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Artwork for Circular Economy Podcast episode 178

178 Simon Cook of Reset Scenery: embedding circularity into the creative industries

Simon Cook is co-founder of Reset Scenery, a Scotland-based organisation working at the intersection of the creative industries and the circular economy.
Simon has over 25 years in set construction and more than a decade focused on circular practice, and works to reduce waste in the creative industries by reclaiming, repurposing and rethinking scenic fabrication. Through Reset Scenery’s circular programmes, material recovery systems and industry advocacy, Simon champions practical, scalable approaches to sustainable fabrication for stage, screen and live events.
Reset Scenery supports the Stage, Screen & Events sectors through reclaimed material redistribution, circular material management strategies and lower-impact construction approaches aligned with initiatives such as the Theatre Green Book.
Simon and his co-founder, Matt Doolan are focusing on how to change the whole system – how best can they intervene or educate, and where in the system; how do they help people see the benefits, and make the circular option more affordable and accessible than the scenery that’s designed NOT to last.
Simon explains some of the ways they embed circular principles directly into design and build processes — helping productions reduce embodied carbon, material waste and disposal costs without compromising technical standards.
We’ll also hear about Reset Scenery’s circular design support for schools, helping build long-term skills and sector resilience through practical, hands-on sustainable practice.

Artwork for Circular Economy Podcast episode 177

177 Dan Dicker: moving the dial on reusable cup systems

Dan Dicker is the founder and CEO of Circular&Co, a Cornwall-based Circular Design brand on a mission to eliminate single-use waste.
With a background in product design and innovation, Dan has spent over 20 years championing circular economy principles, designing products and systems that keep materials in use for longer. Alongside consumer products, he leads Circular&Co’s work on reuse and returnable cup systems, partnering with venues, events and organisations to drive real-world change and deliver genuine environmental impact.
Dan explains how Circular&Co’s design skills are creating reuse and returnable cup systems, which are breaking the mould by not requiring an app, or a deposit, and are achieving extremely high levels of reuse by being super-convenient for the cup users, for cafes and for the local community.
We hear how the systems work across a range of use scenarios, and how Circular&Co are using rich data sets to design efficient and effective systems for logistics and cleaning, and to help potential clients make a compelling business case.

Artwork for Circular Economy Podcast episode 175

175 Stephen Fitzpatrick: remanufacturing as a strategic capability

Stephen Fitzpatrick is Director of the Digital Factory at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, based at the University of Strathclyde, and Director of the Remake Value Retention Centre, a new £10m initiative commissioned by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
A key focus of Stephen’s work is developing solutions that enable a circular economy, particularly in high-value, high-integrity sectors.
‘High-integrity sectors’ are industries that require strict adherence to safety and reliability standards, often because the potential consequences of failure are huge – we can think about aerospace, automotive, nuclear power, wind, and other industries where ensuring safety, performance and up-time is critical.
Stephen believes that combining digital technologies with remanufacturing is crucial, both to maximise the life of existing products, and to support designing and manufacturing new products in a way that optimises circular opportunities and value.
Stephen leads a multidisciplinary team of 75 engineers and scientists, specialising in Digital Manufacturing, Design Engineering, Additive and Repair Manufacturing, Robotics and Metrology Systems.

Artwork for Episode 170 of the Circular Economy Podcast

170 Catherine Weetman: unpacking the new edition of A Circular Economy Handbook

Author Catherine Weetman unpacks the new edition of A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business, giving you a preview of the big changes and new insights.
The new, 3rd edition was published by Kogan Page in paperback and e-book format on 3 November 2025, and the print edition for the US and Canada is out on the 25th of November. The book aims to help people get clearer on how successful companies are finding ways to do better with less – in other words, creating value without pumping yet more resources through ever-growing systems of production and consumption. Use the discount code in the shownotes to get 25% off, with free worldwide shipping.

Episode artwork

168 Matt Paneitz of Long Way Home: Hero School – transforming trash into useful buildings

Long Way Home’s Hero School in Guatemala is a community-rooted educational initiative that transforms local trash into useful buildings. Matthew Paneitz first visited San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala, as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2002, and was deeply affected by this rural, Indigenous Maya community where 64% live in poverty and 27% in extreme poverty. People lacked clean water, reliable sanitation, resilient homes, steady employment, and quality education, and the air, water, and soil are all contaminated by waste and pollution.
Unable to put this out of his mind, Matt returned in 2004 and founded non-profit Long Way Home. One of its major projects is Hero School, a project-based, community-rooted educational initiative grounded in Education for Sustainable Development. Between 2008 to 2025, the LWH team transformed 550 tons of trash (including 35,000 used tires) into the Hero School green-built campus.

162 Rachel Bronstein and Barry Waddilove: Skills for Planet from the Design Council

In episode 162 we discuss design skills and why it’s crucial that design for circularity goes beyond the design of the product itself, to cover the materials, the customer experience, the supply chain, the collection of data for KPIs, and much more.
Helping us think about this are Rachel Bronstein, a Senior Programme Manager at the Design Council, and Barry Waddilove, who is supporting the Design Council’s “Design for Planet” initiative as a Sustainable Design Expert.
The Design Council is the UK’s national champion for design, across all design disciplines, and it aims to showcase brilliance, lead on new thinking, evidence value and influence policy, so that design can thrive. Design for Planet will feature on a global stage this September, when the Design Council hosts the World Design Congress.
The Design Council’s Skills for Planet mission aims to close a critical skills gap, highlighted when research found that while 66% of designers designed for planet, yet only 43% felt that they had the capabilities they needed. So the Skills for Planet mission is to help designers develop the skills to design places, products and services that regenerate the planet.
Rachel Bronstein is leading the delivery of Skills for Planet aiming to upskill 1 million designers in green design skills by 2030. Rachel has a multidisciplinary background from her work across the private, public and third sector.
Barry Waddilove has over 30 years’ experience in design and sustainability with brands and organizations across 25 countries. Barry has been working on circular economy projects since 2014, and most recently he’s has been working for the Swedish Consumer Electronics company Electrolux Group, as Head of Circular Economy and Partnerships in the global sustainability leadership team in Stockholm.
Rachel outlines the Skills for Planet Blueprint , co-created with over 100 design experts across industry, education and government. It provides a cross-disciplinary set of eighteen Green Design Skills across six interconnected areas: Regenerating Nature, Embedding Circularity, Eliminating Emissions, Empowering Green Communities, Influencing Green Behaviour, and Evaluating Green Impact.
We’ll hear more about the blueprint, the broader role of design in business and why it’s so important that business leaders understand the role of design and how it can support change projects, particularly around the circular economy.
We talk about the challenges in designing for circularity, and the opportunities that can come from partnerships and new business models. Barry and Rachel highlight a range of areas where design can play a key role, including making use of digital tools and data.
We discuss the importance of embracing complexity and the need for systemic approaches, and how to think about some of the conflicts and trade-offs that come up when we’re trying to design circular solutions.

Circular Economy Podcast - artwork for episode 160

160 Systems and system value

One of recurring themes in the new edition of A Circular Economy Handbook (to be published in November 2025) is the importance of systems thinking and systems design. I’ve been reading Seth Godin’s book, This is Strategy, and he says successful strategies depend on two things: being conscious of the change we seek to make and the systems that can amplify or impede our progress.
In other words, we must make sure we understand the different systems affecting the things we want to change. There can be multiple systems, many of which we have little control over.
It’s also important to find the ‘leverage points’ – those places in complex systems where, as Donella Meadows said, ‘a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything.’
Pretty much every conversation in the last series gave me food for thought and insights for the book, and in this episode, I’d like to pick up on some of those.
First, we’ll recap on the systems thinking tools and approaches in Martin Tomitsch and Steve Baty’s new book, Designing Tomorrow, and think about the impact of strategies and systems – who we affect, and what kind of impacts we’re responsible for.
Then we’ll look more closely at one of the key differences between conventional and circular business models – the role of the customer, and the need for them to be active, rather than passive participants.
Finally, we’ll unpick another recurring theme from the book – system value – a term used by the Future Fit Foundation for solutions where businesses address societal needs in a holistic way, while not hindering progress towards a flourishing future.
The last series covers episodes 151 to 159:
151 Clarissa Morawski of Reloop Platform: practical policies for circular packaging
152 Markus Terho: The Lifestyle Test
153 Anette Timmer of DESSO: the beauty of circularity
154 Loic Le Fouest of Clarasys: creating circular customer experiences
155 Martin Tomitsch and Steve Baty: Life-centred design
156 Marcus Feldthus: the Post-Growth Guide for businesses
157 Liz Bui of Yulex: safer, sustainable materials
158 Steve Wilson of Compostify: bioplastics that enrich the planet
159 Kyle Wiens of iFixit: the rewards of repairability

Circular Economy Podcast artwork for episode 159

159 Kyle Wiens of iFixit: the rewards of repairability

Kyle Wiens is the co-founder of iFixit, the international repair community known for open-source repair manuals and product teardown. Kyle is also one of my circular economy heroes!
Since it started back in 2003, iFixit has empowered hundreds of millions of people to repair their broken stuff. Kyle led the international coalition that legalized Right to Repair, has testified before the US Congress and the International Trade Commission, and he is helping to develop global environmental standards.
Kyle brings us up to speed on how iFixit has evolved over the last two decades, in its reach, offer and engagement.
We talk about why we’ve ended up with so many products that are not designed to last and are hard – or impossible to repair, and why things are changing for the better.
Kyle explains the importance of the Right to Repair legislation that’s being rolled out, how brands that don’t get on board risk losing out, and explains why we need much more information about product durability and repairability.
We discuss some of the ways that brands can improve the design and durability of their products, and how iFixit can help them with that, and he offers a simple suggestion to help us all make better buying choices.

Circular Economy Podcast artwork for episode 158

#158 Steve Wilson of Compostify: bioplastics that enrich the planet

Compostify makes truly home-compostable plant pots and other bioplastic solutions designed to nourish the earth. Its products naturally break down without leaving harmful residues, and Compostify says this packaging enriches the planet, rather than polluting it.
Steve Wilson is the Co-founder and CEO of Compostify, with a background in scaling technology businesses. Steve is applying his expertise in innovation, partnerships, and market expansion to make compostable packaging a mainstream reality.
We talk about where the idea came from, and how they partnered with researchers to develop solutions, with a very challenging design brief that would support scaling this out around the world.
We talk about the criteria for the biomaterials and Steve explains the design features of the pots, meaning the Compostify solution enables ‘retailers, growers, nurseries, distributors, and manufacturers to transition to home compostable plant pots without sacrificing performance or ease of use.’
Steve also tells us about the feedback from gardeners, and the surprising benefits that emerged when commercial gardeners began using the pots.

Artwork for circular economy podcast episode 155

155 Martin Tomitsch and Steve Baty: Life-centred design

Martin Tomitsch and Steve Baty have written a brilliant book called Designing Tomorrow: strategic design tactics to change your practice, organization and planetary impact, published earlier this year.
Martin Tomitsch is a Professor and Head of the Transdisciplinary School at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). As a design academic and educator, Martin advocates for the transformative power of design to envision speculative futures and drive positive change. He has written lots of academic articles and seven books, including Making Cities Smarter and Design Think Make Break Repeat.
Steve Baty was the inaugural CEO of the Australian Design Council, co-founder of Meld Studios and co-founder of UX Australia. He is a Director of the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence and served two years as the President of the Interaction Design Association. Steve focuses on the integration between strategic design and traditional architectural practice, especially for improving our public spaces, infrastructure and services.
You might be noticing interest around supporting responsible innovation in ways that consider all life – human and other-than-human. That might be badged as life-centred, regenerative or post-anthropocentric design, and Martin Tomitsch and Steve Baty say these approaches share an important goal, to ‘reach an operational status where human activity no longer exceeds the planetary limits.’
In Designing Tomorrow, Martin and Steve bring together several design philosophies, to help designers, strategists and policymakers amplify their impact, shift their perspectives and empower them to create lasting positive change inside organizations.
We’ll talk about some of the concepts and tools they introduce in the book, why we need to carefully consider who is involved in a system and the broader implications of our design decisions, and ways to change our mindsets – including about stakeholders, our sphere of influence and how to think about strategic decisions.

Rethink loop

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