In this episode of Happy Porch Radio, we speak with a circular economy pioneer and the co-founder of Circular IQ, Roy Vercoulen.

Circular IQ helps their customers to transition towards a restorative and regenerative circular economy through their digital platform and circularity programs.

One of their many successes includes having developed the CTI Tool for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, allowing businesses to measure their circuit performance using a framework that is globally recognised.

Roy explains why measuring circularity is imperative and what components they look for in pursuit of this objective, and gives his perspective on the extent to which governments, businesses, and consumers are responsible for sustainability. On the topic of their biggest challenges, Roy talks about the financial implications of circularity, why many companies are still reluctant to transition, and what cultural barriers they have to overcome to get their clients’ buy-in.

Listeners will learn more about their consulting processes with clients, the questions they ask them, how they help them to define what success looks like, and how they go about translating theoretical ideas into actionable steps.

Tuning in, listeners will also hear what Roy envisions for the future of the circular economy and how measuring circular performance will have to be a globally recognised framework that still accommodates for the unique values of each company.

The impact that the circular economy would have is so broad that no single conversation can quite cover its reach.

Today’s conversation with Craig Melson, Program Manager at techUK, touches on many topics, proving an excellent overview of how technology is moving us towards the circular economy.

We open by talking about Craig’s role and what techUK is doing to help the tech industry embrace more sustainable practices.

Craig then shares examples of innovative tech companies that are driving material reusability, or even basing their entire model on circular economy practices. From data privacy concerns to the dangers of dealing with pollutants, we discuss the biggest challenges blocking our progress to a circular economy.

After touching on the Material Focus project, Craig provides insight into how government regulation and Brexit affect circular economy practices.

Following this, he expresses his optimism about how companies are heading in the right direction along with his hope that the circular economy will eventually become our default economic model.

Near the end of the episode, we touch on the benefits of learning from international perspectives and what techUK is doing to advocate for greater diversity before Craig gives listeners some final advice on what they can do to push for a sustainable economy.

Tune in to hear more about tech and the circular economy.

Achieving sustainability requires that companies know what’s in their product, know their suppliers, and understand their direct and indirect environmental impact.

By digitising the life cycles of products and supply chains, iPoint is driving industry transparency and empowering business to achieve sustainability. T

Today we speak with iPoint CEO Joerg Walden about how digitising processes is a key step towards the circular economy.

Early in our conversation, Joerg highlights how expanding knowledge around digitising life cycles can drive new business models. A significant theme this episode, Joerg shares how a mindset shift, and not only tech, is critical in fostering sustainable practices.

We then discuss the challenges presented by innovation-based product cycles before diving into the intersectional nature of product design, and how only a shared information system can ensure product compliance.

A tricky subject for many organisations, Jorge explains the strategic benefits of becoming more transparent and how this can generate solutions to many issues that plague different sectors.

Near the end of the episode, we touch on the opportunities created through digitisation, and how sustainability is affected when companies are responsible for providing a service usage to consumers, instead of selling products.

Tune in to hear more about what iPoint is doing to drive transparency through digitisation.

As-a-service business models align the priorities of the vendor and the customer, while also having the potential to drive sustainability and the circular economy. 

Today’s guest is Dave Mackerness, Customer Success Lead at Kaer, a firm based in Singapore that sells air conditioning as-a-service throughout Asia.

We talk to Dave about how Kaer has shifted to the as-a-service rubric and in so doing has baked sustainability and circularity into their business model while driving their profits higher at the same time!

Dave talks about the history of the firm and the different models they have adopted over the decades, and how they decided to put all the data they have gathered to a different use after drawing inspiration from the world of SaaS.

Dave discusses what this looks like in real terms, explaining how Kaer installs air cooling systems in the buildings of their clients and sells them cool air, rather than the systems themselves.

This approach has allowed Kaer to use data to build more efficient systems, saving them money to invest in technology that further optimizes their infrastructure. It also shifts the burden of sustainability onto Kaer’s shoulders rather than those of the client. This drives higher profit while saving a huge amount of energy too.

We also talk to Dave about incorporating data science and machine learning into their cooling systems and the benefits this presents as well as concerns it raises.

Another big takeaway is about the possibilities the as-a-service business model presents to companies becoming more disruptive.

Tune in for this fascinating conversation about circularity and the world of as-a-service today!

 In circular economy terms, reverse logistics involves the collection of goods, transportation to a given location, and sorting prior to remanufacturing, refurbishing, reusing or recycling or failing that, disposal.

Today, we are joined by Paul McSweeney, who is the Founder and CEO of the ZeroNet, an app that allows households to simply and quickly donate unwanted items and have them collected right from their front door.

In this episode, Paul shares his long-story-short with us, getting to the point of having launched a pilot in Stirling, Scotland, and an upcoming project in Brighton in the UK.

We also discuss what the platform looks like, recycling versus reuse, data recovery when it comes to e-waste, and the surprising householder enthusiasm for a collections service like this, as well as what has kept Paul motivated throughout the development and whether or not he thinks ZeroNet could encourage excess consumption.

For all this and more, make sure to tune in today!

When many people think of the word ‘waste,’ something formless and brown springs to mind. Part of the struggle to eliminate waste is that the materials it consists of don’t have an identity.

Today we speak with Pablo van den Bosch, the co-founder of Madaster, a company that shows how valuable waste is by identifying its material components in the built environment.

After explaining Madaster’s role in advocating for the circular economy, Pablo describes how they catalogue all the materials used to create a new building, giving each material its own ‘digital passport.’ We chat about how his biggest challenge is to get people to recognize the importance of registering their materials and how this benefits both the public and investors.

We then ask Pablo about Madaster’s philosophy. His answer highlights his view that Earth is a closed system — it’s up to us to make the most of the resources we have. We discuss Madaster’s data-driven model, why they operate as a platform, and how everyday home-owners can use Madaster to ID the materials in their buildings.

A key concept in this episode, Pablo emphasises that we need to shift from the idea of ownership to the idea of usership, where no materials are owned.

They’re simply used for the time being. We touch on the limits to this approach, how creativity is critical in selling the idea of the circular economy, and issues surrounding data security and privacy.

Near the end of our discussion, we explore more on how Madaster can be used on a day-to-day basis and how it makes material transfers an easy and profitable pursuit. With tools like Madaster, we can start seeing waste as a treasure trove of resources.

Tune in to hear how Pablo is helping make this a reality. 

Understanding waste as something valuable not only requires new systems but massive paradigm shifts too.

Today we talk to Maayke Damen about the work she is doing in this regard with her company, Excess Materials Exchange, a digital marketplace with the core goal of matching waste with its highest reuse assignation.

Maayke tells us about the research she began to do about taxing resources rather than labour and the potential this shift would present in the way products are purchased and disposed of. To tax in this new way, we would need a system to correctly identify the materials that make up products, and the work Maayke did to create this system was what led her to found EME.

From there, we dive into the inner workings of the EME marketplace platform and how it functions to identify waste and match it with its highest reuse destination.

Along with all this, we talk to Maayke about the challenges to implementing more circular waste management processes, highlighting the paradigm shift required for these shifts to occur, and the effectiveness EME presents toward this end being an impact rather than a profit-led company.

At the end of the day though, reusing waste does not just save the planet, but money too, and Maayke talks about how she has had to present her case from an economic rather than environmental perspective to actually get companies on board.

For all this and more about exciting developments in the narratives and technologies surrounding waste reuse, be sure to tune in.

The move toward a more circular economy is contingent on many things – transparent supply chains being one of them.

Here to talk about how he is using technology such as blockchain to bring transparency and trusted data sharing to global supply chains is Jordi de Vos, Co-Founder of Circularise.

We kick things off with Jordi talking about the research that Circularise was born from before getting into the challenges of moving from local pilot projects to tracing supply chains globally. We talk about resolving the seemingly contradictory aims of bringing transparency to supply chains while keeping information private as well as the issue of trust and how easy it is for companies to lie about the origins of a given product.

Next up, we take a dive into how Circularise works, hearing Jordi describe how it uses blockchain technology to create an information highway where a ‘digital twin’ of a product is created at its conception and then updated as it makes its way from one point to another. Jordi also explains how collaboration and open standards are vital for their vision.

Toward the end of our conversation, we explore how third party validators can enhance trustability along the information highway, how different tracers can ensure products are what their digital twins say they are, and the value of open source technology in achieving the Circularise vision.

For all this and more on transparent supply chains and the circular economy, tune in!

The ultimate ‘out of sight, out of mind problem,’ when we throw something away, it seems to disappear into a magical space that sits apart from us and our responsibility. Tom Passmore and Sophie Walker, founders of Dsposal, are using data to bridge this knowledge gap by showing people what happens to waste once we throw it away.

On this episode, We speak to Tom and Sophie about their journey in building Dsposal and their mission in innovating waste management for the greater good.

After talking about how waste is part of a value-chain of resources within the circular economy, we explore the ‘duty of care.’ A key concept, this duty affirms our responsibility to properly manage our waste.

On the topic of the circular economy, they explain their focus on compliance and regulation as using non-licensed contractors increases the likelihood that material ends up in a landfill — and therefore, out of the loop.

Near the end of the episode, we talk about the state’s role in creating infrastructure and how it’s up to the public to innovate systems. A fascinating and energetic conversation about a pressing issue, tune in to hear about how Tom and Sophie are changing how we see waste.

Carrying on our exploration of the circular economy, we are joined today by Lieke van Kerkhoven, the co-founder of FLOOW2, a sharing platform for healthcare and beyond. Lieke had experience in the healthcare sector leading up to her work with FLOOW2, having worked across the Netherlands in different managerial positions after studying medicine.

In our conversation, we get the low down from Lieke about the last decade with FLOOW2, the difference between FLOOW2 and FLOOW2 Healthcare, and how she initially linked up with the other founders.

She talks about the central importance of communication in the sharing and circular economies and unpacks the varied nature of the platform they have created.

Lieke lays out their position as the global leader in their market, explaining this in the context of the small market they are serving. The conversation also covers the way they serve their clients, the different sectors of the business besides healthcare, and the important shifts in mindset that precede meaningful change.