This episode is all about the circular economy, explaining what it means, how it differs from the standard linear economy, and how adopting circularity benefits your organisation and the world in general. Our host Will Richardson is joined by Naomi Cohen, Senior Manager at Green Element, who specialises in resource and waste management.  

Naomi and Will are joined by inspiring individuals from organisations that are already making the change to circularity: Sam Coggin from The Coggin Group, Sylvia Garvin from The Juice Round, and Brendon Rowan from Cradle to Cradle.   

Highlights:  

• Naomi describes the ‘take make waste’ approach to products and materials, and how the circular economy eliminates waste by keeping products in circulation.  
• Slyvia Garvin became very aware of the amount of packaging used within her organisation and decided to start focusing on reuse as a solution.  
• The Juice Round produces hand-make drinks in reusable glass bottles; they also offer a financial incentive for consumers to return and refill their bottles. 
• The Cradle-to-Cradle methodology allows designers to look at 5 key elements: material health, material reutilisation, renewable energy, water and soil stewardship, and social fairness.  
• Brendon talks about the Wonder Wean, a portable food processor for weaning, designed using the Cradle-to-Cradle methodology. 
• Naomi talks about her time in the waste and resource management sector, and how she has seen first-hand the amount of perfectly serviceable office furniture and other products that are thrown away unnecessarily. 
• Sam Coggin from The Coggin Group discusses how they provide sustainable office furnishing and furniture recycling solutions.  
• Sam discusses the importance and benefits of upcycling, and how his ultimate goal is to be known for remanufacturing in a commercial scale.  
• Naomi touches on the importance of servitisation, the idea that when we buy things, we often don’t need the item itself as opposed to the service it provides.  

Resources: 

The Coggin Group: Sustainable Office Furniture & Recycling Solutions | The Coggin Group 

Cradle to Cradle Design Consultancy: 

The Juice Round: Sustainable drinks - Zero waste and Plastic free drinks - The Juice Round 

Ellen Macarthur Foundation: How to build a circular economy | Ellen MacArthur Foundation 

Dame Ellen's 2015 TED Talk: Dame Ellen MacArthur: The surprising thing I learned sailing solo around the world | TED Talk  

Toast Ale: Toast Ale - Raise a toast. Save the world. Cheers  

The Wonder Wean: The Imagination Factory | Design For Manufacture - Wonder Wean  

WRAP: WRAP - Circular Economy & Resource Efficiency Experts  

The Good Goods: Good Goods - Reusable Wine Bottle (thegoodgoods.co) 

Zach Lawless podcast: Zach Lawless, co-founder of Good Goods | Sustainable Business Podcast (greenelement.co.uk) 

Louisa Ziane podcast: Louisa Ziane of Toast Ale | Sustainable Business Podcast (greenelement.co.uk)  

Mentioned in this episode:

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