Circular Economy Podcast

Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle, tells us how the Loop reusable packaging platform is bringing the convenience of prefill to high streets everywhere. TerraCycle and Loop are tackling the root causes of waste, including single use and disposable items. We hear why they chose prefill, and why reuse needs to ‘feel disposable’. Tom explains how they are helping big brands and retailers to make the business case, feel confident about moving forward, and scale up from pilots to in-store roll-outs.

Catherine Weetman talks to Jo Chidley, a circular economy expert, chemist, herbal botanist, and co-founder of TWO successful circular economy businesses, Beauty Kitchen (which is on a mission to create the most effective, natural and sustainable beauty products in the world) and the business we’re focusing on today, Reposit (the new brand name for ReRe). Reposit is a buy anywhere, return anywhere, reuse anywhere alternative to single-use packaging, helping retailers, brands and consumers to switch to Reuse & Refills across a wide range of products from milk to moisturisers and pasta to protein.

Michael Colarossi of Avery Dennison explains how Digital Product Passports can be a key enabler in the transition to a circular economy. Michael is head of Enterprise Sustainability at Avery Dennison, which specializes in global materials science and digital identification solutions. As part of the the leadership team, Michael is responsible for environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy across the company’s worldwide operations. His work focuses on climate action, decarbonization, global supply chain transparency, digital product passports, circular labels and packaging materials. You might already know that the European Union is rolling out a new regulation meaning that nearly all products sold in the EU will require a Digital Product Passport (DPP). The initiative is part of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, and aims to enhance transparency and improve availability of reliable product data, by providing comprehensive information about each product’s origin, materials, environmental impact, and recommendations for disposal. The EU Digital Product Passport will include a unique product identifier, compliance documentation, and information on substances of concern. It will also provide user manuals, safety instructions, and guidance on product disposal. The EU intends that Digital Product Passports will enhance supply chain management, ensure regulatory compliance, and help companies identify and mitigate risks related to authenticity and environmental impact. For example, those products like mattresses, sofas and other home furnishings often contain multiple materials, including some natural fibres like wool and cotton, plus synthetics like polyester. The more we know about the make up of the product, the easier it is to decide whether and how it could be refurbished, remanfactured or recycled. The EU regulations will be mandatory for industrial and electric vehicle batteries from 2027, and other product categories, including textiles, are expected to follow by 2030. Michael Colarossi gives us a broader overview of Digital Product Passports, including what kinds of products are they useful for, and what forms they take. As Michael explains, the EU regulations only require the passport to provide details for the type of product – not for every individual unit of that product. We discuss why that more detailed approach would be better. We talk about the potential for Digital Product Passports to guard against fraud and misinformation This isn’t straightforward, and we talk about some of the barriers and difficulties from a company perspective, together with the advantages that help make a good business case for doing it, even without the legislation.

Episode 10 is our first circular economy highlights compilation! Perfect listening to spark your ideas for building a better business in 2020. This would be a GREAT episode to share with someone new to the podcast, or new to the circular economy.

Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet, tells Catherine Weetman why there are compelling reasons to design plastic out of our lives, and how and PlasticFree.com helps us do that... Plastic is embedded in pretty much every part of our lives. The plastics industry promotes it as the perfect material for thousands of products, being cheap, lightweight, clean, and convenient. But is that really true? And are there better ways to design products, packaging and systems to meet the needs of people, planet and prosperity? I've been a long time admirer of Sian Sutherland and her work. Sian co-founded A Plastic Planet, one of the most recognised and respected organisations tackling the plastic crisis, and PlasticFree, the first materials and systems solutions platform, empowering global creatives to design waste out at source. Sian is passionate about igniting social change, and creating brands and businesses with soul, and is a serial entrepreneur with a varied background across industries. In 2023 at the UN Plastics Treaty negotiations (INC2), in partnership with Plastic Soup Foundation, A Plastic Planet launched the Plastic Health Council, bringing the expert scientists to the negotiating process with the irrefutable proof of plastic chemicals impact on human health. Sian is passionately pro-business and solutions focused, and believes the plastic crisis gives us all a way in to changing both materials and systems to create a different future for next generations. I particularly like the courageous way that Sian helps us unpack the key issues around plastics and is actively creating and powering up a range of solutions of plastic-free solutions. As Sian says, by "fixing the plastic crisis, we will fix so much else" I felt this was a really rich conversation. Sian and A Plastic Planet are involved in so many initiatives and I didn't want you to miss out on any of Sian's insights and ideas, so I've split the conversation into two episodes. In this episode we talk about plastic free.com, a new systems and solutions platform for creatives, including designers technologists marketers strategists - that has thousands of case studies and proof points for plastic free solutions. We cover greenwash, vegan leathers, why chemistry is now essential for designers and makers, plus recent science on plastics and health.