Circular Economy Podcast with Catherine Weetman

The Circular Economy Podcast

…interviews with inspiring people who are making the circular economy happen.

We explore how the circular economy makes a better business (and a better world): for you, your partners, and your customers.

Subscribe on iTunes, Google Podcasts, PlayerFM, Spotify, TuneIn or search for “circular economy” in your favourite podcast app.

For links and show notes, go to the Episode page…

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or see the full episode list below.

Catherine Weetman interviews the people making the circular economy happen: rethinking how we design, make and use everything.

We talk to entrepreneurs & business owners, social enterprises, and leading thinkers.

We find out how they got involved, and invite them to share their ‘lessons learned’ and top tips for you. How are they using circular approaches to create value, increase resilience and reduce risk, to make a competitive, sustainable organisation?

Want to know more about the what the circular economy is, and how it can help your business? Listen to Episode 1, or read our article: What is the circular economy? In Episode 2, we dig into the ‘linear economy’ – what are the risks and global mega-trends driving the need to rethink how we design, make and use everything? What does this mean for your business?

Stay in touch for new episodes and useful insights.

Tweet us @Rethink_Global – we’d love to hear what you think of the show.

And of course it would be great if you could leave us a 5* review on iTunes, or wherever you find your podcasts!

Episode 21 Tom Ogonek – Close the Loop

Catherine Weetman 16th February 2020 Circular economy consumer tech recovery recyling reuse

Episode 21 with Tom Ogonek, Co-CEO of Close the Loop Inc. Tom joined Close the Loop in 2011 and oversees all aspects of global operations, building on a background in chemistry and manufacturing, and using his environmental industry perspective plus over 20 years of valuable operations experience to drive the business forward. Close the Loop operates circular economy services in…

Episode 20 – How to be a problem-hunter

Catherine Weetman 2nd February 2020 business models Circular economy design pay-per-use recycling rental repair reuse startups subscription

In this episode, we focus on the ‘how’ of making your business circular, looking at the different ways people were getting to grips with the problem they wanted to solve. We also get an update on the new subscription model for ApparelXchange, and get some ‘bonus’ circular economy examples from David Greenfield (aka Dr Resources of the Circular Economy Club…

Episode 19 – Åsa Stenmarck of IVL on how to create circular behaviour

Catherine Weetman 19th January 2020 Circular economy food policy

We talk to Åsa Stenmarck, of IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute. Åsa works on projects that aim to create more sustainable consumption (including reducing consumption overall, sharing, waste minimization, recycling and so on), and she is particularly interested in plastics and food. We talk about return systems for food containers, food waste, behaviour change, ‘weasel words’, and how people…

Episode 18 – Eve Kekeh of Bundlee

Catherine Weetman 6th January 2020 business models Circular economy Fashion & textiles rental subscriptions

We talk to Eve Kekeh, the founder of Bundlee, the UK’s first baby clothing rental subscription. Eve started Bundlee to give parents a sustainable alternative to buying clothes that will be outgrown very quickly. With Bundlee, parents can rent their baby’s wardrobe and swap clothes for the next size up whenever they like. Outgrown clothes are professionally cleaned before being…

Episode 17 – Nancy Bocken of Homie

Catherine Weetman 15th December 2019 business models Circular economy consumer tech enablers internet of things startups

Nancy Bocken co-founded the company HOMIE, which is developing circular services for pay-per-use home appliances, starting with washing machines. Nancy has an academic background, and she is professor and research coordinator in Sustainable Business Management and Practice at Lund University in Sweden. We talk about how Homie got started, and how the service works. Nancy tells about some of the…

Episode 16 – Sophie Thomas, of Thomas.Matthews ltd

Catherine Weetman 1st December 2019 Circular economy climate change design ethics shared value sustainability systems thinking

Sophie is an established leader in communication and design, and in the investigation and promotion of circular economy design principles. She has been working in the fields of ethical design, behaviour change and material process through her design agency, Thomas.Matthews ltd, for nearly 20 years. We find out how Sophie uses her experience in sustainable and ethical design to help…

Episode 15 – Matilda Jarbin of GIAB

Catherine Weetman 17th November 2019 business models Circular economy refurbish reuse

Matilda Jarbin, one of Sweden’s top young sustainability talents and Sustainability Manager of GIAB, a Swedish company with a business model based on 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…

Episode 14 – David Greenfield of Tech Takeback

Catherine Weetman 3rd November 2019 Circular economy consumer tech recovery flows recyling refurbish reuse

We hear from David Greenfield, about Tech Takeback, a partnership he set up to collect end-of-use consumer technology and get it back into the loop. “Tech-Takeback” is a partnership between SOENECS, Freegle, EraseMydata and Brighton & Hove City Council to collect stranded resources through pop-up shops. We talk about how it got started, the complexities of secure data removal, lessons…

Episode 13 Beth Massa – ARK Reusables

Catherine Weetman 20th October 2019 business models Circular economy food Packaging plastic recovery flows reuse

In Episode 13 we talk to Beth Massa, founder of Ozarka. Beth and her husband Michael have created a collection of food-to-go containers, called ARK Reusables, so people can replace single-use plastics with reusable, returnable containers.

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’. You can follow them on Twitter too.