Circularity.fm

A durable and long-lasting product is a promising starting point for circular activities. Yet organisational challenges remain. In this episode, Caroline Stern gives insights into Hilti Group's challenges when measuring and improving its circularity. It starts with logistics, spans over accounting, and includes selecting the right input data for ERP systems designed for a linear world. This episod...

Rental and Repair business models come with the promise of superior circularity. However, it is unclear if a specific company can deliver on this promise. In this episode, Dr. Marianne Kuhlmann, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Circularity, presents insights from the first market report of UNDRESS Circularity. UNDRESS Circularity provides a framework and practical guide to determine the impact...

Traditional reporting and accounting practices are designed for linear sales models. However, a circular product-as-a-service proposition requires a different logic and KPI. In this episode, Jonas Bulach, Project Manager Product-as-a-Service at Swiss Home Appliance Manufacturer V-ZUG, explains how V-ZUG creates transparency about the business and handles accounting challenges. This episode is the...

Every Product-as-a-Service needs a product in the first place. A well-designed product supports the success of the subscription proposition. The Cradle to Cradle school of thought paved the way for circular thinking in product design. Products should be designed so that their materials and components can be repaired, repurposed, or recycled indefinitely. In this episode, Nora Sophie Griefahn, Co-F...

Grover is a role model for debt-based asset funding. With nearly € 2bn of debt from various lenders in multiple rounds Grover has shown a way of separating startup and asset risk. In this episode, Mitja Sadar, former Senior Vice President Finance and Head of Debt Capital Markets at Grover, gives insights into Grover’s approach. Mitja explains the various stages, pitfalls and the interrelation betw...

Do PaaS models reduce overall resource consumption? Enhancing circularity is one motivation for starting PaaS. But PaaS does not necessarily deliver on that promise. It requires monitoring consequences and benchmarking them with other behaviours. In this episode, Ankita Das, PhD Researcher on Circular Business Models at Circular X at Maastricht University, explains the origin and character of rebo...

When is a business model considered circular? A fund with circularity in its name must answer this question. Andrew Shannon, Partner at Circularity Partners, gives us her answer. A benchmark market method is used to examine the behaviour of the portfolio company's customers. In addition, Andrew describes how the financing challenges of PaaS businesses can be overcome. This episode is the sixth in...

Funding the assets is a prominent challenge for PaaS businesses. Assets have to be prefinanced, as customers only pay a monthly few. Generally, three partners can provide support: venture capital investors, banks, and strategic partners, such as manufacturers. In this episode, Lennert van Mens provides a bank's perspective on a PaaS business, including the overall business model, the cashflow desi...

Running a Product-as-a-Service Business includes refurbishing products. It is not only a process in itself. It can also be another business model in itself. Philips created a symbiotic relationship between PaaS and Refurbishment. PaaS returns are refurbished and sold as refurbished products. And many more products that are not available as subscriptions can be bought as refurbished. In this episod...

Consumers are looking to adopt a circular economy, based on renting and buying second-hand. Anna Balez, founder and CEO of Lizee, shares her insights about consumer preferences with us. Customers demand solutions for their problems. Subscriptions can be one solution, but they are not the only one. This interview looks at the differences between renting and second-hand from a customer, operations,...

Never run out of ink - that is the promise of HP Instant Ink. This promise attracts millions of customers worldwide. Shuchir Bhatia, Global Product Manager for HP Instant Ink takes us on a journey to discover how HP runs this proposition on a global scale. Shuchir explains why HP chose a Pay-per-Month over a Pay-per-Use (or Pay per Page) plan and how the ink and the printer play together for HP In...

In this episode, Bert van Son, founder and spokesperson of MUD Jeans, presents the Lease-a-Jeans proposition. Launched already in 2013, this proposition is a key instrument for closing the loop. Bert shares the reasoning behind the proposition and explains major elements of it, like the one-time fee as a means to improve cash-flow. Moreover, we address key aspects and challenges of the circular ec...

This episode features Patrick Peter, Director at phiyond by adelphi. Patrick presents how phiyond supported Korozo in creating transparency about its level of circularity. The starting point was the change in the regulatory landscape. Patrick and his team needed to gather and process circularity data to meet upcoming reporting standards. He shares how the reporting effort triggered the ambition to...

This episode features Calle Medin, Vice President Sustainability at Husqvarna Group. Calle presents a process Husqvarna set up in 2019 to promote circular business ideas. The starting point is the strategic ambition of the management board. Calle and his team defined focus areas and decision criteria. He shares the different motivations of employees to submit ideas and how the selection committee...

This episode features Angela Hultberg, Global Sustainability Director at Kearney. She discusses the critical role of circular economy strategies in achieving sustainable business practices. She emphasizes the necessity of rethinking business models, products, and services from the ground up to integrate circularity effectively. Angela highlights the challenges of changing consumer behaviors and th...

This episode features Alexander Shevelov from Würth Group discussing their journey and strategies in integrating sustainability into business processes. Würth's approach is all about integrating internal and external stakeholders into the process, listening to their needs and giving them ownership. The conversation delves into the role of sustainability ambassadors, having top-management support a...

Many investors and companies struggle to balance profit and impact. Should we go for one at the expense of the other? Or can we combine the two? And if so, how do we translate this ambition into tangible goals and make them work in day-to-day operations? In this episode, Axel Berger, Chief Sustainability Officer at Haniel, shares how Haniel has profit and impact targets.

What do you do if you need to solve a problem you are not familiar with? You learn new skills. Or you ask for help. It’s the same for companies testing a new proposition. So, you have to decide what are the things you do internally and what are the things you ask others for support. In this episode, Robert Klauer tells us how vaude – a German outdoor equipment manufacturer– split the work for runn...

At running events, drinks are typically provided in disposable cups. That is a significant amount of waste. SCC events, the Berlin Marathon and Berlin Half-Marathon organizer, wants to change that. So they partnered with Cuna Products, Remondis, and WWF to pilot a reusable cup. Collaboration is essential to move towards a circular economy. This episode sheds light on the implications for the users...

From time to time, ingenious people sit in the laboratory and discover new technology, find new insights about how the world works, or how to improve the status quo. But how to turn that into practice? There might be plenty of possible applications in multiple markets. You cannot start with everything at the same time. How do you evaluate these options? How do you make a choice? In this episode, J...

What is the best legal entity to start a sustainable business? The way an organization is set up defines its modus operandi. Whether money is a means to an end or an end in itself is decided at that early moment. In this episode, Élie, co-founder of Commown, shares the rationale and details of running an organization as a cooperative in collective interest.

What does it take to reduce packaging waste? Re-usable packaging in e-commerce starts with customer information, checkout adaptations and needs to tackle a fundamental question: How does the packaging return? In this episode, Doris, founder of Hey Circle describes the steps necessary to switch to re-usable packaging.

Do you put planet over profit? Every organization answers this question, mostly implicitly in day-to-day decisions. It's the job of the leadership team to set priorities when it comes to planet and profit ambitions. In this episode, a leader of a purpose-driven startup founded by a stock-listed company shares his experience of balancing planet and profit ambitions.

How can you inform customers about the way in which you apply circularity? Many organizations invest a lot in their circular approach and want to share this with the public. In this episode, Silke from Urwahn tells us how a label can help convey circular efforts.

Building a marketplace requires growing two customer groups at the same time: The buyers and the sellers. Providing platform services that compete with the sellers' offerings adds another twist to the challenge. In this episode, Tobias Kronawitter, founder of kaputt.de, shares his experience in helping people extend the lifetime of smartphones, smartwatches, coffee machines, and game consoles by m...