DeepSummary
In this podcast episode, Katie Welland interviews Jim Goddin, Head of Circular Economy at Thinkstep Anzac, a sustainability consultancy. Jim shares his experience working with circular economy issues over the past decade and his involvement in developing the Material Circularity Indicator with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. He explains the importance of measuring circularity and how most people misunderstand the true essence of the circular economy, often equating it solely with recycling.
Jim emphasizes that the real value lies in the inner loops of the circular economy, such as reuse, remanufacturing, and durability. He discusses the need to design products for longevity, modularity, and adaptability to changing consumer preferences. Jim also highlights the significance of critical raw materials and the opportunities the circular economy presents in mitigating supply risks and price volatility.
Throughout the conversation, Jim shares insights on the challenges and trade-offs companies face in transitioning to a circular economy. He stresses the importance of considering the entire system, from energy sources to reverse logistics, and the need for businesses to rethink their models and embrace iconic design to foster long-lasting product love.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The circular economy is about more than just recycling; it focuses on maximizing value recovery through reuse, remanufacturing, and durability.
- Measuring circularity is essential for tracking progress and comparing different products and systems.
- Designing for longevity, modularity, and adaptability is crucial to foster long-lasting product love and enable a true circular economy.
- Mitigating risks associated with critical raw materials is a key driver for adopting circular economy principles.
- Transitioning to a circular economy requires rethinking entire systems, from energy sources to reverse logistics.
- Iconic design plays a vital role in fostering long-lasting product love and enabling the inner loops of the circular economy.
- Traceability and supply chain transparency are important enablers for a circular economy, but must balance confidentiality concerns.
- The circular economy offers opportunities to address economic, environmental, and social concerns simultaneously.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “If you take all of those together, that's a lot of metrics to track for a product. And there's a lot of metrics to try and compare from one product to the next. It's also difficult if you're comparing completely different ways of delivering the same service.“ by Jim Goddin
- “We have to love the designs for a lot longer, otherwise people will scrap them before we actually get to use that extra durability.“ by Jim Goddin
- “If we're concerned with things like the supply of critical materials, and we're using circular economy as a tool for that then we really need to be designing to use components containing those elements as part of durable products or as part of components that can be reused directly without having to go through recycling, because recycling doesn't really help us to deliver that decoupling from those risks.“ by Jim Goddin
- “If blockchain means that your competitor can see who you're buying your parts from, that's not very attractive because they might buy your supplier up and you would no longer have access to those parts. On the other hand, if you can use blockchain to query what's in a part that was provided by your supplier, supplier, supplier without knowing who they were, that's very valuable and really useful for things like circularity calculations and for conflict mineral reporting and hazardous substances reporting.“ by Jim Goddin
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Episode Information
Getting In the Loop: Circular Economy | Sustainability | Closing the Loop
Katherine Whalen
6/21/21
- Circular Sectors Navigator E-Book
- Linkedin Group: Getting in the Loop Podcast
- Resources and links discussed in this episode are available at gettinginthelooppodcast.com.
Today I’m thrilled to introduce you to Jim Goddin. Jim is Head of Circular Economy at thinkstep-anz, a sustainability consultancy based in Australia and New Zealand. Jim was one of the first people I met when I started learning about the circular economy back in 2012. In this episode of the Getting in the Loop circular economy podcast, Jim shares what he’s learned having worked with circular economy issues over the past 10 years. Jim explains what most people get wrong about circular economy, the importance of measuring circularity, and what it was like to work with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on the development of their Material Circularity Indicator. We also discuss his expertise in critical raw materials and the one thing he thinks all companies should know - but likely don’t! Will you know it?
About Today’s Guest
Jim Goddin is Head of Circular Economy at thinkstep-anz. He specialises in circular economy systems design and has worked alongside the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for much of the past decade leading and co-authoring the widely adopted Material Circularity Indicator methodology. He has worked extensively on the development of eco-design tools and the assessment of business risks resulting from critical materials and hazardous substances legislation.
Resources and links discussed in this episode are available at gettinginthelooppodcast.com.