HappyPorch Radio: Circular Economy & Technology

You drop off your engagement ring to be repaired. You get a handwritten paper ticket. No confirmation, no updates, no idea when it's coming back. For something with that much value, it's a stressful experience. And for everyday items, that same friction is often enough to make people skip the repair and buy new instead. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O'Kane speaks with Emily Watts, fou...

What happens when unwanted laptops and phones become more than just an e-waste problem? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O'Kane speaks with Elaine Brown, Chief Executive of The Edinburgh Remakery, a social enterprise and charity working at the intersection of technology reuse, repair and community support. The Remakery takes unwanted technology from businesses, securely wipes and refurbi...

The tailoring workforce in the US has been shrinking for decades. And the ones that remain aren't easy to find or get an appointment with. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O'Kane speaks with Robin Atkinson and Cash Acrey, the husband-and-wife co-founders of Upkept, an online clothing repair platform based in Northwest Arkansas. You mail in clothes you want fixed, they repair them in a ce...

Most commercial kitchens have no clear picture of what they are throwing away, when, or why. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O'Kane speaks with Anastasia Dellis, CEO of Orbisk, a platform that uses AI and computer vision to make food waste visible in commercial kitchens. The Orbi monitor sits above a waste bin, captures every item discarded, recognises over 800 ingredients, and feeds it...

The same handbag. Thirty different platforms. Hundreds of dollars between listings. And no way to know what it's actually worth. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O'Kane speaks with Chris Lucas, founder and CEO of Secondsense, a platform that aggregates luxury resale listings from over 30 vendors, normalises their attributes, and tells consumers what a product is really trading at. Chris...

Technology isn't magic. And neither is the bin, even though most of us treat it like one. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O'Kane speaks with Tom Passmore, CIO and co-founder of Dsposal, a company that has spent a decade building technology for the UK waste sector. Tom has a vivid way of describing the core problem: the moment someone decides they don't want something, it's dead to them....

Technology isn't magic. But sometimes dropping your spoon in a bowl of soup during a pandemic leads you somewhere extraordinary. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O'Kane speaks with Thierry Sanders, founder of Kolekt, a platform connecting waste collectors, buy-back centres, and recyclers across the Global South. Thierry's background spans fintech, microfinance, and living in developing c...

Technology isn't magic. And neither, it turns out, is circular strategy. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O'Kane speaks with Amelia Woodley, a sustainability leader with 25 years of cross-sector experience, and Vin Sharma, a researcher whose doctoral work examined why the social dimension of circular economy so often gets left behind. Amelia introduces her "logic versus magic" framework:...

Technology isn’t magic. And neither is circularity. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O’Kane speaks with Lieke van Kerkhoven, co-founder of Green Pulse. Lieke explains how Green Pulse is helping hospitals extend the life of medical equipment by connecting them with a global network of buyers. The platform combines logistics, marketplace dynamics, and technology to make reuse viable in a c...

Technology isn’t magic. It does not fix a fragmented circular economy on its own. In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O’Kane speaks with David Watson, founder of Circular Connect. David explains how Circular Connect developed from a newsletter into a platform that helps circular businesses become more visible and easier to connect with. They discuss the practical challenges of scaling circu...

What if repair wasn’t an afterthought, but a core part of how fashion works? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O’Kane speaks with Nancy Rhodes, CEO of Alternew, a platform embedding tailoring and repair into the shopping experience. Nancy shares how her experience in the fashion industry led her to rethink the role of care and repair, not just as a sustainability initiative, but as a way...

Circular economy platforms promise simple solutions to complex problems, but what does it actually take to make them work in practice? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O’Kane speaks with Cathy Benwell, co-founder of A Good Thing, a nonprofit platform helping businesses donate surplus items to charities in their local communities. Cathy shares the journey of building A Good Thing from scr...

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is rapidly expanding into the textile industry, but how will it actually work in practice, and how can brands prepare? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, Barry O’Kane speaks with Gerrard Fisher, co-founder of WEFT, a company helping brands understand the circularity of their products and prepare for future EPR systems. Gerrard explains how eco-modulation co...

In this episode of HappyPorch Radio , hosts Barry O’Kane and Jo Weston talk with Frans Biegstraaten, co-founder of BIYU, a modular rental, subscription and PAAS platform helping businesses build circular systems that scale. BIYU started as a consumer rental service in Amsterdam, offering same-day delivery on everything from drills to electric bikes. When the business had to pivot, Frans and his te...

What if attending a wedding, gala, or an important event didn’t mean buying something new, but instead allowed you to rent a designer-quality outfit? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio we are joined by Büsra Zanner, the founder of Wearr. Wearr is a German-based startup reinventing circular fashion rental for special occasions. Büsra shares how her tech background shaped Wearr’s customer-first app...

What if you could arrive at your ski chalet and find premium ski wear waiting for you, no suitcase, no hassle, and a lot less waste? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio , hosts Barry O’Kane and Tandi Tuakli talk with Anna Smoothy and Anders Bergenstrand , co-founders of Cirkel Supply , a Swiss startup rethinking ski holidays with circular rental. Cirkel combines technology and circular design to m...

What does it take to run a business that keeps millions of garments in circulation every year? And why should rental, resale, and repair be part of every fashion brand’s strategy? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio , we’re joined by Andrew Rough, CEO of Advanced Clothing Solutions (ACS), Europe’s largest provider of circular fashion fulfillment. From RFID technology to ozone cleaning, ACS combine...

What does it take to bring rental models into the world of large household appliances (white goods) and why might this be a key step in scaling the circular economy? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, we’re joined by Valentin Lheureux , COO of HomeCycle , a French startup pioneering rental for washing machines, dryers, fridges, and other essential “white goods.” Valentin shares his journey...

What have we learned so far this season about the realities of rental and product-as-a-service models, and where does technology really make the difference? In this special mid-season reflection of HappyPorch Radio, hosts Barry O’Kane, Jo Weston and Tandi Tuakli look back at the conversations so far, drawing out the common themes, challenges and opportunities from entrepreneurs, academics and tech...

How to Build Circular Commerce Infrastructure with Bob Jansen What makes a rental or product-as-a-service (PaaS) business model work, and what role does technology really play in making that happen? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, we’re joined by Bob Jansen, founder of Firmhouse , a recurring commerce platform enabling subscription, rental and PaaS business models. Bob shares lessons from his...

How Tech Enables Circular Innovation – with Patrick Hypscher What does it really take to build circular business models — and how can technology accelerate that transformation? In this episode of HappyPorch Radio, we’re joined by Patrick Hypscher, a circular business strategist, advisor, and the voice behind  Circularity.fm . Patrick brings unique insights from working at the intersection of...

Welcome back to HappyPorch Radio: the circular economy technology podcast! In this episode our hosts Barry O’Kane and Tandi Tuakli are joined by Katie Hanton-Parr, the visionary founder of Baboodle - a circular rental platform specifically designed for baby equipment. Katie’s story is one of passion, perseverance, and innovation—born out of her own experience as a parent grappling with the challen...

Welcome back to HappyPorch Radio: the circular economy technology podcast! In this episode our hosts Barry O’Kane and Jo Weston are joined by Yann Toutant, CEO and Co-founder of Black Winch who are the world's exclusive authority in Product-As-A-Service (PaaS) solutions.  At the beginning of the conversation Yann explains Black Winch’s work and how they engage, inspire and empower intrapreneu...

Welcome back to HappyPorch Radio: the circular economy technology podcast! In this episode our hosts Barry O’Kane and Tandi Tuakli are joined by Ryan Atkins, the co-founder and CEO of Supercycle - a circular commerce platform that enables rental and resale natively in Shopify. Ryan explains that scaling circular business models depends on overcoming integration challenges between physical product...

Welcome back to HappyPorch Radio: the circular economy technology podcast! Our hosts are joined by Lucy Wishart, lecturer in Circular Economy and Sustainable Transformations at the University of Edinburgh. In this episode they explore how rental models fit into academic, practical, and social aspects of circularity. From the idea of “consumption work” (and how rental reduces it) to what makes circ...