Tech For Good Talks: Circular Economy

At this point in our collective concern over the growing climate crisis, we know what needs to be done but it’s an entirely different matter on how to make that necessary change happen. We see the immense power that technology yields in this battle and are the biggest proponents of utilising it. This holds especially true when it comes to the circular economy model.

But what exactly is a circular economy?

Glad you asked! A circular economy is part of the solution to breaking the mould of our current linear system where products are just made, used and binned off. In a circular economy, products, services and systems are designed to maximise their value and minimise waste. ​It’s an all-encompassing approach to life and business, where everything has value and nothing is wasted. Simply put, it can be explained as ‘make, use, remake’ as opposed to the current system that is wreaking havoc on our environment.

The Ellen Macarthur Foundation does an excellent job of explaining it further here

Good thing technology is up to the task of helping do just that!

And that is exactly why we wanted to focus a webinar around this extremely important topic. We wanted to take a look at just how vital technology will be in accelerating towards a circular economy, and with the overhaul that needs to happen, not only in the manufacturing infrastructure but behaviour change of the consumer. This cannot be solved by one person or one business, it is a collective effort, which is exactly why we launched Ignite, as we believe technology can support sustainable living and create a better future for all.

While we know our way around technology, there are so many other industries that are in our blind spot, so we brought in the experts to give us their industry know-how and to break it down just how doable this seemingly impossible task is! So our amazing hosts Rich and Gabby, set out to dive in and learn all we could from our panel of experts, including… 

• Jo Chidley, Founder of Beauty Kitchen
• Steve Haskew, Head of Sustainability and Social Leadership at Circular Computing
• Liv Montuori, Sustainable Fashion Consultant

First, we started with what the circular economy meant to each of our panelists, as well as the wider industry they work in.

Liv Montuori, a sustainable fashion consultant, kicked off this topic by stating how much needed to be done in the fashion industry, with every process being rethought. Consumers are unaware of what they are buying, most of the time, so this needs to be thought about in the design stage and more emphasis to be placed on the impact.

Steve Haskew, Head of Sustainability and Social Leadership at Circular Computing, mentioned that their big driver is to get people to think about their consumption habits and by reusing what has already been made in order to preserve resources and have a significant effect on climate.

Jo Chidley, Founder of Beauty Kitchen, agreed and added that the industry they work in, health and beauty, is not known for sustainability, which is why they set up Beauty Kitchen. However, as their products are FMCG, they can bring the circular economy into peoples lives, without them even realising.