Circular Business Podcast

Let us know your thoughts on this at circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com / info@thecircularcollective.com

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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You are listening to part 3 of our discussion with Kiran Pereira where we are gonna dig deep on sustainable solutions to the global sand crisis.

Kiran is the Founder & Chief Storyteller at SandStories.org. an organization that works to create awareness about the urgent need to manage our consumption of sand as a resource. They aim to bridge the gap between science, policy and industry by identifying and promoting potential solutions to the looming sand crisis.

If you observe keenly, you’ll notice how rarely sand and its sustainability comes up in climate change awareness conversations. Just bcoz its not being spoken much, doesn’t mean that its impacts ain’t alarming.

Doston, I’m counting on you to help us spread the word and spark a thought within your circle of influence. All you have to do is share this episode with them and start a conversation.

Our conversation has been split into 3 parts. Part 1 focuses on problems and impacts of sand mining on our lives and the ecosystem.

Part 2 focuses on sustainable, circular solutions to today’s unsustainable sand industry

Part 3 will focus on action points for making this planet a better place.

Show Notes:

1. Today sand is valued poorly, therefore linked with a lot of exploitation and creates barriers to adoption of sustainable technology & infrastructure;
2. Sand is a non-renewable resource in human timescales;
3. Humankind has built 850,000 dams around the world rivers that are blocking sand’s natural course of path;
4. Today humans have become a geo-morphological force …trying hard to compete with nature...
5. Sand and gravel are the most extracted solid substances on earth;
6. Today's regulations around sand are archaic;
7. We lack awareness and urgency around the topic of sand unsustainability;

Tune into the episode to learn more.

Contact: SandStories

Watch the Documentary : Sand Wars

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Key words : Illegal sand mining

You are listening to part 2 of our discussion with Kiran Pereira where we are gonna dig deep on sustainable solutions to the global sand crisis.

Kiran is the Founder & Chief Storyteller at SandStories.org. an organization that works to create awareness about the urgent need to manage our consumption of sand as a resource. They aim to bridge the gap between science, policy and industry by identifying and promoting potential solutions to the looming sand crisis.

In the previous episode i.e. ep #94 we discussed how sand touches our lives everyday via the products and services that we use. We even spoke about the massive scale at which specific types of sand are extracted from various parts of the globe to suffice human development needs. This in turn is leading us into a climate catastrophe.

If you observe keenly, you’ll notice how rarely sand and its sustainability comes up in climate change awareness conversations. Just bcoz its not being spoken much, doesn’t mean that its impacts ain’t alarming.

Doston, I’m counting on you to help us spread the word and spark a thought within your circle of influence. All you have to do is share this episode with them and start a conversation.

Our conversation has been split into 3 parts. Part 1 focuses on problems and impacts of sand mining on our lives and the ecosystem.

Part 2 i.e. today’s episode will focus on sustainable, circular solutions to today’s unsustainable sand industry

Part 3 will focus on action points for making this planet a better place.

Tune into the episode to learn more.

Contact: SandStories

Watch the Documentary : Sand Wars

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Key words : Illegal sand mining

If what I just said sounds unbelievable to you, no problem at all, our guest for today Kiran Pereira is going to share a rare sand story with all of us. Kiran is the Founder & Chief Storyteller at SandStories.org.

SandStories works to create awareness about the urgent need to manage our consumption of sand as a resource. They aim to bridge the gap between science, policy and industry by identifying and promoting potential solutions to the looming sand crisis.

Our conversation has been split into 3 parts. Part 1 ..i.e today’s episode will focus on problems and impacts of sand mining on our lives and the ecosystem.

Part 2 will focus on sustainable, circular solutions to today’s unsustainable sand industry

Part 3 will focus on action points for making this planet a better place.

Notes:

1. Sand is a non-renewable resource in human timescales
2. Humankind has built 850,000 dams around the world that are blocking sand’s natural course of path
3. Today humans have become a geo-morphological force …trying hard to compete with nature
4. Sand and gravel are the most extracted solid substances on earth.

Tune into the episode to learn more.

Contact: SandStories

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Key words : Illegal sand mining 

While the podcast must take a holistic view, I wanna share a secret…you know the curation of this episode is my favorite because these folks have become trailblazers in their own arena. So if I can state them in the chronology of their appearance, we begin the throwback with Alysia G co-founder and director of Materiom followed by Arthur Huang cofounder of MINIWIZ and Dave Hakkens founder of precious plastic.com.

So just sit back, relax, grab your beverage of choice and get ready to be inspired.

Let us know your thoughts on this at circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com / info@thecircularcollective.com

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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Today we are going to talk to a phenomenal woman who has become a trend setter in zero waste living in India. She is none other than Sahar Mansoor Founder and CEO at Bare Necessities.

This is part 2 of my conversation with Sahar.

Of her many achievements, Sahar is also the co-author of India’s first zero waste guidebook which is specially crafted for the desi audience. The title of the book is Bare Necessities: How to Live a Zero Waste Life. I sincerely suggest you to check it out because Sahar walks the talk, therefore you can be assured to gain useful insights especially if you are getting started on your own zero-waste journey.

In the previous episode, i.e. part one of the conversation, we discussed some important challenges that aam janata face in transitioning to zero waste lifestyle.

We gain an insight as to how BN is approaching those problems.

We even talk about the need for awareness and practical education around environ sustainability followed by a crazy story of how Sahar tailor made her major in college …kind of designing her own curriculum from her areas of interest.

In case you haven’t heard part-1, then take a pause and listen to Ep. #91 because this one is a sequel to that and you wouldn’t wanna miss out on the flow, would you?

Recently, Sahar and her team launched an online course for those who want to switch to understand circular economy.

The course details are here : Circular Economy in 30

This course discusses what the future should look like as we move towards a sustainable and just future. Following a Circular Economy rather than the Linear Economy!

Using well-researched and inspiring examples from the past, present and future that are embedding circularity, close to embedding it or are literally already amazing at it - from the Ubers and AirBnb’s to the Yulu’s and electric transportation, to even insects as a source of sustainable food - this course is going to take you on idea-driven, innovative and motivating journey!

Tune into the episode to learn more.

Contact: Bare Necessities

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Key words : Zero-waste living

Today we are going to talk to a phenomenal woman who has become a trend setter in zero waste living in India. She is none other than Sahar Mansoor Founder and CEO at Bare Necessities.

Sahar says that she’s and accidental entrepreneur and that Bare Necessities started in her pursuit to lead a zero waste life.

Bare Necessities addresses serious flaws in manufacturing, distribution, and consumption by innovating and providing sustainable solutions to waste, and identifying problems that more companies need to address if they want to be innovative and socially-conscious.

Their products take a cradle-to-cradle approach right from from the design to manufacturing to distribution.

Recently, Sahar and her team launched an online course for those who want to switch to understand circular economy.

The course details are here : Circular Economy in 30

This course discusses what the future should look like as we move towards a sustainable and just future. Following a Circular Economy rather than the Linear Economy!

Using well-researched and inspiring examples from the past, present and future that are embedding circularity, close to embedding it or are literally already amazing at it - from the Ubers and AirBnb’s to the Yulu’s and electric transportation, to even insects as a source of sustainable food - this course is going to take you on idea-driven, innovative and motivating journey!

An important takeaway from this episode :

* When you share a home with your loved ones, it can get challenging to lead a zero waste life, because each individual have their own value systems. At such times, it is important to find synergies in motives that resonate with your loved ones, communicate in ways that they understand best in order to collectively make an impact.

Tune into the episode to learn more.

Contact: Bare Necessities

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Key words : Zero-waste living

This week, we look at Ray C Anderson from Interface carpets, Ben Smith from Green Wave and May Al Karooni from Globechain. Hope you enjoy this compilation.

Let us know your thoughts on this at circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com / info@thecircularcollective.com

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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That’s why as a refresher today we talk about two organisations, Toast ale and Rainbeer who have innovated into circular business models for crafting beer…then we move on to Garcon wines who have innovated sustainable packaging for wine…making it one of the first wine bottles to slide through your letter box followed by the very special coffee miners project.

So take a seat, grab a beverage and find out how your drink can be more circular.

Let us know your thoughts on this at circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com / info@thecircularcollective.com

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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Today we recall solutions by Reply, Gerrard Street, Fairphones & Homie. 

Hope you enjoy this compilation.

Happy listening.

Also tell us what are you going to do different this New Year? How will you tackle your e-waste?

How are you gonna drive change?

Write to us at circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com / info@thecircularcollective.com

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Follow our page- (Circular Business Podcast | The Circular Collective)

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You’re listening to part 2 of my conversation with Pranshu Singhal where we’ll delve into the realities of e-waste management in India.

Pranshu is on a relentless mission to enable setup of a well governed industry ecosystem for e-waste management in India.

He founded Karo Sambhav which is a cohesive movement for enterprises, consumers, governments and alliances to collaborate and enable circular economy.

Show Notes:

1. What does formalizing informal sector mean? - Today we need one-common definition of formalization for everyone to follow.
2. Suggestions for EPR amendments;

• How do we improve & create a level playing field for producers and PROs. We need to reverse the current situation; Instead of having negative pressure on orgs doing good, we should have positive pressure on orgs not doing so good.
• We need to digitize our whole system of data management in waste. Today most data on the next life of recycled waste is being submitted in paper format, which makes it difficult to carryout data analysis unlike other industries.
• As of today the responsibility for enforcement of EPR lies on state pollution control board (which are only a group of few people) which is a lot of work expected from a handful individuals. Present mechanics of enforcement make it difficult to achieve success on good intentioned policies. Instead can we involve technology & management institutions for regular monitoring in the form of yearly assignments;
• OR can we create an open source platform with these data sets, which will enable any of the interested parties to get involved, analyze and suggest solutions. Having this open source platform is beneficial because it will help us identify challenges from multiple view points globally. Once challenges are identified only then change can happen.
• Another challenge with today’s EPR system is to know what kind of money is being spent by brands / recyclers / (stakeholders in the system). It is important to have publications of reference costs of compliance. This will eradicate the vicious cycle of lowest cost models. Consider that a brand has to comply to a new regulation in the policy, if there are no reference costs of compliance, they’ll always opt for the low cost service providers, without even knowing whether the service provider is competent to provide quality results, as there is no client reference. Having reference costs equips the well intentioned brands to negotiate better and be ware of low quality service providers, because for them EPR and sustainability is more than just a tick in the box.
• Today in EPR systems, there is a race to the bottom (in terms of prices)
• We need to bring in mechanisms by which enforcements are no longer bottlenecks to the growth of the system.

Tune into the episode to learn more.

Contact: Karo Sambhav

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Key words : E-waste recycling

I bring to you my conversation with Pranshu Singhal who is on a relentless mission to enable setup of a well governed industry ecosystem for e-waste management in India.

Pranshu founded Karo Sambhav which is a cohesive movement for enterprises, consumers, governments and alliances to collaborate and enable circular economy.

Their team empowers enterprises to close their material loops. set circularity goals, decode EPR compliances and create robust collection programmes.

This year, Pranshu won the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award; An award by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organisation of the World Economic Forum, and the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation.

This conversation is a two part series, so make sure to listen to both ep. 86 & 87 to be in sync & to find out how we all can collectively make change happen.

Notes:

1. Can we enable setup of a well governed industry ecosystem for e-waste in India?
2. Bcoz of Karo Sambhav the dialogues in our country have moved from Why should we collect e-waste? Why should we manage it? to How should we manage it?
3. At first, we need to create better collection systems for varieties of waste by leveraging existing infrastructure. At present they are quite underutilized.
4. We all need to be aware of the basic lifecycle of each products that we use on daily basis. Stakeholders who are managing the supply chain need to start thinking on what the reverse logistics for their products would look like once they reach their end of life?

Today when you look at the market…to be precise the linear market, you can sense the expertise of the entire system to deliver efficiently on a forward supply chain. Isn’t it?

On the contrary when we look at the market from the lens of a circular economy we see enormous gaps in meeting the basic necessities needed to have reverse logistics in place. Majority of our take-back mechanisms, collection systems are informally handled and in my view they are amateur on a systemic level to meet the ambitions climate action goals.

That’s where organizations like Karo Sambhav are making a difference by bridging in those gaps and introducing circular strategies and technologies in a way that makes it easy for the brutal market to embrace climate action.

Tune into the episode to learn more.

Contact: Karo Sambhav

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Key words : E-waste recycling

Think of it like a mini version of Trashpresso in your garage. This little reference is from Ep.#32.

Now go on to google search and type precious plastic.com.

They have developed machines that enable everyone to work with plastic, The machines are specifically designed using only basic tools and low-cost materials that are available at every corner of the world and they are developed modularly, in different parts, in this way you can always upgrade, repair and customize them or even adapt them to your environment.

In addition to the blueprints, they also have step-by-step instruction videos, lessons about plastic, tips and tricks and useful templates. It is a complete package with everything you need to get started ready to download.

Wherever you live you should be able to build them yourself or find a local handyman to help out.

These machines allow everyone to create new things from plastic, set up a production, start a business, clean up the neighbourhood.

In the year 2012-2013, Dave Hekkens the founder of Precious Plastics started this open source platform as a part of his graduation project...and today they are a global movement of over 80,000 people sharing the same passion and vision for a world with less plastic waste.

Precious Plastics is trying to boost plastic recycling, by providing people the tools to get started. This is all the basic information people need to start their own little recycle business anywhere in the world and they can all download it for free.

But in order for this to have an impact we need to make sure that people

actually know it's now possible and that they can just download and start.

So as an action point for today’s episode, I urge you to visit their website today and simply spread it around make sure it reaches your friends, uncle aunties, neighbour.

but also that farmer or artisans living somewhere in the middle of a secluded village.

Your share might reach the right person and all together we can make sure it reaches every corner of the world.

Tune into the episode to find out more.

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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Today I bring to you my conversation with Kamal Raj - Director of Impact Projects at rePurpose Global.

rePurpose Global is the World's First Plastic Credit Platform dedicated to making planetary action simple for purposeful people and companies of any size, anywhere. Their one-stop solution empowers anybody to go Plastic Neutral by financing innovators on the frontlines who are relentlessly fighting for our planet’s future.

You’ll be fascinated to know that majority of plastic waste especially multi-layered plastic (MLP) — including chips packets, chocolate wrappers, and more — never makes it to recycling. Instead, all that waste ends up in landfill remaining there for centuries.

The sad truth is, the infrastructure needed to tackle this problem is underfunded, and requires an urgent push. That’s where rePurpose Global is breaking barriers, and channelling resources towards important innovations.

Our guest Kamal Raj is no less than an avenger when it comes to implementing solutions around plastic waste problems. After completing his degree in biotechnology, he got exposed to the world of waste management through his work with Daily Dump and soon figured out synergies to leverage his knowledge of biotechnology to find solutions around plastic waste.

He then moved on to lead the Solid Waste Management program as part of Infosys’s Green Initiatives team and is recognized for achieving self-reliance in SWM at Infosys, where annually 10 million kilograms of MSW is managed through 24 automated technologies.

After his decade long stint with providing solutions for waste management in India, today he continues to create that impact on a global level by leading projects at repurpose global.

Tune into the episode to learn more.

Contact: rePupose Global

Keyword : Plastic footprint calculator

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Today we talk about Herman Miller and how they are innovating their business models into circular business model to stay relevant in business and also to be inclusive of natural environment.

I want to bring to your notice that designing for the environment is not an easy job. Speaking in context of Herman Miller, they are a 116year old company who have gained a strong reputation of high quality ergonomic furniture.

Now to incorporate cradle to cradle C2C design, or to make use of ocean plastics into their well performing models, takes enormous research and development of how the materials would behave in this new formula, it takes a focussed team of individuals to run the project, improve their existing supply chains, train and level up their suppliers as well as employees to be cognizant of this new ecosystem and deliver results.

Taking all this into account, Herman Miller has set a precedent of sustainability within the furniture industry. Their process of change can be replicated in other industries. They are clearly the role models for businesses who aspire to stay relevant, stay eco-efficient and profitable in this new age.

Tune into the episode to find out how this Herman Miller is doing things differently. 

Sources : Herman Miller website

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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Diwali…the festival of lights brings with it a lot of chores such as cleaning, making delicious delicacies as well as shopping. So this season I went on hunt to find out circular brands in the retail sector and I’m happy to share with you my conversation with Amita Deshpande from reCharkha.

reCharkha EcoSocial is a Social Enterprise, founded on the belief that, development can only be sustainable if it is bottom-up! This means, sustainable development is possible only when it begins at the grassroots and involves an empathetic understanding of communities.

reCharkha’s founder Amita Deshpande is an IT Engineer who later went on to do her Masters at Purdue University, USA with a focus on Sustainability.

For almost 14 years, she worked with CSR teams of multinational corporations, consultancies, non-profits, and community-based organizations in the United States and India.

Pained by the longing to do more for the society, she leveraged her rich experience from her consulting days to start her social enterprise Aarohana EcoSocial Developments 7 years back . Last year they revamped the brand to what is known as reCharkha Ecosocial.

She’s a fabulous human being and her long-standing dream is to develop a sustainable village and live in it herself, which she wishes to fulfill through reCharkha and her EcoSocial Planet.

Show Notes:

1. We understand the importance of using Charkha to weave plastic trash;
2. We cover the journey of reCharkha in brief and Amita shares interesting insights of her trigger points for starting the brand;
3. Amita shares some eye-opening facts from her volunteering days in Uttarakhand villages;
4. We discuss how reCharkha is closing the loop on plastic trash and what were few challenges that they encountered when they launched in India for the first time;
5. She gives us a sneak peek into their Diwali sale and shares how we all can join their eco-social mission;

Tune into the episode to learn more.

Contact reCharkha Ecosocial

Keyword : What is circular economy?

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Tune into the episode to find out how this Danish organization ROCKWOOL is doing things differently. Yeah...don’t be confused, their name is derived from the product they sell.

Sources : ROCKWOOL Sustainability Report 2020

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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Today’s throwback episode covers solutions by Apeel, Wasteless, Winnow along with the city of Milan’s noteworthy food policy…lengthwise it is slightly longer than our previous Gupshup's.

It’s a pretty good compilation and something that we tried for the first time.

Hope you enjoy this mashup and I’ll see you soon on the other side.

Hope our special episode today emphasized a relevant call for action at all levels of the food system, including national and local governments, companies and citizens. Food connects us all and therefore we must take action at our capacity to make food systems better.

So tell me what are you going to do different this Diwali?

How are you gonna drive change?

Write to us at circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com / info@thecircularcollective.com

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Follow our page- (Circular Business Podcast | The Circular Collective)

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That’s why the grandeur of The Earthshot Prize awards deserves a round of applause because they raised the bar on rewarding entrepreneurs focussed on climate action in the most glamorous way possible. And I just loved the way it was done.

I strongly feel that when work around environmental sustainability gets Oscar awards style recognition…then people will start looking up to it, aspiring to become change-makers.

The Earthshot Prize is centred around five ‘Earthshots’ –

1. Protect & restore nature
2. Clean our air
3. Revive our oceans
4. Build a waste-free world
5. Fix our climate

These 5 earthshots are simple but ambitious goals for our planet which, if achieved by 2030, will improve not only our lives but of the generations to come.

It is a decade of action to convene the environmental world with funders, businesses and individuals to maximise impact and take solutions to scale, to celebrate the people and places driving change; and to inspire people all over the world to work together to repair the planet.

Every year, this Prize will be awarded to five inspiring solutions- one winner in each category.

The prize money is 1 million pounds to winners from each category. Each winner will receive a global platform and prestigious profile, with their stories being showcased over the decade with the ambition that their solutions lead to mass adoption, replication and scaling.

Listen to the episode now and join the conversation.

Source links you must refer to : CNN, Nominations, Episode no. #25, Winners of The Earthshot 2021, Nominators

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Vivenge is a Poland based signage company that has embarked on a sustainable rebranding process.

Currently the company is a one-stop-shop for durable visual identification as they provide both outdoor (outdoor signage, small architecture) and

indoor visual identification (durable indoor signage, furniture, small architecture) as well as related services (e.g. installation, logistics). They have been in business since 1997 and currently its clients comprise 48 brands in 9 countries.

Listen to the episode to understand how they are implementing circular business models.

Source :

http://r2piproject.eu/circularguidelines/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/R2pi_Vivenge_final2.0.pdf;

http://r2piproject.eu/circularguidelines/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Vivenge-Case-Study.pdf;

The Better India article

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Follow our page- (Circular Business Podcast | The Circular Collective)

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Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Sources: BBC / Reuters / Builder Space

Texas based- Urban Mining Company was founded in 2014 with the goal to transform the world’s supply of Neo magnets by developing the fastest, most practical, and cost-competitive path to manufacturing using alternative resources that are not dependent on China and less costly on the environment.

Before this, only 1% of rare earth magnets were being reused and they could only be separated through melting / use of powerful chemical solvents.

Urban Mining Company has found a sustainable and financially viable way to recycle Rare Earth Elements (REE) from scrap. Reducing CO2 emissions by 11 tonnes for every tonne of magnet produced and reduced energy consumption by 46% when compared to the traditional way of producing NdFeB magnets.

They mine 600,000 tonnes of magnets that are locked inside products a.k.a e-waste that industry and consumers throw away.

To set the context, Neo magnets / neodymium magnet have received worldwide attention as they are the strongest magnets known to date. Their high productivity, affordability, energy efficiency and excellent magnetic properties make it an ideal choice for high-technology applications, such as in wind turbines, hybrid and electric vehicles, air conditioning compressors, fans, mobile phones, hard disk drive, and speakers.

Neodymium-Nd is the essential component of Neo magnets, while Dysprosium-Dy is added in order to enhance the magnet’s ability to operate at elevated temperatures and to increase the coercive force.

Both Nd and Dy are ‘critical metals’.

They are critical because of high global demand, susceptibility to future scarcity, unavailability of substitutes, and low recycling rates. Worse...they have high demand for use in green energy technologies.

Rare earth elements are not as "rare" as their name implies. However, these metals are very difficult to mine because it is unusual to find them in concentrations high enough for economical extraction. Around the world, China’s contribution to REEs has been noteworthy. They dominate the market in its supply at cheap prices.

Tune into the episode to know more about Urban Mining Company's circular business model and understand how they are addressing this monopoly problem.

Source : Geology.com 

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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Today we talk about GlobeChain. They are a circular economy focussed online marketplace, to be specific, their  start-up is based on the premise that one person’s poison is another person’s meat. Their marketplace finds takers for unwanted items that would otherwise go to landfill. The company helps big businesses to improve their green credentials and reduce their waste, giving unwanted items to cash-strapped charities and small businesses.

Founder May Al-Karooni developed GlobeChain after the investment bank she worked for moved offices, dumping perfectly good fixtures and furnishings to refit everything from desks to carpet tiles.

So what does their business model look like? Businesses with unwanted items – everything from restaurant tables to shop display units – upload a photo and description. Would-be takers contact the seller, to say what they will do with that item – reuse, recycle or repurpose. Whoever makes the best case takes home the goods, and all for the price of the transport.

Okay, that sounds pretty cool, but how do they monetize their work?

Globechain charges donors of goods to make a listing. It ranges from 10-500 pounds per annum. For eg. If a business wants to make an ad-hoc listing then that would cost them 10 pounds with an option to list 5 items. If the business wants to take a yearly subscription, then that would cost them 500 pounds with an option for 250 listings per annum. May-Al-Karooni says that it's a fee they would otherwise spend on incineration costs, or to hire a man-and-van and pay a landfill tax to take away those items. It’s a fee per shop, per restaurant or per construction site. It’s not set by weight.

The taker pays for transport. Having to make that commitment makes the takers stick to their end of the bargain.

Another powerful aspect about Globechain is knowing where these items have gone and how they have helped people. This creates a perfect seg-way for ESG rating.

They gather ESG data to measure the impact of giving, everything from up-skilling and creating employment to the number of kilos diverted from the landfill. They gather stories and videos from the charities, in particular, and create infographics.

Globechain has diverted some 5.2 million kilos of goods – more than 200,000 individual items – from landfill. The single largest listing was from a well-known DIY retailer saddled with 13,000 unwanted fitted kitchens & Seven charities took those kitchens with zero hassles of having a waste licence.

Today their platform has over 10,000 members ranging across corporates, charities, schools & universities, social enterprises, start-ups and individuals in industry sectors ranging from retail, banking, fashion, food, construction, education and health.

Now isn’t that an impressive solution?

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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Today we talk to Sam Baker from Walk2COP26.

COP26 is the 2021 edition of the United Nations Annual Climate Change Conference, it is an event many believe to be the world’s last best chance to get climate change under control.

I’d recommend you to listen to Episode 72 of Circular Business Podcast, in case you want to freshen up on the basic details and agenda of COP26.

Walk2COP26 is a project led by Sam Baker. A project that involves 6 climate-conscious individuals who’ll walk 500 miles on foot from London to Glasgow engaging individuals and groups along the way on climate change conversations.

They plan to explore their perspectives on:

• the impact of climate change; its urgency; their sense of agency and their appetite for taking action

Through their journey and events, they aim to create awareness, trigger the right blend of individual + collaborative action by bringing together stakeholders from national & local govt. businesses & civil society

Sam has spent almost 30 years working with businesses as a consultant. Since 2015 he has focussed on the intersection of business, society and the environment. He’s walking to listen, to learn with the hope of contributing in a small way to a safer future for his grandson.

Show Notes:

1. Why COP26 is crucial?
2. Half global emissions by 2030.
3. Need for clear commitments on reducing emissions
4. What we need this year is a strong set of national commitments and then we rule where these commitments get enshrined, monitored and work cohesively across nation-states
5. We need strong national policies as a foundation for moving forward on tackling the climate crisis
6. Sam and his team want to give a voice to people who are impacted by climate action…people who come from different walks of life…
7. Host events to bring together different stakeholders under one roof and initiate conversations, discuss broader challenges together and how are they going to find solutions.
8. Do they feel empowered to make a difference, or do they consider it is someone else’s responsibility?
9. Do they intend to make any change in their current climate harming behaviors?
10. Implementing SDG parameters rightly can lead to profound transformations. Having said that alignment to short term commercial goals can become challenging.

Contact Walk2COP26

Keyword : COP26; Net Zero

Reach out to us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Hello & welcome to Circular Business Podcast’s special edition of weekly gupshup with the Circular collective, I’m your host and dost Sreepriya Sridharan and today we'll discuss the ancient casting method of lost-wax technique and understand its relevance to circular design methods with Vikas Dargan from The Circular Collective. Vikas is an Architect ,a cultural professional and Anant fellow, who is passionately working towards craft revival and rural livelihood generation.

Lost wax casting, which is also known as cire-perdue, process attained after a thorough modification over centuries and is believed to be more than 5000 years old.

The history of metals and their shaping is as ancient as the history of civilization. The lost wax casting technique is a method of metal casting, in which hot metal is poured into a wax model, which is ‘lost’ during the process and the wax is retrieved to be used again.

Evidence of the technique can be tracked in the iconic “Dancing Girl” bronze sculpture, made in 2500 BCE in Mohenjo-Daro, to its extensive use during the rule of the Chola dynasty of Southern India (c. 850 CE - 1250 CE). Also, during the medieval period, Chamba valley was an important political and artistic centre, therefore attracted masters from the region including Kashmir valley to adapt the technique for their unique detailing and craftsmanship of Mohra icons. The technique revolutionized the production and utilization of ritualistic and utility items. It enabled to conveniently take idols out of temples for ritual processions and empowered craftsperson to cast complex designs with intricate detailing.

The extensive use of such rigorous but efficient method is in itself a reflection of the ancient cultural values prevailing in those times. The process being circular in nature justifies its continued use till present times. 'Maduchchista vidhana' refers to 'lost wax' casting technique as per Rig Veda. .

The casting process starts by preparation of the wax model of the figurine. Agama Shastra is used for reference for the size and structure of the figure. That includes using a ribbon of coconut tree for Measurements are folded to different lengths in proportion to the various parts of the figure. Locally acquired bee wax is mixed with resin and groundnut oil. The wax is then used to make the figure and intricate details are added onto it. Once the wax model is dried, it is covered with fine loam or alluvial soil and allowed to dry naturally. Orifices are then made on the mold for pouring the molten metal and draining of the molten wax and gases formed during casting. After completely dried, another layer of clay mixed with cow dung, charcoal, paddy husk and sand is applied and dried under sunlight for 3 days. Further, the mould is reinforced with metal wires so that it doesn’t break while casting. The dried mold is then set on fire for melting the wax inside and the molten wax is retrieved in a vessel for reuse.

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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In today’s episode, we‘ll take a look at UNFCC COP26 and why we should care?

B4 that what is COP26 anyway? -> It is the 2021 edition of the United Nations Annual Climate Change Conference

This year, in November, the UK, together with their partner Italy, will host an event many believe to be the world’s last best chance to get climate change under control. For nearly three decades the UN has been bringing together almost every country on earth for global climate summits - called COPs - which stands for ‘Conference of the Parties’.

COP is always preceded by Pre-COP where negotiators come together and hash out the key issues that they are going to be discussing.

‘Climate negotiations have been happening for 30 years and In that time climate change has gone from being a fringe issue to a global priority. This year will be the 26th annual summit – giving it the name COP26. With the UK as President, COP26 takes place in Glasgow.

If you are subscribed to climate news then you may have observed that Net Zero & COP26 have been the buzzwords on the internet lately

COP26 has a particular urgency. The UK is the host country that is facilitating discussion with more than 190 countries to reach an agreement on how to tackle climate change. The leaders from these 190 countries are expected to arrive in Scotland. Joining them in the conference will be tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens for twelve days of talks.

They have defined five key areas in which global collaborations can make progress faster.

These are Clean Energy, Clean Transport, Nature based solutions, Adaptation resilience & Finance.

You may ask, why wasn’t this an urgency before…why only now. To understand that let’s go back to the timeline to COP21 which took place in Paris in the year 2015.

Why was this important because every participating country agreed to work together to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees and ideally to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels;

they agreed to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate;

in addition to this, they also agreed to make money available to deliver on these aims. That's how Paris Agreement was born.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries voluntarily committed to bringing forward national plans setting out how much they would reduce their emissions - known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or ‘NDCs’. They agreed that every five years they would come back with an updated plan that would reflect their highest possible ambition at that time.

Just as we all have quarterly/half-yearly/yearly performance reviews at work, the COP26 climate summit is a performance review for countries around the globe, which happens every five years.

It’s 5 years already since the Paris Agreement therefore it is time for countries to measure where we stand on those commitments and what future actions are planned to limit global warming temperatures below 1.5 dec C.

Taking a bird's eye view, COP26 discussions will be around these 4 important points, they are-

1. Secure global Net Zero & keep 1.5 deg within reach
2. Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
3. Mobilizing finance
4. Deliver global collaboration to accelerate climate action

Tune into the episode to learn more.

As acres and acres of forests are burning down in wild fires including the Amazon, there has been a growing interest in regenerative ocean farms. One such technology was pioneered by Ben Smith, co-founder of Green Wave. A hunter by profession to now a climate farmer, Ben has had a dramatic transition when he realized that his dream of living a life on the ocean will never come true, if the ocean is dead.

Based on the principles of polyculture, Regenerative ocean farming by GreenWave works to mimic the diversity of ocean reefs by growing a mix of species that act in sync and nourish each other to revive ecosystems. Ocean farming eliminates the need for freshwater and zero use of fertilizers and feeds. The yield is used for food, fertilizer, animal feed, bioplastics, and more.

Each crop plays a vital role. For example, a single adult oyster can filter as much as 50 gallons of water a day. Combined with the environmental benefits of seaweed, one can now turn regenerative ocean farms into climate solution powerhouses and stack benefits by growing seaweed and shellfish together. Regenerative ocean farms are safe havens for marine life as they improve water quality and provide habitats that foster biodiversity and support the health of an array of aquatic species.

What fascinates us even more is their effort to propagate the knowledge to more fishermen and transform them into ocean farmers. GreenWave’s 10 year goal is to provide training, tools, and support to a baseline of 10,000 regenerative ocean farmers to catalyze the planting of 1 million acres and yield meaningful economic and climate impacts.

To scale, GreenWave cultivates a "Regenerative Reef" model in new regions. Each Reef includes 25 to 50 regenerative ocean farms, a land-based hatchery and processing hub, and a ring of institutional buyers and entrepreneurs developing value-added products. These Reefs are then replicated up and down coastlines.

All in all I think GreenWave is building a foundation for a new food system by keeping the environment, jobs revival and justice at the centre of their seafood platter.

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

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Today we are on part 2 of our conversation with Dhwani Mehta., co-founder of Ecovia. who are a packaging as a service company that helps e-commerce & hyperlocal players switch to returnable reusable packaging.

In the previous episode we discussed how their business model came into being? We dived deeper into how they managed to pool in resources and stakeholders with high consumer touch points to support their pilot run in Surat amidst the pandemic. We busted some myths around compostable bags available online and also discuss the product design. 

Show Notes:

1. How consumer behavior needs a conscious change
2. How can brands make the journey of sustainability easy for their customers, my making sustainability as a convenient step, instead of adding another task for them to handle
3. There are 2 types of typical user behaviors, one type are initiators who need no motivation to do the right thing; second type need incentives to take the same action.
4. Carrots & carrots —> no penalty for customers for not action responsibly, instead only rewards for being responsible
5. How second wave of COVID made them think of a brilliant idea to utilize the newspaper boy networks to pick-up their pilot run packages
6. A customer who gets their shipments in Ecovia packaging has a simple task- ensure that you make time to return the packaging
7. Recycled polyester-PET bottles- are used to make the bags
8. 1 bag can fulfill 150 uses, optimizes shipping costs
9. Busts myth around assumptions of carbon footprint around cardboard packaging
10. They plan to collaborate with businesses that have high customer touch points to ensure convenient returns for Ecovia bags;

It is no surprise that today single-use packaging has dominated our supply chains..and this single use family of convenience comes at a cost of depleting forest reserves and choking marine lives.

With the rise in popularity of e-commerce and doorstep deliveries in India, the use of paper as well as plastic packaging in boxes has gone up significantly- a trend that organizations like Ecovia are trying to arrest. Therefore they deserve all of our support and encouragement.

Reach out to Ecovia on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thinkecovia/

If you are aware of similar groundbreaking technologies in India, then please share it with us on circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Reach out to me on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Hello & welcome to CBP a series where we look into circular economy from the Indian context. I’m your host and dost Sreepriya Sridharan, and today we have with us Dhwani Mehta co-founder of Ecovia who are a packaging as a service company that helps e-commerce & hyperlocal players switch to returnable reusable packaging.

This interview is a 2 part series. Please join me in part 1 of conversation with Dhwani.

Show Notes:

In this episode we cover the following points;

1. How online shopping mania during 2020 lockdowns opened their eyes to the countless cardboard box wastes accumulating at home.
2. Why consumer behavior needs a conscious change?
3. How can brands make the journey of sustainability easy for their customers; can sustainability be made as a convenient step, instead of adding another task for them to handle?
4. Ecovia opts for carrots & carrots —> no penalty for customers for inaction, instead only rewards for being responsible;
5. Second wave of COVID made them think of a brilliant idea to utilize the newspaper boy networks to pick-up their pilot run packages;
6. A customer who gets their shipments in Ecovia packaging has a simple task- ensure that you make time to return the packaging;
7. Recycled polyester-PET bottles- are used to make the bags;
8. 1 bag can fulfill 150 uses, optimizes shipping costs;
9. Busts myth around assumptions of carbon footprint around cardboard packaging;
10. How buying “compostable” bags may not be a good alternative to plastics in stead we should be on the lookout for backyard compostable options, if one is serious on seeking for alternatives for plastics;
11. Currently their packaging material supports fashion beauty & packaged food;
12. They plan to collaborate with businesses that have high customer touch points to ensure convenient returns for Ecovia bags;

I see a huge potential in Packaging as a service model, do you?

Reach out to Ecovia on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thinkecovia/

If you are aware of similar groundbreaking technologies in India, then please share it with us on circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Reach out to me on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter 

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Hello & welcome to Circular Business Podcast’s special edition of weekly gupshup with the Circular collective, I’m your host and dost Sreepriya Sridharan and today we are going to board the train into the history of repair & reuse fashion of India whose artisans are popularly known as Rafoogars.

And to take that discussion forward, aaj humare saath hain Vikas Dargan from The Circular Collective who is an Architect ,a cultural professional and Anant fellow, who is passionately working towards craft revival and rural livelihood generation.

Today fast fashion is trending not only in people’s wardrobes but also in the news. The reason for it to make space in people’s wardrobes is because it enables companies to mass market, it enables manufacturers to mass produce high end designs and provokes consumers to buy latest trends for cheap.

The SALE culture triggers shoppers to buy more and it also creates a false abundance, which is why clothes today last less due to poor quality & wear n tear that compensates for cheapness.

It has tuned users to buy new instead of repairing the old one, kyuki jab kapade ki quality hi kharab ho toh koi usse repair kyu karein?

That’s where Vikas talks to us about Rafoogari, the age old art of repairing clothes and how reviving it will be beneficial for tackling the havoc created by fast fashion and also aid in enhancing a circular economy.

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

The idea for Homie started on a kitchen table and they have been in business since 2018.

You know how I’m a sucker for a good marketing pitch, and that’s exactly where I found Homie doing a good job. Their website is so crisp on messaging right from product & service offering to pricing to how they are helping consumers reduce their carbon footprint.

Their business model may not be different than most product-as-a-service company but to me it's their mission i.e. “to strive for a cleaner world” makes a big difference.

How are they contributing to the circular economy?

1. They make devices last longer : They supply energy-efficient machines with a long service life and encourage manufacturers to make machines that are more economical, durable and easy to repair.
2. They reduce electronic waste: Together with Wecycle, they recycle parts from old Homie and non-Homie devices that can no longer be used.
3. They influence sustainable consumption behaviour: Research shows that their Pay-Per-Use model ensures that users wash more efficiently and use about 25% less energy and water.
4. Another unique feature about Homie is their monitoring system. Once a customer places an order, the company delivers and installs the product at home, they connect each device to your Wi-Fi which then lets you track your usage. For example , with a washing machine, if you have paid for 15 washes, this software helps you keep track of your washes and also gives you cost benefits when they use the appliance in “ECO” mode. Now isn’t that cool?

Tune in to learn more.

Reach out to me on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter & also write me an email on circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

You may have also learnt about fishmeal being used as animal feed? Fish meal, are coarsely ground powder made from the cooked flesh of fish …mostly anchovy, menhaden or herring. Fish meal is a commercial product mostly made from fish that are not used for human consumption;

That’s a bloody unsustainable meal …and this number looks even worse when you multiply it with a significant meat-eating population.

So what can be the possible solutions?

1. Consciously change your diet towards plant-based meals
2. Opt for brands who are ethically sourcing their raw materials

These solutions are important, however, because it is heavily dependent on individual behaviour it may not have an immediate scalable impact.

That’s where solution no. 3 fascinates me...Here we make use of household organic waste as a platform to invite Black Soldier Flies popularly known as BSF who naturally break down the waste into compost… each fly produces hundreds of protein-rich larvae which can then be harvested and used to feed livestock.

Tune in to learn more.

Reach out to me on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter & also write me an email on circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

That’s where a recent report by Infosys authored by Gururaj Deshpande caught my attention because it highlights numerous options that are available today to make the world cardless!! Are you ready... Here we go

1. Mobile point-of-sale
2. Digital wallet
3. Contactless wearables
4. On-the-spot cardless credit
5. Cashless person-to-person payments
6. Social payments
7. Card-less cash
8. QR code payment
9. Card-less POS solutions
10. NFC Technology
11. Bluetooth low energy
12. Alternate currencies...Cryptocurrencies

Follow our page- (Circular Business Podcast | The Circular Collective)

In case you have any further queries, you can DM me on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter & also write me an email on circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

For keeping up to date on our #100DaysChallenge; Follow our page- Circular Business Podcast

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Allow me to introduce you to RainBeer, a Netherland’s based organization that coordinates with Dutch breweries to turn excess rain into beer. 

Freshwater seems abundant, but when accounting for all the water on Earth, it's in limited supply.

To put that into perspective, envision this carefully...

A giant 97% of Earth's water is in the ocean, so we can't use that.

3 % is fresh water, but even in that 3%, about 2 % is locked in glaciers, ice caps, and groundwater.

That leaves about 1 % of the freshwater on Earth that is accessible and usable by humans.

Just imagine, if the world's water supply were only 100 litres (26 gallons), our usable water supply of fresh water would be only about 0.003 litres (one-half teaspoon).

In actuality, that amounts to an average of 8.4 million litres (2.2 million gallons) for each person on earth.

This supply is continually collected, purified, and distributed in the natural hydrologic (water) cycle.

Now that we understand the case of fresh water, we can gauge its impact on Beer production. According to Sabmiller‘s report, approximately 102,5 litres of water is consumed for every litre of beer produced… woah just knowing these stats has made the act of bottoms up uncool for me.

Similar to Mumbai city, in recent years, Amsterdam too started experiencing heavy rainfall,

frequent rainstorms that overwhelm drains, flood streets and seep under doors. But this problem was seen as an opportunity by Joris Hoebe the founder of Rainbeer.

To him, every rainfall was equivalent to beer falling from the sky!

Amsterdam being a sustainable city, its infrastructure has transformed city spaces into a sponge for excess rainwater. A crucial sponge. Surrounded by water on four sides, this delta city of some 600,000 people can't flush the sudden stormwater away. Instead, it has embarked on a climate change adaptation strategy that turns every conceivable area into water storage.

How does it work?

The brewery they work with collects the rainwater from the roof of the brewery and with a heavy rain shower, they collect a thousand litres of rainwater. That water goes through the filter and is completely purified by a microfilter, an activated carbon filter, a membrane filter and a UV filter. With this purified rainwater, the brewer brews a delicious fresh rain beer.

Rainwater is softer than tap water and contains fewer minerals. These are ideal characteristics for making beer. Some recipes are requiring 30% fewer hops for the same flavour creation compared to tap water. According to experts, the softness also ensures that the bitterness of the beer comes into its own.

Tune into the episode to learn more;

Follow our page- (Circular Business Podcast | The Circular Collective)

In case you have any further queries, you can DM me on LinkedIn & Facebook & also write me an email on circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

For keeping up to date on our #100DaysChallenge; Follow our page- Circular Business Podcast

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Considering these parameters…I kept surfing through so many sustainability courses online and to my good fortune the online climate school Terra.do. came in to my rescue as they have a course starting Sept 2nd which goes by the name “Circular Economy: Principals & Applications” and I had the opportunity to interview the course facilitator Jannis Kempkens himself.

If you haven’t checked out those episodes, make sure to tune into Ep. 52 - 54 - 56

So after 7 years of working in the corporate world I figured out what specialization to dive deeper into..

All in all to summarize today’s discussion..I’d say

• Its okay to wait & take time to figure out what works best for you..Do not follow the mob especially when it involves massive investments of TIME & MONEY.
• Be open to possibilities..build your unique network..and keep room for conversations
• And if there is a call to action that gives you butterfly feeling in your tummy, take that plunge because it is totally worth a shot.

On that note it is a wrap on this episode, thank you so much for tuning in.

If you wanna join me in the Circular Economy course starting September, then why don’t you leverage the special benefit that Terra.do has offered YOU. It’s a 25% discount that they have offered to all our listeners.

You can use the code CircularPodcast to avail that offer and in case you have any further queries, you can DM me on LinkedIn & Facebook & also write me an email on circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

For keeping up to date on our #100DaysChallenge; Follow our page- Circular Business Podcast

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Kristel Peters has laid down the following 3 steps for zero waste design,

1. The design of the shoe should be modular and ready made for disassembly and reduce the components of a shoe vastly.

2. The materialisation of the shoe must be zero waste.

3. The shoe is to be looked at as a service, not as a product.

Beautiful isn’t it?

Leather and different variants of leather form an important part of the shoe industry and I believe each one of us are aware of the environmental & sustainability harms that the leather industry brings in..yet because shoes are a basic necessity ..its flaws rarely get the spotlight. But we are here to discuss solution.

A fabulous solution brought in by textile innovators Spinnova.

Spinnova are a Finland based company who are transforming the way textiles are made globally.

It all started in 2009 at Technical Research Centre of Finland’s (VTT) cellulose expert Juha Salmela was researching nanocellulose. He attended a conference in Oxford university and heard a presentation from a leading spider researcher, who explained the similarities between spiderweb’s protein and nanocellulose.

That’s when an idea came to Juha: what if wood fibre could be spun into textile fibre in a similar way to this natural process? The professor immediately thought it was something Juha should look into and develop.

Since then they have been on a mission to create a more sustainable textile industry. One where cellulose-based materials are a cost-efficient, environmentally friendly and preferred option for brands.

Their innovation, if absorbed and adopted well, has a massive potential to transform the world of fashion. And while we were on the topic of shoes, Spinnova and their partnership with ECCO leather partner KT Tradings have together disrupted old ways and closed the loop on leather materials. They have innovated a fabric that is made out of leather wastes. This natural leather fabric is made from leather waste without harmful chemicals.

Follow our page- (Circular Business Podcast | The Circular Collective)

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Its Day 24 of my #100DaysChallenge. If you are new to this challenge check out --> this link.

Data suggests that there are about 120million #cigarette #smokers in India.

If that is true, it is worthwhile to consider sustainable practices around this habit of smoking, because once someone chooses to smoke, they are this industry's customers for life!

Pack of cigarettes , its butts and tobacco production practices all have been scrutinized across media every year for reasons ranging from health to environment.

But in my view, the process of lighting a cigarette has conveniently been ignored.. don't you think so?

Cheap , single use plastic lighters have been making its way into the landfills for quite sometime now, and it is time we start thinking about it from the lens of #environment #sustainability

So share this episode with a smoker friend / colleague of yours and help me spark that thought!

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Keyword : What is a circular economy?

Established in 2012, Dutch aWEARness creates clothes from 100 percent recyclable polyester — called Returnity®

In the year 2010, Rien Otto (founder of Dutch aWEARness) met cradle-to-cradle pioneer Michael Braungart and got inspired by their discussion, which set him to investigate how the cradle-to-cradle concept could be applied to the textiles industry.

He wanted to change the world & make new materials. 

How do they do it? To put it simply-

• They make returnity clothing that is worn by customers and takes it back after use.
• The garment is then reprocessed into raw material.
• A factory makes new raw fibers out of the raw material.
• These fibers are then transported to the yarn Factory
• Now In this factory the fibers are sprayed into yarn
• After completing this process various yarns are developed and ready for use.
• The yarns are later sent to a weaving Factory where these yarns are taken into production.
• Here in the weaving mill the new clothing fabrics are made the fabrics are then sent to the manufacturer
• The manufacturer uses the fabrics to make new garments
• This new garment is made from this circular fabric material and ready to be worn again by the customer.

Keyword : What is a circular economy?

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK8o9ZHOwRo

That’s where this solution by Novamont, an Italian company, captured my attention. Novamont is known around the world as a pioneer of the bioeconomy, particularly in the bioplastics sector.

To brag a bit, they say that their industrial company’s roots lie in the Montedison School of Materials Science where, over thirty years ago, some researchers started to develop an ambitious project to integrate chemistry, the environment and agriculture..which they like to call : the "Living chemistry for quality of life".

They have 3 revolutionary products :

Mater Bi (which is a family of completely biodegradable and compostable bioplastics ,

Matrol Bi (is a line of biolubricants and greases that are derived from renewable sources & are rapidly biodegradable) ;

Celus Bi (line of innovative and bio-based ingredients for the cosmetics sector)

Now, many of you may have come across extensive debates online around green washing and bio-plastics and one of the major reasons for that level of criticism is due to its derivation from agricultural produce.

Why, bcoz just under 33% of earth’s surface is land. 71% of that land is habitable. We already use 50% of that 71% for agriculture. And over 75% of that is used for livestock production. Yet that land only produces 33% of our global protein supply.

So imagine if bio-plastics become popular in use, more land for agriculture would be required.

That’s where Novamont is making a difference, because they are making use of marginal land across Europe, these are lands which have little or no agricultural or even industrial value.

In addition to this, their products also regenerate the soil when it comes in contact with it during its designated lifecycle.

Using plastic is an unconscious addiction, and we need organizations like Novamont to have a healthy mix of science & business to build a strong foothold in this circular economy.

According to the latest WWF report, India faces a grave danger to its soil biodiversity. Soil needs to be considered as an ecological system and a finite resource. Conservation of soil biodiversity and soil organic carbon through sustainable farming practices should be deemed essential to improve upon agricultural land health and productivity. And with this example it seems that  Biomass wastes have played a major role in the implementation of biorefinery in circular bioeconomy.

Tune into the episode to learn more;

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Keyword : What is a circular economy?

I share how my friend Parul Pancholi inspired me to start a 100 day project which transformed into my commitment to to create 100 podcast episodes by Dec 2021..further germinating into another video series of #100DaysChallenge on Circular Business Podcast.

To sum it up, life has been kind to me however it has also been equally notorious during challenging times, but if there is one thing that it taught me was to get back up and act on my mission, no matter what obstacles come by.

I hope this episode inspires you to stay true to your calling and consistently take needful action on your path, because dear friend we all have the power to make a difference in this world.

Tune into the episode to join me on this journey.

You can reach out to me on - LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Website

Email id : circularbusinesspodcast.india@gmail.com

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

In today's episode we bring to you an example from South Africa that is --> Barloworld

The idea of remanufacturing seems promising if you are on a quest to find answers through Circular Economy. In case some of you are hearing the term for the first time, remanufacturing forms a significant part of the circular economy. It involves process something like this- Once the component arrives to the facility, it is disassemble it completely and do an inspection on the component. We determine what parts need to be replaced with new and which parts can be refurbished and reused again. Parts then go through a process of cleaning, refurbishment, and then reassembly. After reassembly, the components are tested, painted, and then it’s good-to-go back to the machine like new.

Remanufactured products should not be understood as “used,” “refurbished,” “repaired” or “reused.” It’s as good as brand new product.

If done right, remanufacturing offered economic benefits of reduced costs of goods sold, reduced prices to the customer, supply risk mitigation and stronger relationships in the value chain.

It is fascinating to see how leading Original Equipment Manufacturers around the world have taken to remanufacturing as a way to get started on their journey in a circular economy. But while remanufacturing sounds good in theory, it is challenging to implement it leave alone scale up the operations.

To have strong remanufacturing process, an organisation needs to ensure set reverse logistics processes, along with strong business model that takes care of existing customers during the buy-back process.

That’s where Barloword captured my attention, because they have made this challenging idea possible through a fabulous implementation.

Barloword is a South African industrial conglomerate, with the second-largest Caterpillar equipment remanufacturing plant in the world.

Barloworld developed a 30,000 square meter facility: 20,000 square meters are for the rebuilding of components and the remainder, 10,000, is for warehousing purposes. Isn’t that fascinating.

In addition to new and Cat Certified Used equipment offerings, the Barloword Equipment Cat Rental Store provides innovative off balance sheet facilities. This enables customers to rent Cat machines for periods ranging up to two years, with end-of-contract purchase options made available. So this part of their business makes a seamless blend of remanufacturing along with offering product-as-a-service.

Tune into the episode to learn more;

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Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

Our guest for today is Jannis Kempkens is one of the coolest instructors of the course Circular Economy: Principals & Applications by the popular online climate school Terra.do.

He is a designer, material researcher & furniture carpenter who has soiled his hands with countless experiments on materials such as plastics, organic wastes etc. and him & his team have shared those learning on their open source platform, which empowers global audience to carryout their own DIY circular project which even includes blueprints for developing small machines that aid those experiments. In fact if any of you are in final year of engineering and you are hunting for project ideas, then make sure to check out the links for Jannis’s profile -> https://www.jannis.world/.

Show Notes:

Waste is human made concept..so is the economy.

Therefore we humans have the power to redesign it! So let us stop giving each other excuses and start getting work done on Climate action.

If someday you enter your home and you see water running on the floor..Turn off the tap before mopping the floor..so similar is the mindset we need when we approach real life situations to incorporate Circular Economy principles.

About the course:

Circular Economy: Principles and Applications is focused on the actionable, real-life examples, practitioner guest speakers, building your circularity toolbox, and working on a capstone project relevant to your work. If you're curious, here's a copy of the course syllabus - it is slated to start on September 1st and runs for 6 weeks.

Expert course creators are Austin Evarts and Jannis Kempkens.

Oh and one more thing, Terra.do has extended a generous offer to all you listeners. In case you are interested to sign-up for the course, then use the code CircularPodcast to avail 25% discount on the course fee.

For keeping up to date on our #100DaysChallenge; Follow our page- Circular Business Podcast

* Keep the conversation on by commenting on our posts on social media- LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

* Please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcast!

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

Today we bring to you a phenomenal example --> Interface Inc.

Did you know that over ninety percent of all of the carpet made today is made up of synthetic fiber...that is nylon, polypropylene or polyester.

Now nylon, polypropylene & polyester are raw materials derived from the oil & gas industry. So you can understand how crucial it is for the world to make this supply chain circular because Oil & Gas is a non-renewable industry.

Good news is that an individual & visionary by the name Ray C. Anderson, founder and former chairman of Interface Inc. led his company and people on a path to Mission Zero® with a pledge to reduce their negative impact on the environment in the year 1994. Yes, more than 2 decades ago.

He was moved after he read a book by Paul Hawkins. That book affected him so deeply that he went to the office the next day and challenged his senior executives to make their business sustainable!

If Ray Anderson can do that in 1995 then our generation has no right to make excuses towards climate action today.

Since then Interface carpets have been redesigning and reshaping their processes, their thinking and their whole business to try and achieve sustainability by 2020.

Their machine that they like to call “Cool Green” separates the reclaimed materials from used carpets → turns it into pellets→ then homogenized powdered form which then is mixed with Bitumen compounds and recycled limestone to turn it into new carpets!

Interface carpets have radically changed entire business practices- influenced the industry by reducing dependency on petro-chemicals and minimized their carbon footprint.

Their Cool green technology has evolved over the years and now forms a part of all their factories and business processes around the globe. Their carpets are made from recycled / renewed repurposed yarns, which are manufactured using renewable sources of energy.

Just imagine how beautiful and efficient the world will be when you have such well thought & well made carpet floorings across corporate spaces, co-working spaces, hotels, schools and colleges and hospitals!

Ooh and they also lease you carpets-as-a-service which totally ups their game in this industry.

Since 1996, they’ve reduced the embodied carbon footprint of their carpet tile product by 74% by changing how they design and make their products through the use of recycled materials, dematerialization and improved manufacturing efficiencies. Then, through their Carbon Neutral Floors programme, they compensate for what they still can't avoid with carbon offsets from renewable energy, fuel switching and reforestation projects.

Tune into the episode to learn more;

Follow our page- (Circular Business Podcast | The Circular Collective)

* Keep the conversation on by commenting on our posts on social media- LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

* Please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcast!

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

Our guest for today is Jannis Kempkens is one of the coolest instructors of the course Circular Economy: Principals & Applications by the popular online climate school Terra.do.

He is a designer, material researcher & furniture carpenter who has soiled his hands with countless experiments on materials such as plastics, organic wastes etc. and him & his team have shared those learning on their open source platform, which empowers global audience to carryout their own DIY circular project which even includes blueprints for developing small machines that aid those experiments. In fact if any of you are in final year of engineering and you are hunting for project ideas, then make sure to check out the links for Jannis’s profile -> https://www.jannis.world/.

Show Notes:

• Shorter the cycle, better the efficiency;
• Ideal circular economy can do without recycling;
• Did you know that bio plastics are not compostable?
• Bio plastics have the same properties as PPE / PLA etc. not many people are aware about it;
• It is important to be aware of where materials are coming from and where will it end up once we finish our use;
• How to initiate systems thinking and create impact?

About the course:

Circular Economy: Principles and Applications is focused on the actionable, real-life examples, practitioner guest speakers, building your circularity toolbox, and working on a capstone project relevant to your work. If you're curious, here's a copy of the course syllabus - it is slated to start on September 1st and runs for 6 weeks.

Expert course creators are Austin Evarts and Jannis Kempkens.

Oh and one more thing, Terra.do has extended a generous offer to all you listeners. In case you are interested to sign-up for the course, then use the code CircularPodcast to avail 25% discount on the course fee.

Make sure to tune into the next episode to understand some dark and interesting realities of bio plastics / compostable plastics and green washing that lures you around plastics..

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

In today's episode we discuss, a Brazilian organization by the name of Rede Asta which is an online platform that support a network of artisans, to recover materials from corporate and urban waste. The artisans transform this material into elegant gift products that are then sold back to corporates and other customers. Rede Asta’s platform helps to increase income but also to improve connectivity and resource sharing within the artisan network.

It essentially plays a broker type role, matching demand from corporates with supply from economically disadvantaged collectives. However I think they are much more than brokers in that they must speak the language of corporates and work with them in a multidisciplinary way.

For example, the budget may come from the Marketing department while the business waste comes from Operations, all coordinated by the Sustainability Officer. They also need to professionalise the collectives supporting on design, quality assurance, on-time delivery and cost management. So it is not as easy as it sounds!

Rede Asta’s business model operates at three levels - partnership building, connecting and skill sharing.

Rede Asta establishes partnerships with hundreds of companies throughout Brazil to collect their waste materials or unused equipment. The company then offers them bespoke designs using these discarded materials to suit specific marketing purposes, such as the promotion of a current internal initiative. This scalable approach is made possible through a nationwide network of artisans, with Rede Asta acting a matchmaker to facilitate new sales opportunities.

Rede Asta has realised that while these contracts are satisfying to deliver, the ability to scale their impact is limited. Thus it has developed an online platform to connect collectives directly with corporates looking for their business waste to be repurposed.

This needs a level of internal professionalism and quality assurance from the suppliers which means Rede Asta still has a role in ensuring that they receive proper on-going training. The platform however decouples it from the production process itself and thus allows it to scale the impact of providing meaningful work to women living in poverty while diverting waste to landfill or incineration.

Rede Asta addresses two important issues. Firstly, the enormous amount of material value lost in landfills. Every day in Brazil, about 175,000  tons of solid waste is collected and only an estimated 2.7% of this is recycled.

Rede Asta creates impact through a collaborative working space, owned by the community workers and especially Women who could be powerful drivers of inclusive economic growth, and has decided to invest in female entrepreneurship by training groups of female artisans to recover various discarded materials and transform them into valuable corporate gift collections.

Follow our page- (Circular Business Podcast | The Circular Collective)

* Keep the conversation on by commenting on our posts on social media- LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

Our guest for today is Jannis Kempkens is one of the coolest instructors of the course Circular Economy: Principals & Applications by the popular online climate school Terra.do.

He is a designer, material researcher & furniture carpenter who has soiled his hands with countless experiments on materials such as plastics, organic wastes etc. and him & his team have shared those learning on their open source platform, which empowers global audience to carryout their own DIY circular project which even includes blueprints for developing small machines that aid those experiments. In fact if any of you are in final year of engineering and you are hunting for project ideas, then make sure to check out the links for Jannis’s profile -> https://www.jannis.world/.

Show Notes:

• Product & industrial design often go hand in hand;
• The role of the designer is dangerous, because you are convincing people that this product is going to solve your problem;
• Circular Economy in German translates to Kreislaufwirtschaft;
• Jannis got associated with Terra.do via their Climate Change course;
• Topic of circular economy is only formalizing concepts that so far was only informal ..circular economy takes it a step further;
• The link between climate change, climate action and circular economy is often overlooked;

About the course:

Circular Economy: Principles and Applications is focused on the actionable, real-life examples, practitioner guest speakers, building your circularity toolbox, and working on a capstone project relevant to your work. If you're curious, here's a copy of the course syllabus - it is slated to start on July 15 and runs for 6 weeks. They're hosting an Ask Us Anything (https://bit.ly/econcircle) ! 

Expert course creators are Austin Evarts and Jannis Kempkens.

Oh and one more thing, Terra.do has extended a generous offer to all you listeners. In case you are interested to sign-up for the course, then use the code CircularPodcast to avail 25% discount on the course fee.

Make sure to tune into the next episode to understand some dark and interesting realities of bio plastics / compostable plastics and green washing that lures you around plastics..

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

Hello and welcome to Circular Business Podcast’s weekly gupshup with The Circular Collective, where we help you think out of the box using circular economy best practices from around the globe, delivered to you through an audio experience.

Today we are happy to share with you some candid conversations between Piyush & Sreepriya on how they got started with this collaboration & how this idea of sharing global circular economy examples resonated with both of them.

Tune into this episode to take a sneak peak into their top 3 picks and these three are their favorites from amongst the 25+ weekly gupshup episodes. In case you prefer reading before listening, then check out the links for those episodes below.

As you proceed through their conversation, you'll notice how both have shared some interesting reasons why those episodes resonated with them the most, so grab your coffee and get ready to join them in their chit-chat around circular economy.

Top 3 on Piyush's list:

1) Edible lamination that prevents fruits from going to waste early | Ep. #37

2) Cutting food waste within hospitality sector | Ep. #9

3) Single-use chopsticks are harming the planet! | Ep. #47

Top 3 on Sreepriya's list:

1) Single-use chopsticks are harming the planet! | Ep. #47

2) Biomimicry- design ideas inspired by Nature | Ep. #44

3) 0% Virgin : 100% Trash - That's the story of MINIWIZ's Trashpresso | Ep. #32

Hope you enjoyed listening to this special episode and thank you for joining us in this celebration!

Follow our page- (Circular Business Podcast | The Circular Collective)

* Keep the conversation on by commenting on our posts on social media- LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

* Please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcast!

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

Yes there is and they are known as Wasteless.

Wasteless is helping supermarkets and online grocery stores recapture the full value of their perishable products and reduce food waste through AI-powered dynamic pricing. Now I really wanted to see this in action and from what I read is that retail stores are able to reduce waste by around 39% and increase top line revenues by 6%.

This is a win-win-win-win situation! Poocho kaise?

• With this the retailer is able to increase revenues!
  
• By selling products instead of throwing them away and decreasing average markdowns, retailers can significantly boost net margin.
  
• Improve fresh product rotation and optimize shelf space productivity for slow selling products
  
• And thereby improved Shopping experience!

Tune into the episode to hear more about Wasteless.

If you liked this episode and want to hear more, go ahead hit the subscribe button.

Links to our profile:

Sreepriya Sridharan | Circular Business Podcast;

Piyush Dhawan | The Circular Collective

Click on these links to reach us on social media : LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Do you know someone who is crazy about a zero waste lifestyle, then share this episode with them & help us spark that thought and drive change.

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

You are listening to part 2 of our conversation with Anu Chaudhary Founder & CEO of SustainPlus.

In the previous episode, we discussed some important aspects around why businesses need to think different when it comes to incorporating policies and regulations around environmental sustainability. We also discussed why govt. needs to prepare businesses and get them on-board with alternative strategies, before implementing sudden bans and bringing about new regulations. This point was elaborated well when she gave the example of one Karnataka based company that was forced to shut down for 6 months in order to avoid penalties that might be incurred due to new water regulations in the state.

So if you haven’t heard #Ep 48 yet, then I highly recommend you to do so right away as it’ll give you a better flow for tuning into this episode which is part 2 of our conversation with Anu.

I hope you find this interview informative. These are amongst those few episodes of Circular Business Podcast where we have discussed diverse elements within sustainability power packed into one conversation.

Today, we cover everything from Carbon tax to ESG rating to even future of employment.

There are many noteworthy moments within this conversation, my personal favorites were when she mentioned how important It is for businesses to start incorporating sustainability into their core strategy than just relying on their sustainability head and their small team to execute CSR projects in silos.

Another important point for companies already working on integrating ESG is that—> do not underestimate the power of internal communication. Your employees deserve to know what initiatives are being worked upon. Internal communication is as important as external media.

My next favorite moment was when we unfolded how It is easier to implement circular economy strategies at a smaller org when compared to multi-national/ conglomerate because it is cost effective & quicker for smaller orgs to get their supplier network on-board with their strategy.

Lastly coming to the point of jobs within environment sector, I loved example she shared of rain-water harvesting and how Plummer’s can be up skilled through training around water harvesting. This not only future proofs their jobs, but it also helps them charge a premium for their service..in a way making them earn a better living.

If you liked this episode and want to hear more such content, then hit subscribe button, it is free and it only means that u get new episodes automatically. We at Circular Business Podcast, work consistently each week to simplify circularity for everyday conversations, therefore if you feel some topics need further simplification then reach out us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter and we’ll be happy to extend our support to you.

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design

This episode is part 1 of our conversation with Anu Chaudhary.

Anu holds a special place in my journey into environmental sustainability..you know why, because exactly a year ago I was going through a transition period where I had made up my mind be the front runner towards achieving sustainable development goals. Kaunsa raasta chunna hai woh decision too maine le liya tha but I was clueless about the apt mode of transport to navigate through this path. Metaphorically I didn’t know whether to walk the path or to take a bus, car or truck in order to start my journey.

As I was doing my research, One fine day through LinkedIn I came across Anu Chaudhary’s interview and her phenomenal work at sustainPlus and while watching, I thought to myself, why don’t I reach out to her and see if she would be willing to guide me through.

To my good fortune, she agreed to do so and that’s how my association with Anu began.

I’m absolutely grateful to her for the time she committed towards guiding me which gave me a good understanding of the pros and cons and hacks of walking the path. So in addition to being a good human, Anu is a visionary ESG leader who understands the mechanisms that create real business value from socially responsible and environmentally responsible business strategies. She founded SustainPlus - a sustainability & CSR consulting company in the year 2016 and today operates as the CEO for the organization.

I liked how she identified a huge gap in public understanding of how a policy, or a standard or a regulation around environmental sustainability can be translated into economic value & she leveraged that as an opportunity not only to build for herself a new career path but her eye for detail paved the way for starting SustainPlus.

Like Anu mentioned during the interview, the planet will survive very well without the human race, therefore we need to behave sustainably and take measures towards climate action to ensure our own survival.

With changing times, just vowing for sustainability is not enough, businesses need to be future ready  ..they need to evaluate external risks & integrate them into their business strategies to avoid potential losses due to resource constraints & new and sudden environment regulations implemented by the government.

If you liked this episode and want to hear more such content, then hit subscribe button, it is free and it only means that u get new episodes automatically. We at Circular Business Podcast, work consistently each week to simplify circularity for everyday conversations, therefore if you feel some topics need further simplification then reach out us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter and we’ll be happy to extend our support to you.

Keywords : What is a circular economy? ; Circular Economy Podcast ; Circular Business Models ; Circular Design