Circular Economy Podcast

From the archives – episode 119 with Ken Webster: why we need to talk about the circular ECONOMY!

21 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

To close out 2025, I’d like to revisit a critical aspect that’s being ignored – the economy itself. Ken Webster is a leading...

172 (Part 2) Tom Llewellyn of Shareable: how sharing and cooperative projects help us thrive

07 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the 2nd part of my conversation with Tom Llewellyn of Shareable, an organization that collaborates with others to imagine, resource, network...

172 Tom Llewellyn of Shareable: how sharing and cooperative projects help us thrive

07 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the importance of sharing and its many benefits with Tom Llewellyn, the Executive Director of Shareable, which collaborat...

171 Dr. Patrick Schröder: circular economy policymaking – progress and barriers

23 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Patrick Schröder, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, assesses the progress and barriers for circular economy policymaking...

170 Catherine Weetman: unpacking the new edition of A Circular Economy Handbook

09 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Author Catherine Weetman unpacks the new edition of A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business, ...

169 Bailey Bestul: imaginative reuse of architectural components to create exciting and inspiring buildings

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bailey Bestul explains how imaginative reuse of architectural components can create exciting, unique and inspiring buildings. Bailey is a registered a...

168 Matt Paneitz of Long Way Home: Hero School – transforming trash into useful buildings

11 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Long Way Home’s Hero School in Guatemala is a community-rooted educational initiative that transforms local trash into useful buildings. Matthew Pan...

167 HaPPE Earth: circular, compostable PPE systems

27 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lisa and Mary O’Riordan are co-founders of HaPPE Earth, a circular business providing compostable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) with an end-to...

166 Circularity Gap Report 2025: insights

13 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew Fraser of Circle Economy and David Rakowski of Deloitte unpack key insights from the 2025 Circularity Gap Report. The Circularity Gap Report a...

165 Christina Schwarzkopf of Prolong: seamless solutions for circular aftercare and aftersales

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Christina Schwarzkopf is co-founder of Prolong, a business-to-business white-label software solution enabling fashion brands and retailers to offer an...

164 Louis De Jaeger: our futures depend on healthy soils

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Healthy soils provide the foundation for life on our planet, and yet most agriculture degrades soil. Nurturing soil should be at the top of all our pr...

163 Patrik Frisk of Reju: regenerating polyester textiles

02 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into the complexities of textile recycling with Patrik Frisk, who is working to create a circular economy for textile-to-textile polyester rege...

162 Rachel Bronstein and Barry Waddilove: Skills for Planet from the Design Council

19 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In episode 162 we discuss design skills and why it’s crucial that design for circularity goes beyond the design of the product itself, to cover the ...

161 Dan Vukelich of AMDR: medical device reprocessing

05 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dan Vukelich, President of the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors, has spent 25 years campaigning and working to encourage reuse and remanufac...

160 Systems and system value

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

One of recurring themes in the new edition of A Circular Economy Handbook (to be published in November 2025) is the importance of systems thinking and...

159 Kyle Wiens of iFixit: the rewards of repairability

07 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kyle Wiens is the co-founder of iFixit, the international repair community known for open-source repair manuals and product teardown. Kyle is also one...

#158 Steve Wilson of Compostify: bioplastics that enrich the planet

24 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Compostify makes truly home-compostable plant pots and other bioplastic solutions designed to nourish the earth. Its products naturally break down wit...

157 Liz Bui of Yulex: safer, sustainable materials

10 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Liz Bui takes us behind the scenes at Yulex, a material science company that’s replacing extremely useful, but problematic petroleum-based products ...

156 Marcus Feldthus: the Post-Growth Guide

26 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We zoom out to the economy part of the circular economy, to talk about the Post Growth concept, with Marcus Feldthus. Together with Oscar Haumann, Ma...

155 Martin Tomitsch and Steve Baty: Life-centred design

12 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Martin Tomitsch and Steve Baty have written a brilliant book called Designing Tomorrow: strategic design tactics to change your practice, organization...

154 Loic Le Fouest of Clarasys: designing circular customer experiences

30 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Loic Le Fouest is a leading expert in Customer Experience (CX) with a strong track record of driving customer-centric transformation across the privat...

153 Anette Timmer of DESSO: the beauty of circularity

16 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We hear insights from Anette Timmer of DESSO by Tarkett, a leading carpet brand that was an early adopter of circular economy principles. Anette Timm...

152 Markus Terho: the Lifestyle Test

02 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Markus Terho tells us about the Lifestyle Test, a web-based app for anyone who’s concerned about global warming and wants to be a part of the soluti...

151 Clarissa Morawski of Reloop Platform: practical policies for circular packaging

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Clarissa Morawski, CEO of Reloop Platform works with governments, industry stakeholders and NGOs to develop policies for a packaging circular economy....

150 Catherine Weetman: Creating conditions for circularity

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I’ve been reflecting on what’s come up over the last series, in episodes 141 to 149. How do we create the conditions for our ideas to spread? Do w...

149 Giulia Ziino of CircularPlace: generate value from underused assets

19 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Giulia Ziino is a co-founder of CircularPlace, a digital platform that helps organizations generate value by reusing and repurposing underutilized pro...

148 Tim Forslund of Sitra: circular solutions for nature

05 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Forslund works on the circular economy at the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. As a key part of his work at Sitra, Tim has analysed how circular eco...

147 Dr Alexandra Leeper: smarter ways to create value

15 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Alexandra Leeper, the CEO of the Iceland Ocean Cluster is passionate about the sustainable use of ocean resources. She’s working as a scientist i...

146 Dr Monika Hauck: making repairs easy and fashionable

01 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Entrepreneur Dr. Monika Hauck is tapping into the emotional charge we feel after getting something repaired, and using that to revolutionize how we ch...

145 Evolena de Wilde of Faircado: your AI-powered second-hand shopping assistant

17 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Evolena de Wilde d’Estmael is co-founder & CEO of Faircado, a Berlin-based startup that provides the first AI-powered second-hand shopping assistant...

144 Chris Allen of Decathlon: ever-evolving circular design

03 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Allen, Sustainability Leader and Head of Circular Business Development at Decathlon UK. You’ve probably heard of Decathlon, which is the world...

143 Michael Colarossi – Digital Product Passports

19 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Colarossi of Avery Dennison explains how Digital Product Passports can be a key enabler in the transition to a circular economy. Michael is ...

142 Anna De Matos – igniting circular communities

05 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anna De Matos is the founder of several community-focused sharing initiatives, and a force of nature. Originally from Brazil, Anna De Matos went to un...

141 Joel Tasche: scaleable solutions to plastic pollution

21 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Joel Tasche founded CleanHub, a Berlin-based company that provides a scalable solution to plastic pollution. CleanHub connects coastal communities to ...

140 Catherine Weetman: focusing on fuel AND friction

07 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are we focused on adding more fuel to get the circular economy going – when, really, the problem is too much friction?Those terms stuck with me a fe...

139 Peter McCafferty: supporting circular businesses

24 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Peter McCafferty works on Zero Waste Scotland’s Circular Economy Business Support Service (CEBS). These services were launched back in 2017, and sin...

138 Rubén Abruña: keeping our poop in the loop

10 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning documentary film maker Rubén Abruña helps us dig into one of the oldest problems in civil society… All around the world, there are s...

137 Dr Martin Stuchtey: rethinking how we invest in nature

27 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Prof. Dr. Martin Stuchtey - a geologist, economist and entrepreneur - is challenging and helping to rethink industrial, farming and economic systems. ...

136 Julia Brenner of Melta: creating value from food waste

13 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There is a simple solution to conserve, and reuse, more of the nutrients from food waste. In today’s episode, I’m talking to Julia Brenner, a soi...

135 Tuomo Laine: unlocking circular business models

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tuomo Laine is the CEO and co-founder of Twice Commerce, which provides software to help its clients unlock a range of circular business models. Tuomo...

134 Jane Martin of City to Sea: powering refill & reuse on-the-go

15 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

To mark World Refill Day 2024, we talk to Jane Martin, the CEO of City to Sea, a campaigning non-profit with a mission to prevent plastic pollution at...

133 Re-Action – repurposing: a new life for unwanted stuff

08 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the 4th and final episode in the special 5th Anniversary mini-series featuring the Re-Action Collective, and we’re focusing on repurposing –...

132 Re-Action – repairing: from radical to renaissance

01 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is #3 in the 5th Anniversary mini-series featuring the Re-Action Collective, and focuses on repairing. We hear from the founders of three UK busi...

131 Re-Action – Sharing: Serving more people with less stuff

25 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is #2 in the 5th Anniversary mini-series featuring the Re-Action Collective, and focuses on sharing and ‘pay to use’. We hear from the founde...

130 Heather Davies: the Re-Action Collective

18 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s now 5 years since I started the podcast, and to celebrate, I’m doing a 5th anniversary mini-series. I’ve invited several guests from the Re...

129 Alex Holland: SolarPunk Stories for a circular future

04 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How do we draw people towards a deliciously sustainable future? In this episode, we’re going off at a slight tangent: to explore how we can bring pe...

128 Tara Button: products that say ‘Buy Me Once’

20 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tara Button is the founder and CEO of Buy Me Once, a platform which helps people buy the longest-lasting products on the planet. If you’ve heard me...

127 Yann Toutant: getting started with As-a-Service

06 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Yann Toutant is the founder of Black Winch, which helps businesses understand the opportunities, practicalities and benefits of shifting to ‘as a se...

126 Ruth Taylor: closing our circular values gap

24 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ruth Taylor of the Common Cause Foundation guides us through the field of social psychology, to explore how our personal values drive behaviour, and w...

125 Walter R Stahel: signs of circular progress

10 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Walter R Stahel, widely acknowledged as a circular economy pioneer, talks about progress, barriers and missed opportunities. Walter is the ...

124 Share Shed: the world’s first travelling library of things

25 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mirella Ferraz is co-founder of Share Shed, the world's first travelling library of things. The Share Shed van visits rural communities, so people can...

123 Topolytics: making waste visible, verifiable and valuable

11 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We explore why it’s important for business to map, and understand their waste flows: what it is, specifically; where it comes from and goes to; how ...

122 Iain McKechnie: steps to a services-led strategy

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Iain McKechnie of the Advanced Services Group helps clients develop services-led strategies, improving circularity and outcomes for the businesses and...

121 Claire O’Sullivan and Kitty Wilson Brown: Contemporary Hempery

14 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Claire O’Sullivan and Kitty Wilson Brown are two inspiring people who are passionate about the properties and potential of hemp, especially for text...

120 Priorities are changing

31 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

People’s priorities are changing, as we realise more stuff doesn’t make us happier– so how can businesses thrive by doing better, with less? In ...

119 BONUS Ken Webster: the circular ECONOMY! Part 2

17 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is the 2nd part of the conversation with Ken Webster, one of the foremost thinkers in the circular economy field, where we explore concepts for a...

119 Ken Webster: the circular ECONOMY!

10 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is different – I’m talking to Ken Webster and we explore some big themes and concepts for a critical part of the circular economy tha...

118 Ann Stevenson: minding our language

26 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Let’s talk about how we talk about the circular economy – the language we use, and whether it’s helping us… or getting in the way. Ann Steven...

117 James Rigg: a refurbishment revolution for electricals

12 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

James Rigg is CEO of Trojan Electronics in Wales, and has a wealth of expertise in value-adding circular solutions for electrical and electronics manu...

116 Chuck Fuerst: circularity for product returns

28 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chuck Fuerst is Chief Marketing Officer for software provider ReverseLogix. ReverseLogix is the only end-to-end, centralized, and fully integrated re...

115 Paddy Le Flufy: Building future-fit systems

14 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’re exploring the broader context of a future-fit economy, asking questions like: How do we create the conditions for circular solutions to gain t...

114 Daniel Kietzer: making resources discoverable & reusable

30 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Kietzer is Director of Ecosystem Growth at Rheaply, a digital sharing platform scaling reuse by making resources discoverable, easily transfera...

113 Steven Bethell: systemic solutions to the crisis of stuff

16 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Steven Bethell is a thought leader and pioneer in the post-consumer textile space for over 20 years, who’s creating innovative and relevant solution...

112 Fiona Dear: reviving repair and reuse for our tech

02 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fiona Dear is a Co-Director at The Restart Project, which aims to keep our electronic technology in use for longer through repair and reuse

111 Sara Howard: symbiotic circular ceramics

19 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How might we design and make ceramics in a circular economy? Ceramic products make our lives better in all kinds of ways. Some have been around for ce...

110 Katie Beverley: designing a circular economy

05 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are we designing a circular economy – or just designing circular products and materials? Today we’re catching up with Dr. Katie Beverley. Katie i...

109 Janina Nieper – Connecting new designs to leftover materials

22 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Janina Nieper is an Architect and Designer, working at Furnify, a design agency in the Netherlands. Janina Nieper is passionate about concepts that pr...

108 Sian Sutherland – fixing plastics can fix so much else…

08 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the 2nd part of the conversation with Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet and PlasticFree.com, Sian tells Catherine Weetman why, instea...

107 Sian Sutherland – plastic is last century’s material – what’s next?

24 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

106 Yael Shemer of Tulu – everyday essentials on-demand

10 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In episode 106, we hear from another disruptive start up, helping people ‘get more, from less’ - shrinking the footprint of production and consump...

105 Gene Homicki – getting more from less with MyTurn

27 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’re going to hear about some amazing software that helps with the 2nd of the 3 key circular strategies I advise people to use… getting more, fro...

104 Richard Burnett – Diversity and packaging innovation

13 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Innovation and diversification is key to the success of James Cropper, a 6th generation family business, based in the English Lake District. Richard B...

103 Algramo – Refill the future

29 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Reusable packaging startup Algramo is going from strength to strength, and we hear from Brian Bauer and Chris Baker on why customers in Chile, the US ...

102 Jo Spolton – making second-hand our first choice

15 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jo Spolton is the founder of Rumage, a brilliant online platform that makes it super-easy for people to find – and buy - exactly what they’re look...

101 Circular is better for people, planet and profit!

01 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 101 seems like a good time to update my ‘what is the circular economy’ summary from Episode 1, back in 2019. In that first episode, I out...

100 Catherine Weetman – never too old to be bold

19 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine Weetman shares a bit of her backstory, including why she ditched her corporate career to help businesses get clear on how going circular is ...

99 Ben Jeffreys – clean, low-carbon, circular cooking for all

05 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ben Jeffreys, co-founder of ATEC, is a multi award-winning social entrepreneur making better things happen. Right now, he’s focused on decarbonising...

98 Barry O’Kane – Software as a circular enabler

19 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s episode 98, and Catherine Weetman is talking to Barry O’Kane about software, one of the key enablers for circular economy solutions. Barry O...

97 Alice Mah – unpicking plastics propaganda

05 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

IT’S EPISODE 97, and today we’ll be talking about plastics, a familiar circular economy topic, from someone with a someone with a less familiar ba...

96 Nick Oettinger – keeping mattresses in circulation

22 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nick Oettinger is Founder and CEO of The Furniture Recycling Group (TFR Group) in the UK. Nick has 12 years’ experience in recycling and waste manag...

95 Simone Andersson – social value from circular e-waste solutions

08 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Simone Andersson is Chief Commercial Officer at WEEE Centre, a Kenyan social enterprise that’s been expanding safe e-waste management and circular s...

94 David Peck – navigating the risk of Critical Raw Materials

18 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

David Peck, Associate Professor at TU Delft, explains why we need to know more about critical raw materials - what they are used in, and how we might ...

93 Guglielmo Mazza – helping communities refuse packaging waste

04 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Guglielmo Mazzà is an environmental engineer and social entrepreneur, and the co-founder and CEO of ReFuse, a social enterprise based in Beirut [Leba...

92 Elmar Stroomer – circular textile solutions in Africa

20 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Elmar Stroomer is the founder of Africa Collect Textiles (ACT). Africa Collect Textiles does exactly that – collecting used textiles across Africa, ...

91 Michael Smith – Investing in regenerative startups

06 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine is talking to Michael Smith, General Partner of Regeneration.VC, an investment fund set up earlier in 2022 that is investing in solutions ad...

90 – Does circular mean it’s sustainable?

22 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Does circular mean it’s sustainable? Or, are companies just using circular economy solutions to grow their business (and their footprints)? In this ...

89 Simon Hombersley – plastics from plant protein

08 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Hombersley, CEO of Xampla, shares the story of how this Cambridge University spin-out has created the world’s first plant protein material for...

88 Alexandra Rico-Lloyd – the Bike Club

24 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Alexandra Rico-Lloyd is one of the UK’s circular economy entrepreneurs, and is passionate about inspiring the next generation to get active and outd...

87 – Veena Sahajwalla – high-value opportunities from MICROFactories

10 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Veena Sahajwalla, founder of UNSW SMaRT Centre, is an internationally recognised materials scientist, engineer, and inventor who is revoluti...

86 Jennifer Hinton – Rethinking how profit is used

27 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We explore a different way of thinking, about how business fits into our society and economy. Jennifer Hinton is a systems researcher and activist in ...

Bonus – BONUS India Hamilton – SCOOP  – part two

14 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

BONUS Ep85 part 2 - India Hamilton shares more about circular economy food coop SCOOP, Permaculture, membership models, and why she loves compliance o...

85 India Hamilton – SCOOP – transforming local food systems

13 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

India Hamilton, cofounder of circular economy food cooperative SCOOP explains the challenges of providing healthy, affordable and local food on a smal...

84 Jo Chidley – Reposit – reusable packaging for consumer goods

30 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine Weetman talks to Jo Chidley, a circular economy expert, chemist, herbal botanist, and co-founder of TWO successful circular economy business...

83 – Kim Baker – funding equitable, market-driven circular solutions

16 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kim Baker is Senior Director of Innovation at Elemental, which funds circular economy and climate tech solutions through a non-profit model. Elemental...

82 – Maria Westerbos – Plastic Soup Foundation

02 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Maria Westerbos tells about the groundbreaking work of the Plastic Soup Foundation. Many of us are becoming increasingly aware of the amount of plast...

81 – René Bethmann – circular designs for outdoor sports gear

18 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How do we navigate the tensions of having brilliant products that help us enjoy outdoor activities, yet which are difficult to repair and recycle? Ren...

80 – Evolving and scaling

04 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you are a regular listener, you’ll know that every 10th episode, Catherine zooms in on one or two of the common themes from the last series of in...

79 Jordi Ferre – creating value from wine waste

21 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You may be surprised to learn that, Instead of becoming waste for landfill, grape skins and other unused parts of grapes from the wine-making process ...

78 Colin Church – complex challenges for materials

07 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Colin Church, Chief Executive of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the global network for the materials cycle – also known as IOM3, g...

77 Steve Haskew – the world’s first Kitemark for remanufactured laptops

23 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Haskew of Circular Computing, is back to tell us about how Circular Computing was awarded the world’s first BSI Kitemark™ for Remanufactured...