How does this podcast teach me about circular economy?

This circular economy podcast features interviews with circular economy pioneers. This means you’ll learn directly from leading circular economy experts from across the globe. Previous guests include award-winning designer Dr. Leyla Acaroglu, Performance Economy founding father Walter Stahel, and Circular Economy Club founder Anna Tari. New episodes of the Getting in the Loop podcast are released every 2 weeks so you can stay up to date with what’s developing in the field of circular economy and meet inspiring circular economy experts on a monthly basis. You will also learn about upcoming circular economy events, conferences, and workshops.

Each Getting in the Loop episode focuses on a specific topic, such as how an entrepreneur has founded a company on circular economy principles or what big companies are doing to meet future material resource demands. In addition to guest interviews, host Dr. Katherine (Katie) Whalen occasionally creates ‘solo-casts’ to share her expertise on circular business model innovation and communicating circularity. With over 60 episodes, we’re sure something will catch your interest!

What is the circular economy?

Great question! In short, circular economy aims for a new economic model - one that decouples resource consumption from economic growth. Currently we operate in a ‘linear economy’ where materials are extracted, consumed, and discarded. Society’s demand for natural resources is increasing; but at the same time, we waste many precious resources by only using them once. Over 2 billion tonnes of waste are generated globally each year, with this number expected to increase 70% by 2050. A circular economy aims to move away from this linear economy by keep materials in use for as long as possible. The European Commission Action Plan defines a circular economy as a system where “the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste is minimised.”

Is circular economy the same as sustainability?

Another great question! Sustainability often focuses on how to make things like products less bad for the environment. This could be by reducing the number of materials needed in a product, making products more energy efficient, making products with some amount of recycled content, you get the picture. It mainly comes down to incremental improvements. Circular economy, on the other hand, isn’t about making products a little less bad. At its core, circular economy is about redesigning how we do things on a whole other level – a systems-level. Designing products to be used not just once, but again and again and again. You might also enjoy listening to this Getting in the Loop podcast episode that touches more on the differences between sustainability and circular economy.

What are the principles of circular economy?

There are three main circular principles: 1) Design out waste, 2) Preserve product and material value, and 3) Mirror regenerative, natural systems. Let’s briefly go through each circular economy principle. What does it mean to ‘Design out waste’? In a circular economy, waste is viewed as a design flaw and should ideally not exist. Circular systems should be designed so that what we think of now as 'waste' is actually used again and again and again. The second principle - ‘Preserve product and material value’ - means that products and materials should be kept in use for as long as possible. To do this, a number of things can be done including performing product maintenance and repair to enable longer periods of product use, reusing products such as through second-hand sales, and recycling products to recover their materials and reuse them. The third principle - ‘Mirror regenerative, natural systems’ - means that circular economy draws inspiration from nature. Renewable resources should be used as much as possible – such as the sun providing energy – and nonrenewable resources should be used in ways they are able to be recovered and reused.

I’m not a sustainability professional - is circular economy still relevant for me?

Yes! Circular economy is about creating a future where economic growth is decoupled from resource consumption – but most of all, it’s about systems change. It’s about rethinking how we do things. And to make this happen, we need many different types of people to come together. We need all types of experts from various disciplines including supply chain experts, material scientists, business developers, marketers, product designers, and economists.