The Circular Economy Show Podcast

In this episode of The Circular Economy Show, we uncover the power of collaboration in scaling the design of products that are fit for a circular economy. Host Pippa Shawley is joined by Megan Dawson-Elli, Product Sustainability Manager at Tapestry, and Steven Bethell, Co-founder of Bank and Vogue, to discuss their groundbreaking partnership that led to the creation of Coach’s sellout Soho bag. Learn how post-consumer denim, innovative design, and a shared vision resulted in a beautiful product and a life-cycle assessment showing that the repurposed denim had up to a 95% reduction in water usage and up to 80% less carbon emissions than conventional first use denim. Tune in to find out how circular design is fundamental to both circularity and commercial success.

Learn more about Tapestry and Bank & Vogue.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review or a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy. 

With New York Climate Week underway, this episode of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Economy Show, dives into the growing momentum of the circular economy in the US.

Host Pippa Shawley is joined by Jon Smieja, Vice President of Circularity at Trellis Group and Danielle Holly, North America Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Together, they’ll discuss the need for systemic change, the opportunities for circular business models, and how this transition can help meet climate goals. 

Join us as we unpack the opportunities ahead and explore how the US can lead the transition to a circular economy, creating lasting environmental and economic benefits.

Do you want to learn more about the different sources mentioned in this episode? Head over to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation website to learn more about the Foundation’s Industrial Decarbonization Report. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Ellen MacArthur North America newsletter to keep up to date with new developments in the circular economy in North America.

Learn more about the work Trellis does to accelerate the just transition to a clean economy in the US.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review or a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy.

In this episode of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Economy Show, we’ll explore the critical relationship between a healthy economy and a thriving natural environment. With biodiversity declining at unprecedented rates, we will delve into the Foundation’s latest report, "Building Prosperity: Unlocking the Potential for a Nature Positive Circular Economy for Europe." We’ll be joined by Julia Okatz, a director at Systemiq, who led the analysis for the report, and Joss Bleriot, the Foundation's Executive Lead for Policy and Institutions. Together, we will explore the report's key findings, illustrating how cities and built environments can contribute to a circular economy that benefits both nature and people. Discover how innovative nature-enhancing strategies can transform urban spaces, reduce material consumption, and regenerate nature, all while creating economic opportunities. 

Do you want to know more about the Building Prosperity report? Head to our Building Prosperity page to learn more. 

Head to our website to read the transcript for this episode. 

Want to watch this episode? Find it on YouTube

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review, or leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy. 

Get ready for the launch of our new season on The Circular Economy Show! Join us as we explore wider outlooks for the circular economy. We’ll hear about the case for a circular economy in the US and how rethinking the way we build in Europe offers huge potential for change. Plus we’ll explore how collaboration, when done right, can help companies scale their circular ambitions.

The new season starts on Tuesday 16th July. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts, or if you prefer to watch your shows, then you can catch the Wider Outlooks season on YouTube and Spotify.

At the heart of the circular economy is the need to retain the value of goods and materials, so that we can slow down the use of the Earth’s resources. Selling performance instead of products could be a way to achieve this. In this season’s finale, we’ll discuss this and other insights from Walter Stahel, author of The Performance Economy. 

Join us as we discuss how retaining the value of goods and materials can transform industries, boost job creation, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We’ll explore the idea of sustainable taxation, and learn why selling performance, not products, could be the future.

If you like this episode, please leave us a review, or leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy.

In nature, symbiosis refers to two or more species benefiting from living closely together. In this episode, we explore how the same thing can happen in business, through something called industrial symbiosis. 

We’re joined by Lisbeth Randers from Kalundborg Industrial Park, one of the best-known examples of industrial symbiosis. Plus, Radu Godina, Associate Professor at NOVA School of Science and Technology, highlights the potential of industrial symbiosis in a circular economy by sharing resources and reducing waste within a local community. Hosts Colin and Pippa discuss the financial incentives, environmental benefits, social advantages, and challenges of this school of thought that has shaped the circular economy as we know it,

If you like this episode, please leave us a review, or leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy.

In today’s episode, we’re placing nature in the centre of the conversation. Joined by Sean Quinn, Director of Regenerative Design at HOK, we’re exploring the role of regenerative design in creating infrastructures that are in harmony with our communities and the planet.

Notes: In today’s episode, we’re placing nature in the centre of the conversation. Joined by Sean Quinn, Director of Regenerative Design at HOK, we’re exploring the role of regenerative design in creating infrastructures that are in harmony with our communities and the planet and the importance of building technologies that restore natural systems instead of overpowering them. But we’re not stopping there, join us as we discover an exciting case study that uses regenerative design. 

Do you want to know more about Building Prosperity, the Foundation’s report mentioned in this episode? Head to our Building Prosperity page to learn more. 

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review, or leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy.

Are Cradle to Cradle and the Circular Economy essentially the same thing? In this episode off our Origins season, we’ll explore the key differences and similarities between the two system change solutions.

Join us as we sit down with Katja Hansen, Circular Economy & Cradle to Cradle expert, to explore nuances between the two systems, their relationship with the sustainability movement and how this might have been co-opted by companies to mean “business as usual”. 

Have a look at the butterfly diagram mentioned in this episode!

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review, or leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy.

Where did the concept of the circular economy come from? In our new season “Origins: The ideas shaping the circular economy”, we dig into the different ideas that have inspired the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s concept of a circular economy.

In this season premier, we'll learn more about biomimicry, the practice of looking to nature for solutions to human problems. Join us as we discuss the origins and broader implications of biomimicry with Stefano Semprini, Co-director at BiomimicrySA, and delve into its practical applications with Chad Wasilenkoff, CEO of Helicoid Industries Inc.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review, or leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy.

Get ready for the launch of our new season on The Circular Economy Show! Join us as we dig into the different ideas that have inspired the circular economy. Over five episodes, we'll explore the origins of this movement through the schools of thought that influenced its creation: Biomimicry, Cradle to Cradle, Regenerative Design, Industrial Symbiosis and the Performance Economy. We’ll learn what the circular economy took from those influences and about the differences between them. But it’s not just theoretical. We’ll also meet the organisations applying those schools of thought to their work today.

The new season starts on Tuesday 16th July. Subscribe to the Circular Economy Show now so you never miss an episode.