Timberland pledges to achieve full circularity of its products by 2030
As climate action from all layers of society becomes ever more important by the day, it has been encouraging to see an increasing number of leaders from different industries step up their efforts and do more to tackle this urgent global challenge. One of the latest companies to set an ambitious Read More...
Patagonia’s ReCrafted collection is giving worn-out garments a second life
There’s already something sad about an article of clothing reaching the end of its life. But throwing it away after wearing it for so many times just doesn’t feel right, especially since you know that it will most probably end up in a landfill and pollute the environment. Patagonia is trying Read More...
Giving digital IDs to clothing could help the fashion industry cut waste
The circular economy strives to be waste-free, by actively engaging in reuse, repair, recycling, remanufacturing, and resale. But for the fashion industry, a waste-free standard is hard to live up to. Currently, the business model supports a one-way supply chain: manufacture, distribute, and Read More...
A look into IKEA’s quest to become fully circular by 2030
Last year, as Ikea began testing a furniture rental program in some markets, it also began taking old furniture back from customers, so it could refurbish old sofas and resell them instead of having them sent to landfills. It’s just one aspect of the company’s plans to become fully circular Read More...
The Optimist View: Cultivating a Circular Economy
“There is a great need for the introduction of new values in our society, where bigger is not necessarily better, where slower can be faster, and where less can be more.” – Gaylord Nelson On one of our regular family Zoom calls, my aunt asked me “what habits have you adopted during Read More...
How Lush Cosmetics embodies the spirit of the circular economy
When Lush Cosmetics began in Poole, England in 1995, they didn’t have the resources for fancy wrappings, so they would hand-pour soap into upcycled drain pipes or lunch pails and then cut slices for customers to order. Now, almost 30 years later, the brand is highly successful, but they have Read More...
A look inside the quest for endlessly circular plastics
The Eastman chemical plant in Kingsport, Tennessee, appears to be just another chemical manufacturing facility. Sprawling over 900 acres are hundreds of buildings and countless miles of pipes, conveyors, distillers, cooling towers, valves, pumps, compressors, and controls. It doesn’t exactly look Read More...
These sustainable tiles are made from old toilets, and they’re beautiful
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Or, in this case, one man’s toilet is another man’s bathroom tile. Kohler, a prominent manufacturer of plumbing products, is launching into the business of recycled goods by producing bathroom tiles made of discarded clay from the toilet making Read More...
Plastic waste could soon be used to pave the roads you drive on
Last year China stopped accepting much of the world’s recyclable waste. Since then, many countries have been faced with the challenge of how to deal with their own trash. In Australia, however, recycling company Close the Loop has figured out a way to divert that trash from landfills and the Read More...
These machines transform discarded sea food waste into bioplastics
A quartet of designers have developed a series of machines that turn seafood waste into a biodegradable and recyclable bioplastic. What the machines do is they transform the shells of crustaceans into a paper-like material that could act as a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics. Each one Read More...