Brands can support the mission by funding the collection of waste that otherwise wouldn’t be collected. CleanHub accepts ALL types of plastic – not just the stuff that’s easy to turn into value. CleanHub’s AI technology tracks the entire process from collection to disposal, ensuring transparency. It’s verified by TÜV SÜD according to ISO standards
Joel’s mission was sparked by a love of the ocean. As a traveler and surfer, he witnessed firsthand the heartbreaking reality of plastic pollution, everywhere he went. Whilst disheartened, Joel resolved to dedicate his working life to keeping plastic out of the sea. Many doubted he could make a difference. Fast forward to today, CleanHub has collected over 9 million kgs of plastic waste and partnered with more than 300 brands, helping them reduce plastic and collect more plastic than they use.
Whilst we see images of ocean plastics, beach plastics and landfills, we’re perhaps less familiar with the dreadful working conditions of those trying to earn a living by collecting and sorting the waste. Resolving this is at the heart of CleanHub’s mission, and we’ll more about how it does that.
Joel also talks about the complexities of plastic waste collection, how to scale new ventures, and how keeping ethics at the heart of your business really helps bring everyone along with you.

Artwork for Circular Economy Podcast episode 139 with Peter McCafferty of Zero Waste Scotland

139 Peter McCafferty: supporting circular businesses

Peter McCafferty works on Zero Waste Scotland’s Circular Economy Business Support Service (CEBS). These services were launched back in 2017, and since then, Peter has worked with over 200 SMEs and large organisations, so he’s got a wealth of experience and insights to share with us, especially on the fuel and friction around the circular economy.
Zero Waste Scotland is a not-for-profit environmental organisation funded by the Scottish Government and the European Regional Development Fund. Its purpose is to lead Scotland to use products and resources responsibly, focusing on where it can have the greatest impact on climate change.
It aims to both inform government policy, and to motivate individuals and businesses to embrace the environmental, economic, and social benefits of a circular economy.
Peter has over 13 years of experience of working in sustainability and resource management, and his role involves working with individual businesses to identify, shape and develop circular and sustainable business ideas through a mix of 1-1 coaching and engagement, as well as facilitating bespoke support via Zero Waste Scotland’s dedicated CE Framework.
Our discussion includes:
What’s the big ‘why’ behind ZWS, and in a practical sense, how does it provide support for businesses in Scotland that want to adopt circular solutions?
What kind of things are providing the ‘fuel’ for the circular economy, and why digital solutions are coming to the fore as key enablers of circularity.
We discuss some of the barriers to circular approaches, including regulatory challenges, scaling issues, and underestimated waste reduction potential.
These days, we’re all living in a VUCA world – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous – and we discuss the importance of systems thinking, especially in getting to grips with the challenges of implementation and addressing complex global issues.
We share our thoughts on the ongoing struggle with language and interpretation of circular economy, and Peter talks about the increasing focus on carbon footprinting and net zero policies, and how seems to be getting in the way of conversations for circularity.

Circular Economy Podcast - artwork for episode 136 with Julia Brenner of Melta

136 Julia Brenner of Melta: creating value from food waste

There is a simple solution to conserve, and reuse, more of the nutrients from food waste.
In today’s episode, I’m talking to Julia Brenner, a soil scientist and co-founder of Melta, a company dedicated to transforming waste management and soil health. Julia and her business partner founded Melta in 2020, to solve two interconnected challenges faced by rural municipalities: the lack of accessible and cost-effective food waste solutions, and the difficulty of transporting organic fertilizers to remote areas.
This is a brilliant example of something that is needs little investment, saves money, time and space, and can be adopted easily, all around the world. It is easy to scale out, and a great example of a local, regenerative solution to the typical ineffective, expensive and resource-intensive solutions that we see in western society.
The Melta system uses the Bokashi process which is thought to originate from East Asia, centuries ago. The Bokashi process converts food waste and similar organic matter into a nutrient-rich soil additive which also improves soil texture.
Melta’s innovative system for organic waste collection, processing, and utilization can reduce municipal waste transport by 70%, and producing a nutrient-rich fertilizer that is cheaper and easier for farmers to access.
Julia studied soil restoration at the University of Iceland and then delved further into nutrient cycling and climate models at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She continues to engage in collaborative field experiments with the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland and Icelandic Agricultural University. Julia is passionate about making “sustainability” a realistic and attainable goal, and is committed to bridging the gap between practical waste management and soil health.
We discover why dealing with household food waste is such a big headache for rural municipalities; and how the bokashi process can easily become part of a system that’s better for households, farmers and the local council.
Julia explains how the Bokashi process works in practice, and why households prefer it over other methods like putting food waste in with other refuse, or have separate food waste collection bins. As we’ll hear, the results are amazing – and the system is very simple, so it could be easily used in rural areas around the world.

Artwork for episode 133

133 Re-Action – repurposing: a new life for unwanted stuff

This is the 4th and final episode in the special 5th Anniversary mini-series featuring the Re-Action Collective, and we’re focusing on repurposing – using creativity and craft skills to breathe new life into unwanted outdoor gear, clothing and workwear.
We’ll hear from the founders of two small repurposing businesses:
First, Jen Dickinson, founder of Dirtbags Climbing, an upcycling workshop in the English Lake District, which turns retired outdoor textiles into hand-made bags.
And secondly, Beccy Evans, founder of Utilifolk, who gives things fresh appeal and new life by re-working unwanted garments that are no longer fit for their original use, and makes new pieces from preloved and remnant textiles.
Ironically, nearly every outdoor gear brand uses sophisticated marketing to hijack our brain chemicals, encouraging us to buy yet more stuff to do the things we love, to excel and enjoy them. And yet, those same things, when discarded, are destroying the very essence of the places and living things we love so much.
We discuss the ethos and design principles for their businesses, why we need to avoid sucked into the ‘fast-fashion’ and ‘compartmentalising’ approaches of brands that want to sell more stuff, and how repurposing can help people create their own identity, instead of looking like they’re wearing other people’s stuff.
Rebecca Heaps, founder of Tentshare, who we met in Episode 131, says “when we buy 2nd hand, the earth breaths a sigh of relief” – and I think that applies to repurposed things, too. Everything we do to keep our clothes, tools and equipment alive is a way to sustain life on earth – for us, and for the future of our living world. And of course, emotional engagement and well-crafted kit helps Re-Action’s mission to make the outdoors more affordable and accessible.

Artwork for episode 132 - Re-Action sharing

132 Re-Action – repairing: from radical to renaissance

This is #3 in the 5th Anniversary mini-series featuring the Re-Action Collective, and focuses on repairing. We hear from the founders of three UK businesses that are helping people repair their outdoor clothing and equipment: Rosanna Watson at Snowdonia Gear Repair, Becky Kirby at Sheffield Clothing Repair, and Vicky Balfour of Vicky Bikes.
The strapline for this episode was inspired by Rose Macario, former CEO of Patagonia Inc, who wrote a blog back in 2015 declaring that ‘repair is a radical act’. But repairing and caring for our things used to be the norm, until we’ve gradually been persuaded to treat our stuff as disposable, and to think that newer is always better. But many of us are discovering that’s not true, and that repairing, customising and caring for our clothing and equipment is better for us, for our wallets, and for our futures.
Now, repairing is having a renaissance, with millions of people finding ways to do DIY repairs, or find repairers with specialist skills and the relevant spare parts.
We speak to the founders of 3 businesses to discover what motivates people to repair, why repaired items can be better than replacements, and what to look out to make sure your gear is easy to care for and repair.

Artwork for blog on designing for durability

Less, but better: a design for life

The research is clear – people are NOT demanding lower quality, lack of repair options and gradual reductions of product lifetimes. And yet, in a bid to increase revenues in a competitive market, companies keep pushing out ‘new and improved’ products. But designing for early obsolescence – whether physical, emotional or perceived – can backfire.
It’s time for a return to democratic, resource-intelligent designs, that help us do better, with less.

Artwork for Circular Economy Podcast episode 131

131 Re-Action – Sharing: Serving more people with less stuff

This is #2 in the 5th Anniversary mini-series featuring the Re-Action Collective, and focuses on sharing and ‘pay to use’. We hear from the founders of three startups enabling people to have convenient and affordable access to high-quality outdoor gear: Anna Smoothy from Cirkel Supply, Rebecca Heaps from Tentshare and Bruce Leishman from KitUp Adventures.
The strapline for this episode – serving more people with less stuff – was inspired by Anna Smoothy at Cirkel Supply. I loved their aim, to serve more people with less products. and that aligns with one of my favourite phrases at the moment, about the need for businesses to do better, with much less.
Sharing, including ‘pay to use’ systems, is one of the 3 key circular economy strategies that I encourage businesses to focus on. Sharing can be a catch-all term for commercial arrangements that make it easy to use something for a short period, rather than owning it. These systems can help organisations to serve other organisations, to serve individuals, or for people to serve other users.
For decades, we’ve been happy to rent houses, holiday accommodation, cars, skis and bicycles, movies and more – and now people are branching out into other categories. Rental and subscription services are popping up for technology, fashion and accessories, home appliances, furniture and more, avoiding the need to buy things you aren’t sure you’ll want to use over the long term. Often, these are disruptive startups using online platforms to provide convenient, flexible ways to access high-quality brands at affordable prices.
Sharing is really coming to the forefront, in particular for younger people who want access to the stuff they need and see ownership as a burden, not a benefit.
Global revenue growth for sharing and renting is forecast to grow at 30% each year, and is key to helping us do much more, with much less. In other words, we get more use – or productivity – from underutilised assets – meaning we need fewer of them in the overall system. This is sometimes referred to as Decoupling. (The UN defines Absolute Decoupling as “a situation in which resource productivity grows faster than economic activity (GDP) and resource use is absolutely declining.”)

Artwork for episode 130 with Heather Davies

130 Heather Davies: the Re-Action Collective

It’s now 5 years since I started the podcast, and to celebrate, I’m doing a 5th anniversary mini-series. I’ve invited several guests from the Re-Action Collective, a group of circular economy pioneers in the outdoor sports sector. Over the next few episodes, we’ll be hearing from them and exploring 3 different types of circularity – sharing, repairing and repurposing.
The Re-Action Collective was formed in 2022, by Gavin Fernie-Jones and his friend, Heather Davies. We met Gavin back in Episode 72, talking about One Tree at a Time, a circular social enterprise to repurpose outdoor gear and ski-wear and to share value with the community and nature.
In this episode, we’ll meet Gavin’s co-founder, Heather Davies, a freelance sustainability-focused content creator and communications trainer. Heather is motivated by a love of nature and the outdoors, and she works with a range of organisations, helping them communicate their sustainability stories and strategies, without greenwashing. She also offers training, including carbon literacy courses.
The Re-Action Collective is all about Making the outdoors more affordable and accessible, and over the next few episodes, we’ll meet some of the member organisations, with business models based on sharing, repairing and repurposing.
Heather and Gavin formed Re-Action to challenge product marketing that tells us we need shiny new, highly technical kit to access the outdoors. They say “We live in the outdoors and we know this isn’t true. We also know a lack of access to basic outdoor kit and absence of community are barriers to people getting outside and active for the benefit of their physical and mental health.”
The Re-Action Collective wants to amplify the voice and impact of circular economy pioneers in the outdoor sports sector, for example running, cycling, climbing, surfing, sailing and snow sports. Member organisations rescue products and revive them through repair, rebranding and repurposing. They then redistribute items through resale, rental and donation and reallocate profits to regenerate the outdoors.
Re-Action is focused on community-first solutions and wants to empower citizens to be more mindful about how they buy, maintain and dispose of their outdoor clothing and equipment.
We’ll hear how the collective works in practice, and how they’ve developed ways to avoid the pitfalls of shared interest groups that end up being hard to engage with, because they generate too much information and conversation.

Artwork for Circular Economy Podcast episode 129 with Alex Holland of SolarPunk Stories

129 Alex Holland: SolarPunk Stories for a circular future

How do we draw people towards a deliciously sustainable future?
In this episode, we’re going off at a slight tangent: to explore how we can bring people into this world, to feel they have agency and to see an exciting, meaningful future where we do better, with less.
We’re going to hear about a way of telling stories – that could be fiction to help people understand circular solutions, or it might be stories to help them imagine how circular products and services work in real life, helping them see how that’s more fulfilling than buying yet more stuff and adding to the problems of waste and pollution.
Alex Holland is the Founder of SolarPunk Stories, and has worked as a journalist in the UK, Venezuela and India.
Alex has an MA in Leadership for Sustainable Development and created the world’s first Tea Pub which was also Crowdcube’s most-shared startup.
SolarPunk is a much more optimistic genre than dystopian fiction – it’s more like the Thrutopian concept set out by Professor Rupert Read in an article for the Huffington Post, a few years ago.
Utopias are too fantastical, whereas dystopias can be useless, even dangerously doom-mongering. Instead, we can create thrutopias: stories that help us see a way through the challenges we face, that help us build a vision for the future we want to be part of: a regenerative, fair and inclusive future that we can be proud of. Stories that help us to imagine, to feel what it would be like, and to design the political and economic systems to get us through.