Watch this:
The Circular Economy Show (2020)
Explaining Circular Economy: Best Real-Life Examples | Explore the Circular Economy S2 Ep1
EMF
About 35 minutes – this is one episode from two series’ worth of programmes produced by EMF (with the third series about to launch).
Learning materials ‘handout’
w17: CE II – examples and applications [pdf]
(there is no recorded audio to go with this – it’s pretty self-evident and I want you to watch the show and then delve into the resources below)
Read up on these two specific examples
Ikea
Ikea’s commitment to sustainability, their statement on the circular economy and their buy back service.
There is some background in:
Hickey, S (2020), Secondhand no longer second-best for UK’s ‘circular economy’ consumers, The Observer, Nov 22nd
Patagonia
Segran, E (2021), Patagonia has had enormous success with upcycled clothing. Could other brands follow?, Fast Company, Jan 11th
Patagonia’s intent to change the clothing industry is spelled out in Buy Less, Demand More, and in their WornWear (as discussed in Segran, above)
Explore the EMF case studies library
EMF has a wealth of case studies in their library (as mentioned in the Show).
Some of my picks:
Desso – Cradle to Cradle design of carpets
Ecovative – Growing alternatives to petroleum-based packaging [ See also Eben Bayer’s TED talk – Are mushrooms the new plastic? ]
Biopak – Closing the loop on single-use food packaging
Gerrard Street – A more circular music experience *mentioned in the show
Toast Ale – Brewing beer from surplus bread *mentioned in the show
Kaiyo (formerly Furnishare) – ?The final stop for quality furniture
Riversimple – A mobility revolution in Wales (I’ve been following the development and evolution of Riversimple for the last decade)
