Ken discusses why platform cooperatives and collaboration opportunities in circular economy are seen as a key in moving towards a circular economy. He also talks about policy issues such as how finance will need to be more patient and why there needs to be a change in taxation to tip us towards a truly circular economy.

We are now moving towards an economy where utilisation of assets rather than selling of products becomes important. Ken explains how we are shifting from products to services and cites Philip’s offering of lighting-as-a-service and Bundle's washing machine and MudJean’s clothing rentals as examples of moving away from selling products to providing a service which means making things last longer.

Ken shares that nature works with a limited palette of material and there is a new science of using form to find new functions in biomimicry and at a materials level we should move towards simplicity.  He provides examples of Brazil’s Leontino Balbo Junior who is scaling regenerative agriculture, and Lula farms in Canada which is using rooftop aquaponics for urban farming and London’s own Winnow who reduce food wastage from restaurants.

The podcast was recorded over the phone, so apologies for the comparatively poor audio quality.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation aim is to accelerate the transition to the circular economy.  

Ken Webster tweets @CircularEconKen

Business Week described John Elkington as "a dean of the corporate responsibility movement", a poll placed him in the top 5 of global CSR leaders and he created the concept of the Triple Bottom Line: he truly is the sage of sustainability. ​

In this episode, John talks about his personal journey over the decades pushing for sustainable development.
He discusses his work bridging the gap between activist NGO campaigners and those mainstream businesses looking to be responsible.

During the conversation he shares insight from the Volans report “Breakthrough Business Models: Exponentially, More Social, Lean, Integrated, and Circular.” John suggests that the sustainability industry needs to disrupt itself and how we need to think in much longer terms. A serial sustainability entrepreneur and thinker for 40 years, he started his first business, ENDS, in 1978 (which is still going strong), founded two high profile consultancies, SustainAbility and Volans, is the author of 19 books and is on the boards of 20 organisations. ​

Head over to Volans to learn more about Breakthrough Business Models.
John Elkington tweets at @VolansJohn

In this episode, Ryan explains how biomimicry inspired Aeropowder is exploiting the unique insulation properties of feathers for last mile food delivery and getting rid of synthetic insulation. Ryan shares the interesting background behind meeting cofounder Elena Dieckmann at Imperial College and what lead them to forming their company.

Ryan also talks about his journey from being a PhD researcher in air pollution and talking to astronauts in his Masters to figuring out the entrepreneurial challenges of working with industry partners and the importance of learning by doing.

Head over to Aeropowder to learn more about this new circular economy product.
Ryan Robinson tweets at @Aeropowder