The Jeans Redesign creates solutions for a world where clothes never become waste. The guidelines, as set out by over 80 denim experts, establish the minimum requirements for the durability, material health, recyclability, and traceability of denim jeans. To date, over sixty leading brands, manufacturers, and fabric mills are using the Jeans Redesign Guidelines to produce jeans that will be available on the market by May 2021. In this episode we’ll hear from the Make Fashion Circular team workin...
Dec 16, 2020•29 min•Ep. 50
The way that clothes are made today is extremely wasteful and polluting. For the fashion industry to thrive in the future, we must transform its current take-make-waste model into one where clothes are kept at their highest value and designed to never end up as waste. In a circular economy for fashion, products (apparel, footwear, and accessories) are used more, made to be made again, and made from safe and recycled or renewable inputs. In the first episode of this five-part series, the Foundati...
Dec 16, 2020•32 min•Ep. 49
Bonus episode! Economist and author of Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist, Kate Raworth joins us to explore if it's possible to include both people’s wellbeing and planetary boundaries whilst striving for a thriving economy. In this episode, Kate will discuss the Doughnut Economics framework's role in shaping circular economy policies and business practices at city level. From Europe to Costa Rica, countries and cities around the world are reaching out to align the...
Dec 10, 2020•42 min•Ep. 48
Resource flow analysis in cities relies mostly on quantitative methods which often overlook informal sector activities. However, informal actors provide vital services in African cities, and must be part of our future imaginaries of cities. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges for this sector such as access to food and limitations to transport and infrastructure. To achieve urban resilience, food-, water- and energy-security, and successful decision making, we need to includ...
Dec 03, 2020•32 min•Ep. 47
Do we really understand the economy? Do we truly know how money works? Join us in this episode as Stephanie Kelton discusses the role of Modern Monetary Theory in shifting common misconceptions around government deficits. We tend to associate deficits with negative connotations such as rising taxes and destabilisers of the economy. However, is this the result of the deficit itself or rather the decision making of governments? Is it possible to shift our use of government deficits towards boostin...
Nov 24, 2020•42 min•Ep. 46
Design has the power to enable systemic change at individual, business and community levels. Join us for this episode as we hear from Malin Nordin, Head of Circular Business Development at Inter IKEA Group, on the ability of large organisations to scale up the circular economy through designing affordable furniture. We will be discussing how the circular economy can shift the perception that ‘affordable’ means cheap and poorly made, to one that gives rise to quality design. We will also hear fro...
Nov 17, 2020•43 min•Ep. 45
We need alternative ways of economic thinking to solve our current challenges. Is it possible to include both people’s wellbeing and planetary boundaries whilst striving for a thriving economy? Kate Raworth, the author of Doughnut Economics: 7 ways to think like a 21st-century economist, will be joining us to discuss the framework's role in shaping circular economy policies and business practices at city level. From Europe to Costa Rica, countries and cities around the world are reaching out to ...
Nov 12, 2020•42 min•Ep. 44
In this episode, we will discuss the opportunities for financing the circular economy. We will look at the recent rapid growth in circular economy financing, and showcase examples of how the financial services sector is seizing the opportunities of the circular economy. Join us and expert guest speakers to explore actions that the financial services sector, businesses and policymakers can take to further scale financing for the circular economy and for more key insights from our recent paper, ‘ ...
Nov 03, 2020•30 min•Ep. 43
Janez Potočnik was European Commissioner for Environment from 2009 until 2014, and during his tenure initiated the European Resource Efficiency Platform, which resulted in the adoption of the first European Circular Economy Package. He currently acts as co-chair of the International Resource Panel (IRP) and serves as a special advisor on sustainability to European Commissioner for the Environment & Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius. In this episode, we will be looking back on almos...
Oct 27, 2020•30 min•Ep. 42
In this episode, we discuss how cities are measuring their progress towards a circular economy, based upon a recent report by the OECD, what are the different drivers and obstacles that cities face, and how they are overcoming them. Guest speakers are Oriana Romano, OECD Head of Unit for Water Governance and Circular Economy and Janet Ågren, the Deputy Mayor of the City Umea in Sweden, one of the case study cities in the OECD’s report. Thank you for listening to this podcast. This show was recor...
Oct 20, 2020•31 min•Ep. 41
Walter Stahel is globally recognised as one of the key people who first formulated the concept of a circular economy. Amanda Ravenhill is the executive director of the Buckminster Fuller Institute and was the co-founder of Project Drawdown, both focused on solutions that regenerative the earth’s ecosystems and combat climate change. We’ll be asking them about systems change, recent successes and what needs to change. Thank you for listening to this podcast. This show was recorded and streamed li...
Oct 13, 2020•41 min•Ep. 40
In this episode, we will discuss how the circular economy can tackle large scale global challenges. We’ll hear from Nigel Topping, the UK Government’s COP26 High-Level Climate Action Champion, and share examples of circular economy investment opportunities across transport, buildings and much more. Thank you for listening to this podcast. This show was recorded and streamed live on our YouTube channel and social networks on the 29th of September 2020. We are pleased to offer the episode repackag...
Oct 06, 2020•20 min•Ep. 39
Global demand for water is exceeding that which is easily accessible. Yet water remains one of the keys to life. Join this session to hear from inspiring innovators from around the world changing the ways that we interact with the world’s most valuable resource, making water more accessible to all. Thank you for listening to this podcast. This show was recorded and streamed live on our YouTube channel and social networks on the 22nd of September 2020. We are pleased to offer the episode repackag...
Sep 29, 2020•36 min•Ep. 38
Circular economy innovation is cropping up everywhere; from how we grow our food to the way we design our electronics to the way in which we package and deliver our everyday products. In this episode, our team breaks down seven of the best examples in action. Thank you for listening to this podcast. This show was recorded and streamed live on our YouTube channel and social networks on the 15th of September 2020. We are pleased to offer the episode repackaged as a podcast for you to enjoy. The El...
Sep 22, 2020•35 min•Ep. 37
Over the months of June, July and August 2020, Emma Hislop, a multidisciplinary artist from Glasgow and the Foundation’s first-ever Artist in Residence, has had the difficult task to unearth the connections that exist between art and the circular economy. In this episode, we hear what Emma has been working on during her residency and also what is next for her and the artist in residence programme. As a reflective process, she discusses her residency and her experience at the Foundation and beyon...
Sep 11, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 36
Agbogbloshie is one of the largest e-waste dumpsites in the world, providing an income to thousands of people in the area. However, workers dealing with e-waste face dangerous working conditions. E-waste is just one example of the systemic challenges of our time with no easy solution. In this episode, Reniera O'Donnell and Sarah O'Carroll discuss with our guests, Joseph Awuah-Darko and Joshua Palfreman, some of the steps being taken to help ensure economic prosperity and better conditions for th...
Aug 18, 2020•28 min•Ep. 35
Latin America is in many ways a rich region with abundant natural resources, human capital, and bio-economy assets. However, the economies within it are predominantly linear and highly extractive - depleting and degrading the environment. In this episode, Laura Franco Henao and Michael Oliveira discuss how can the circular economy provide an alternative pathway that is regenerative by design and creates value that is inclusive and distributed. In this session, we ask those questions to people wo...
Aug 11, 2020•29 min•Ep. 34
China is a leading global superpower and also one of the pioneering countries of circular economy implementation. In this episode, we will dive deeper into how the circular economy started in China, and how China’s circular journey has differed from that of the EU’s. In this episode, we draw upon the positive steps China has taken to implement a circular economy in cities and the potential for an EU-China circular economy collaboration with Reniera O'Donnel and Ilma Stankeviciute from the learni...
Aug 04, 2020•22 min•Ep. 33
How can we learn from the exposures of the Covid-19 crisis and rethink more resilient and diverse supply chains? In this episode, we will be discussing how we can redesign our food system based on the principles of the circular economy enabling it to actively contribute to the regeneration of natural systems and to a thriving economy. We will draw upon some of the actions being taken around the world, including a deep dive on China. Thank you for listening to this podcast. This show was recorded...
Jul 28, 2020•30 min•Ep. 32
There have been many calls to build back better after the Covid-19 crisis. More than 50 global leaders — including CEOs, policymakers, NGOs, academics and philanthropists — have joined the Foundation and signed a statement saying that now is the time to do more, not less, to build a circular economy. In this episode, we discuss this statement and exploring how we can build back better with the circular economy with Rob Opsomer, Systemic Initiatives Lead at the Foundation, Cecilia Brännsten, Envi...
Jul 21, 2020•33 min•Ep. 31
In this 5th episode of the foundation's weekly show, we focus on the role of art in the world. How both art and design steer values, change perceptions and stimulate scientific thought. Laura, the host of this podcast, leads the conversation with Fanny Breteau, designer and art director at the foundation and Emma Hislop, artist in residence 2020 and tentatively begin to explore the roles writers, poets, painters, designers and artists can play in illustrating and helping to further the transitio...
Jul 14, 2020•25 min•Ep. 30
The need to transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy to mitigate climate change is well understood, but this is only one part of the picture. In this episode, we discuss why we need to fundamentally rethink how we produce and use our everyday products to tackle the climate crisis. Thank you for listening to this podcast. This show was recorded and streamed live on our YouTube channel and social networks on the 9th June 2020. We are pleased to offer the episode repackaged as...
Jul 07, 2020•26 min•Ep. 29
While the Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to adapt our daily lives in ways we could not have imagined and has, of course, had huge global health implications, it has also exposed vulnerabilities in our current economic system, and is challenging us to rethink the systems that underpin it. In this episode, we will be talking about the opportunity circular economy offers to create more robust, shock-resistant systems and highlighting some of the positive actions that are already being taken by gov...
Jun 30, 2020•24 min•Ep. 28
In this episode of our Explore The Circular Economy Weekly Show, Seb Egerton-Read and Laura Franco Henao, are asking the question: Can we build a better food system? To Emma Chow and Nick Jeffries, both members of the Food Initiative team at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Listen to this episode to hear about intriguing examples of circular economy in our natural systems. We will be exploring how to create a resilient, healthy and regenerative food system, with attention drawn to cities in facil...
Jun 23, 2020•25 min•Ep. 27
In this first episode of our Explore The Circular Economy Weekly Show, Season 1, Seb Egerton-Read and Laura Franco Henao, hosts of our weekly show, are talking through real world examples of the circular economy with Nick Jeffries and Ashima Sukhdev bringing the concept to life. This show was recorded and streamed live on our YouTube channel and social networks on the 19th of May 2020. We are pleased to offer the episode repackaged as a podcast for you to enjoy. You can find all the case-studies...
Jun 16, 2020•34 min•Ep. 26
Increasingly adopted as a powerful framework to address the world’s most pressing challenges, the transition towards the circular economy is well underway. However, a key ingredient is still very much in the early stages of exploring the topic - the world of finance. Luigi Riccardo is an industrial engineer. In early 2016 he joined the Innovation Center in Intesa Sanpaolo as innovation specialist and project manager. He is part of the team that developed the bank’s strategy on Circular Economy a...
Dec 20, 2019•28 min•Ep. 25
The wastefulness of takeaway paper coffee cups and issues of recyclability have regularly featured in the headlines in recent years as topics like ocean plastics become increasingly prominent. Better design and reuse are clearly on top of the agenda, but there's demands for better recycling are also firmly on the agenda of governments, organisations and consumers. Listen to this podcast to hear the story of how DS Smith has aimed to tackle this issue, starting by finding a solution to recycling ...
Dec 19, 2019•26 min•Ep. 24
An all too familiar story is told about our data and how various organisations are capturing it, harvesting it, and using it in ways to influence us - some positive, but many perceived as negative. What does a more hopeful vision of a data dominated world look like? Mara Balestrini is an expert on this topic. She works as a Human-Computer-Interaction researcher, and founded an organisation devoted to the issue called Ideas for Change. Watch this conversation to hear about some of the examples of...
Dec 19, 2019•19 min•Ep. 23
How we think shapes the world around us, and our ways of thinking are formed through our learning. If we are to adopt a new economic model like the circular economy, we all need to go through a learning journey to explore, understand and ultimately apply a concept that requires new practices and a significant mindset shift. At the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, we have spent a lot of time supporting people to shift their mindsets. Our Learning Team's work covers schools, universities, businesses an...
Dec 05, 2019•40 min•Ep. 21
Latin America didn't get much chance to participate in the first three Industrial Revolutions, besides being a supplier and exporter of valuable resources. Petar Ostojic argues that the combination of the circular economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution provides a unique moment in history for Latin America to enter a new era of prosperity. Petar Ostojic is co-Founder and CEO of Neptuno Pumps, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Innovation and Circular Economy - CIEC. He is reco...
Dec 02, 2019•21 min•Ep. 20
