We are starting the Year of the Dragon with our first monthly edition of EC.W's Circular Times.
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This month’s circular headline article is about Urban Mining.
As announced in the last edition, we started our "Advice from a Circular Creator" interview series. This time, we are showcasing UWin, a Taiwanese company from Taoyuan City. We sat down with Mr Leo Chang, General Manager of UWin Resource Regeneration Inc. Mr Chang has a very valuable advice for circular entrepreneurs.
We finish this edition with some observations about the EU's product passport and what it means in terms of opportunities for technology companies.
The April Edition of our Circular Times and the groundbreaking introduction of the Digital Product Passport, Part I.
Change is in the air, with the Digital Product Passport set to revolutionize how businesses operate within the European Market. This regulation promotes transparency in product compositions, fostering repairability and prolonging product lifespans. By embracing this transparency, companies will play a pivotal role in advancing the EU's sustainability goals outlined in its Circular Economy Action Plan.
As we conclude this edition, let's draw inspiration from a compelling quote by Malala. Which one resonates most with you and fuels your resilience during challenging times?
This month, we're revisiting the Digital Product Passport, this time with a focus on textiles. With the requirement for all companies entering the European market to adopt one by 2030, its significance cannot be overstated.
In our segment, "Advice from a Circular Creator," we feature Niccolò Cipriani, CEO of Rifò, an Italian entrepreneur leveraging local traditional artisans as suppliers. Perhaps unfamiliar to some, Prato in Tuscany is well-known in the fashion industry as Europe's textile hub.
Are you familiar with the Belgian Urban Miner & Manufacturer of Cathode Active Materials, Umicore? The company has a history spanning over 200 years, beginning on December 17, 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte granted Jean Dony control of the Vieille-Montagne mine in Moresnet, now located on the border between Belgium and Germany.
However, our choice to feature Umicore isn't due to its long history, but because they are one of the 11 partners within the 'Battery Pass Consortium".
In our interview with Dr Sven Jantzen, Director of Government Affairs, we delve into the consortium's role, Umicore's investment in battery recycling, the challenges associated with 'black mass,' and their commitment to establishing a European supply chain. Dr Jantzen also provides valuable insights on how entrepreneurs can support Umicore's initiatives.
Our July edition of Circular Times is dedicated to ISO Standards.
After five years of continuos effort, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published three new circular standards with two more under development. The goal is to support the transition to the circular economy.
In a world already filled with false claims and different measurement methods, ISO standards offer to all companies - regardless of the size - standardised definitions, measurement tools, and processes to generate trustworthy data.
To explore other ways to convey 'upcycling', The Circular Times visited Mr. Natan Jacquemin, a Circular Creator from Portugal. Natan is the founder and CEO of Nãm Mushrooms in Lisbon, a company that cultivates mushrooms - such as oyster and lion’s mane - using discarded coffee grounds.
In the September issue of Circular Times, we explored new circular opportunities due to the EU’s Restoration Law.
This regulation sets legally binding restoration targets for a wide range of ecosystems, aiming to restore 20% of the EU’s degraded ecosystems by 2030 with all ecosystems in need of restoration to be addressed by 2050. This schedule provides a focus on the most potential regulations in order to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters.
As with every change, we can either resist it or embrace it, especially as this new law will offer an array of opportunities for smart existing enterprises that act promptly and especially for entrepreneurs.
In this edition of Circular Times, we explore the financing challenges faced by circular entrepreneurs. Compared to companies identifying as cleantech, climate tech, or green tech, circular businesses attract significantly less capital. In this article, we clarify these terms and provide insights to help you position yourself more effectively in the market.
The topic of entrepreneurship ecosystems has been extensively covered in countless articles, often highlighting key players like Business Angels, Family Offices, and Venture Capitalists. At the heart of these discussions lies the entrepreneur-investor relationship, which is generally framed as a pathway to securing funding. Yet, there is a surprising lack of focus on the less-discussed side of this dynamic - when investors themselves may not be what they seem, harbouring hidden agendas that can jeopardise the entrepreneur’s goals.
This edition was inspired by a LinkedIn article exposing cases of fraudulent "family offices" operating from abroad. While we are not suggesting that you approach every potential investor with suspicion, we do advocate for a healthy dose of caution during negotiations. In short: take it with a grain of salt.
Cosmetics packaging is a significant contributor to environmental waste, with millions of tons of plastic, glass, and mixed materials discarded annually. The industry's reliance on single-use plastics, non-recyclable components, and excessive packaging exacerbates the problem.
In this edition, our featured Circular Creator is addressing this pressing problem head-on, paving the way for a more sustainable future in the beauty industry. His name is Chiwon Yi and his company BOTTLESS courageously tackles the crucial issue of plastic waste, or more precisely cosmetic packaging waste. I am sure you will find yourself surprised why Chiwon doesn’t worry that another company will copy his invention.
The pub version is also available: https://online.pubhtml5.com/aibts/giej/.
In today's world, the constant buzz about new, mind-boggling technological innovations and their IPOs might make it seem that we're living in an unprecedented era of entrepreneurial change.
However, as this month's Circular Times story highlights, our current exhilaration over so many of our recent entrepreneurial IPOs may not warrant such awe. Afterall, visionaries have been presenting their ideas and securing the support of investors for centuries! The only difference perhaps is that because of our current access to contemporary info technology we are more likely to become immediately aware of - and thus get fired up about - these innovations.
We hope that our Circular Times story of Mr Filippo Brunelleschi serves as a source of timeless inspiration and thereby encourages you to find your own unique path to success.
In 2019, a seemingly modest but baffling story caught public attention: it was a bicycle made from recycled Nespresso coffee pods! This was no ordinary bike - it was the Vélosophy bike, born from the creator in collaboration with Nespresso. The project was lauded not only by Nespresso itself, but also soon by many in the environmental community.
This story is the inspiration behind this month’s Circular Times topic.
As you will see, at the heart of this edition is a deceptively simple question: WHY? A question that, as you will discover, holds profound complexity.
To use the epub version, please use this link.
To watch the whole conversation with Dr Anne Birney that I mention in this edition, please use this link.
As you know, every challenge is an opportunity for an entrepreneur - and this edition’s featured Circular Entrepreneur embodies that spirit beautifully. We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Dozie Igweilo, Founder and CEO of QuadLoop Technologies, who developed a solar lantern capable of both providing light and charging phones. To say his story is inspiring would be an understatement.
Not only did Dozie create the lantern, but he was also inspired by our Udemy course "The Circular Economy – What and Where are the Opportunities for Entrepreneurs", to incorporate secondary materials into his design.
Our memorable interview with Dozie in Advice from a Circular Creator you can find here: https://lnkd.in/dcj9QArM. We’re sure you’ll find it just as uplifting as we did.
This edition of Circular Times is dedicated to a topic that deserves far more attention. We are referring to alloys.
Before you dismiss this topic as perhaps overly technical, we invite you to give this edition a quick read. In the circular economy, as you all know, we often speak in broad terms like primary and secondary materials. Yet, when secondary materials do make their way back into use, they are rarely pure or “clean.” That is to say, they’ve undergone treatments or transformations that can complicate their reintegration - and may even derail certain circular initiatives.
This is precisely why the “father” of the circular economy, Professor Walter Stahel, spoke to us in our very first ECW interview a while ago about not just the now familiar Rs (like Redesign and Refuse), but also the Ds - such as de-polymerisation, de-alloying, and de-construction. You can watch the whole interview here: https://www.entrepreneurcircle.world/inspiring-conversation-with-professor-walter-stahel.
In this spirit, this EC.W edition takes a deeper look at alloys and their significance for circularity.
#circulareconomy #secondarymaterials #alloys #circularopportunities
In this edition of Circular Times, we are covering a topic thoroughly - from the ground or bottom up so to speak - that impacts all of us.
I am referring to, our shoes.
Let us start with this interesting fact about traditional shoe production.
When the leather is cut – i.e., the useful surface of leather, which is tanned with chromium and other toxic metals - only around 75% of the surface can be used in shoes. The rest is waste that is considered hazardous and needs to be disposed of in a special way.
Where is the rest?
On our feet.
We didn’t know much about the problem with excessive, hazardous waste in the shoe industry until we sat down to interview the CEO of Miret d.o.o. Domagoj Boljar, Co-Founder with his brother Hrvoje, of a family-run shoe company from the small town of Belajski Malinci, near Karlovac in the interior of Croatia.
Admittedly, this is our longest edition yet. Trust me when we say though: It is worth your time!
This Circular Times Edition was inspired by our last interview with Mr Domagoj Boljar, CEO of Miret d.o.o. from Croatia, who illustrated how much time and energy he had to put into fundraising capital and, potentially, neglecting his daily business. Thus, he and we, are reminded that that “pacing, not panic, wins the race.” Fundraising in the circular economy can be uniquely challenging, and this month’s issue offers guidance to help founders navigate the fundraising marathon and avoid burning out.
This is not our first article on textile waste. Back in the May 2024 issue of Circular Times, we explored the upcoming Digital Product Passport and the hope that it might help curb some of the harmful side effects of so-called “fast fashion”.
As we highlighted then, textile production - especially cotton - is notoriously water-intensive. The dyeing process only compounds the problem, relying on toxic chemicals that contaminate water supplies even further.
This time, we travel to New Zealand, where Bernadette Casey (Textile Specialist) Deborah Crowe (Engineer) and Peter Thompson (Systems Specialist) founded UsedFULLY, a venture that applies a scientific lens to tackling textile waste.
The e-pub version: https://online.pubhtml5.com/aibts/mcjv/
In this edition of Circular Times, we revisit an issue that continues to be one of humanity’s greatest challenges: plastic pollution.
We take a closer look at why the recent Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) meeting in Geneva did not succeed - and, more importantly, what opportunities this creates for you as an aspiring entrepreneur.
As mentioned in our previous edition, we are staying with the topic of plastics because of its negative impact on the world in which we live, as well as, because of the sheer number of opportunities that are hidden in this challenge.
Just as a reminder: According to United Nations, more than 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year worldwide. Unfortunately, half of it is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 per cent is recycled. And these are just production statistics, without going into details about marine pollution, health impact or the lost value in discarded materials.
One company has a promising solution though: MacroCycle from Boston, MA, United States. As we happened to be at the same time in Dubai, we took the opportunity to sit down with Mr Stwart Peña Feliz to discuss how he and his co-founder Dr Jan-Georg Rosenboom are tackling the plastic challenge.
Because of the promising technology offered by MacroCycle, we will continue with our insightful interview with Stwart in our next November 2025 Newsletter. In part, we will address the challenge of supply chain security, investor rounds and much more.