Resources & Publications

Circle Lab invites the global community to tackle humanity’s biggest challenges with circular solutions by applying the most up-to-date knowledge on the circular economy

After a successful launch in March 2018, Circle Lab introduces a new product feature today: the world's biggest circular economy database, openly accessible and searchable for everyone. This is the result of a joint effort with many partners, geared towards making the best knowledge on the circular economy available to the public globally. The goal? To encourage anyone who wants to support the transition towards a circular economy to contribute their know-how to an ever-growing knowledge base. This is happening within a thriving community of users who are aggregating, connecting and sharing their expertise on the circular economy in order to make it available to everyone. In short, a "wikipedia for circularity".

The future of impact is digital, and the circular economy is 1,000 steps ahead

Thousands of cities and businesses worldwide are striving to adopt the circular economy. However, they often face the same problem: limited access to expertise, structured information, and knowledge about the circular economy, as well as how to measure and implement circular strategies.

“Information on the circular economy is currently spread across many organisations and industries or gated behind members-only communities. This defeats the very basis of a circular approach and makes it very hard to disseminate, and even harder to implement such strategies. By bringing all circular economy insights, best practices, and research for the first time into one place in Circle Lab for everyone to openly explore and learn from, we want to break down these information silos and accelerate knowledge transfers across sectors and borders.”Shyaam Ramkumar, Knowledge & Innovation Manager at Circle Economy 

Fast growth towards the biggest library that helps to accelerate solutions

Today, Circle Lab is introducing over 1,000 case studies and examples of the circular economy. This number is set to grow quickly: the platform will soon also host another 500 case studies specific to the textiles sector, as well as all 3,000 initiatives identified throughout the Circular Economy Mapping Week, hosted by Circular Economy Club and supported by Circle Economy.

“The Circle Lab community is growing rapidly with soon 3.000 case studies available. Add we expect more to come. It is a solution and action oriented community that is dedicated to solve linear issues with circular solutions as the circular economy will be the new normal. In the future everyone will be able to upload case studies and initiatives. In order to make the best information available, we will also put in place a review and quality assurance process with topic experts. It is all about a good balance between quality and quantity" Harald Friedl, CEO at Circle Economy 

Insights from 6 months of testing: most popular case studies previewed are in tech, textile and construction sectors

Circle Economy first opened access to a beta version of the platform in August 2017. The testing yielded interesting insights and has already brought together over 4,500 users who have used and contributed to the online space. The early initiative also spurred collaborations with many other like-minded organisations willing to collaborate and scale positive impact. Among these partners are: fetch, Renewable Matter, the Circular Economy Club, Amsterdam Smart City, and Circul’R:

"Partnerships are key to our mission to scale circular impact. It is all about community and problem solving. We invite all change-makers that share our vision for an open and inclusive circular economy to join us on this journey."Katie Hans, Project Manager Circle Lab

Comments from some of our partners:

“The circular economy is a key lever in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and we strongly believe in opening up communication channels and access to knowledge in order to accelerate change. We’re excited to be sharing the innovations we’ve curated on our own platform, fetch, on the Knowledge Hub and hope this will inspire other organisations to join us in building an open and sustainable economy.” Alison Azaria, Founder at fetch

“We are proud to be supporting the development of a digital infrastructure for the broader circular economy community to benefit from and engage with. Online tools are a unique opportunity to foster collaboration and scale impact on a global level, and we’re excited to see openness and transparency drive Circle Lab’s growth.”Margriet Schreuders, Head of Charities, Nationale Postcode Loterij

Circle Lab adds to a more transparent and fact-based approach to the circular economy transition. After a test phase that kept the team busy over the last 6 months, the product was further refined, and insights from usage data that emerged clearly show:

• Most read were case studies on the potential impact of emerging exponential technologies on the circular economy, such as blockchain;
• Second on the list was the textiles industry, with case studies from larger brands like Adidas as well as circular innovators like Repack topping the most read list
• Very much sought after were also examples from the built environment sector, which accurately reflects the importance of the sector as a potential driver for circular impact (as shown in the Circularity Gap Report)

“Through user insights we aimed to improve the usability and refine the framework that we use to explain and make sense of the circular economy. It has made the product much more accessible and we will therefore hopefully see more impact in practice.”Shyaam Ramkumar, Knowledge & Innovation Manager at Circle Economy

The next step for Circle Lab – Stay tuned!

Circle Lab will continue to expand and introduce new services. Next month, Circle Assessment, a digital tool for businesses to assess their current state and explore circular strategies, will also be available on Circle Lab. Circle Assessment was developed and tested by Circle Economy over the last 2 years and has already helped over 100 organisations worldwide get started on and accelerate their circular journeys.

"The approach of Circle Lab is inspired by inclusiveness, transparency and openness. We hope to be able to offer more tools to the Circle Lab community - developed by any partner or contributor who wants to make them available on the platform in order to make the circular economy a reality in the near future"Katie Hans, Project Manager Circle Lab

Ways to get involved

Join the Circle Lab community and explore over 1,000 case studies, articles, and reports on the circular economy here: www.circle-lab.com/knowledge-hub. To learn more about partnership opportunities for your organisation, visit www.circle-lab.com/about or get in touch with us at hello@circle-lab.com[cta link="https://circle-lab.com/knowledge-hub"]Start exploring[/cta]

For queries, please contact:

Katie HansCircle Lab Project Managerkatie@circle-economy.comCircle Lab has been made possible in part by a grant from the eBay Foundation; a corporate advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Note to Editors

About Circle Lab

Circle Lab is an open access innovation platform where the circular economy is being explored and implemented. It is initiated by Circle Economy and is growing into a multi stakeholder, integrated suite of online solutions that streamlines the circular innovation process for businesses and cities around the world. By breaking down information silos and fostering open source collaboration, Circle Lab aims to boil down the complexity of the circular economy and fuel cross-industry and cross-border collaboration.Directly driven and informed by the online community’s needs, Circle Lab is a place that inspires global and local communities to:

• Learn about specific business strategies and policy instruments that can enable the transition to a circular economy
• Explore over 1,000 case studies by circular economy strategy, policy instrument, impact area, location, or industry and sector
• Contribute their own initiatives to the platform and learn from one another
• Collaborate on circular economy challenges and incubate the circular solutions that emerge

About Circle Economy

At Circle Economy, we believe in a visionary future for our planet — one in which we do not have to compromise in order to achieve economic, social, and environmental prosperity. As an impact organisation, we connect and empower a global community to create the conditions for systemic transformation towards a circular economy. Our mission is to empower a global community of businesses, cities and governments to accelerate the transition to the circular economy through practical and scalable insights and solutions that address humanity's greatest challenges.

About the circular economy

Circularity is an emerging concept that provides new business strategies and economic policies to create value again and again. In a circular economy, materials and products are used to their fullest potential and are continuously reused in a system that is waste-free. By making efficient use of our resources, the circular economy aims to achieve inclusive economic, social and environmental prosperity, all within the boundaries of our planet.

Three circular solutions – developed by over 60 people from 13 countries across the world – are set to help transform Glasgow’s thriving events industry.Circular Glasgow, a joint initiative from Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Zero Waste Scotland has announced the winning solutions to the first challenge hosted on Circle Lab. Also partnered by Scottish Event Campus and the Glasgow Convention Bureau and Major Events team at Glasgow Life, the challenge asked citizens and companies from cities across the world how local businesses can improve the economic, environmental and social legacy of major city events and conferences.The three winning ideas include a deposit-based reuse system for food and drink containers, circular designs for event marketing and branding, and a scheme that will repurpose organic waste into energy and fertilisers. Circular Glasgow is delighted that the SEC has pledged to continue its support, acting as lead incubation partner in piloting the implementation of the winning solutions.[caption id="attachment_14547" align="alignnone" width="1024"]

The SECC complex, SSE Hydro and Clyde Auditorium
Admiral Fallow, local talent[/caption]An open invitation is now being made to city venues, SMEs, entrepreneurs, consultants and investors that interested in collaborating and sharing relevant expertise to ensure these solutions are successfully implemented.The winning solutions evolved from a month long online crowdsourcing effort, culminating in ten solutions that helped to envision what a truly circular events space could look like.Circle Lab, an online platform supported by eBay Foundation and powered by Circle Economy, is designed to engage and educated a global community to solve universal challenges with circular solutions.The next phase of the challenge now aims to translate the open source concepts that emerged from Circle Lab into actionable and measurable pilot projects.Alison McRae, Senior Director of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: ‘Glasgow is world renowned for its major events and this Circle Lab challenge has generated a number of solutions on a global platform which can benefit our business community. They are about introducing new ways of doing business – with potential to give a real competitive advantage - and are also better for our city. Alongside the SEC, we are inviting businesses who are involved in, or benefit from events and conferences in the city to come forward and take advantage of these open source ideas. The pace of change is daily and there is a real opportunity for Glasgow to lead the way on this.’

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said:“I am delighted by the winning solutions of this unique challenge, uncovering truly circular ideas to transform the thriving events industry in Glasgow. Already a leading city in hosting events, these innovative solutions will help to maximise the potential of resources and could see Glasgow leading the way in developing new business models to deliver sustainable events.“I’m delighted that our partnership with Glasgow Chamber of Commerce continues to provide a hotbed for this kind of thinking. This initiative shows that the circular economy can benefit a broad range of sectors and provide the new businesses opportunities we need as the world changes.”Harald Friedl, CEO at Circle Economy, said: “In four short weeks, Circle Lab brought together over 200 contributions from 60+ people hailing from 13 different countries, and another 1,000 were following the challenge online, contributing on social media, and reaching out to us personally throughout the challenge. But simply dreaming up a circular world isn’t enough, which is why we’re so excited about the incubation phase, where we’ll be working together with both the Circle Lab and the local Glasgow communities on moving beyond intent and bringing our collective vision to life.”The next phase of the challenge is a unique opportunity for other venues and SMES with expertise in this field to come forward and position themselves as front-runners, on a global stage, in the field of the circular economy by contributing to the incubation process. Depending on the outcome, teams working on solution based pilot projects will have the opportunity to showcase their work at the Circular Economy Scotland Hotspot 2018 - which over 300 of the world’s leading decision-makers, trade representatives, investors and circular economy entrepreneurs are expected to attend.The interaction between local and global communities that the Circle Lab platform affords will continue throughout the incubation phase and will enable all participants, both in-person and online, to benefit from global insights and to engage with and support local stakeholders in the process.To get involved, contact the Circular Glasgow team at circularglasgow@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com or visit www.circularglasgow.com[hr] Circular Glasgow complements Zero Waste Scotland’s and the Scottish Government's nationwide support for SMEs to develop circular economy business ideas, including its £18million Circular Economy Investment Fund and Circular Economy Business Support Service. Both are supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the £73million Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Accelerator Programme.Circle Lab has been made possible in part by a grant from the eBay Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The World is only 9% Circular

by Harald FriedlWith over 90% of the raw materials used globally not cycled back into the economy, our planet is left with a massive strain on its natural resources and climate that needs to be urgently relieved. What has got us where we are today, in every sense, is the linear economy.Over decades, even centuries, since the boom of the Industrial Revolution, it has delivered tremendous living standards, wealth and comfortable lives to some people, in some parts of the world, at certain times. It has done so, though, at a high cost. That cost continues to be extracted from the planet and many of the people on it, with neither the gain nor pain distributed equally. Embedded deep within the “Take-Make-Waste,” tradition of the linear economy lies a toxic cocktail of negative consequences, ranging from social inequality to depletion of natural resources, environmental pollution and worsening of the risks and effects of climate change.Our world economy is only 9.1% circular, leaving a massive “Circularity Gap”This alarming statistic was the main output of the first Circularity Gap Report, in which we, at Circle Economy, launch a metric for the circular state of the planet. The Circularity Gap Report provides a fact-based framework to measure and monitor progress in bridging the gap, year after year.Being able to track and target performance via the Global Circularity Metric will help us engage in uniform goal-setting and guide future action in the most impactful way. The report presents a detailed metabolism visual showing how main resource groups satisfy key societal needs, such as housing, mobility and nutrition. It also presents the leaks in the system with an overview of what happens to resources after use in the economy.In truth, momentum is already building towards the adoption of circular economic models. We are witnessing circular economy strategies being embedded within businesses and adopted into government policies. On the global level, two recent examples of international collaboration, in particular, have accelerated the mainstream political and business agenda: The Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To measure economic sustainability only from an environmental perspective is to miss the point and misunderstand the purpose. By definition, managing an economy is the art and science of “how we run our global household.” An economy should be designed and run to the needs of the participants of the household, provide stability, keep societies together and the household going for future generations. In short, any successful economic model must meet the needs of the society it serves, not merely manage responsibly the natural resources it uses – it is a matter of people and planet, together. The circular economy is, therefore, an action agenda with measurable impact framework that extends beyond the remit of mere resource efficiency. As a multi-stakeholder model, its systemic approach boosts capacity and capability to serve societal needs, by embracing and endorsing the best humankind has to offer: the power of entrepreneurship, innovation and collaboration.Today’s Take-Make-Waste economic model is not fit for purpose. Embedded in this tradition of the linear economy lies a toxic cocktail of negative consequences. We now call upon businesses and governments to take leadership to develop an action agenda and contribute to the global targets set in the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. We have identified 4 steps to take action in bridging the circularity gap through leadership and action: 1) Build a global coalition for action; 2) Develop a global target and action agenda; 3) Translate global targets into local pathways for circular change; 4) Improve our understanding of how different levers for circular change affect aspects such as material saving, value retention and climate mitigation.Closing the circularity gap will reduce income inequality and improve access to basic needs and opportunities. In other words, the pursuit of the circular economy is a way to create an economy that works for everybody. The circular economy is a positive, dynamic and interconnected solutions-based framework: it builds on key human qualities, such as creativity, collaboration and entrepreneurship; and is a roadmap towards achieving the SDGs and a powerful tool in the fight against human-made climate change.This article was originally published in Renewable Matter Feb-March 2018

March 30, 2018, Amsterdam

Building on the successes of research that measured circular employment in cities in the Netherlands, Circle Economy and EHERO continue their partnership to investigate the impact of circular economy strategies on cities and their job creation potential. The project is supported by the Goldschmeding Foundation, a philanthropic foundation, with a key focus on people, work and economy.The 1-year project aims to enable city officials to better integrate circular economy strategies into their policy agendas. To carry out the systemic changes that the circular economy calls for and to ensure that policymakers and governments know how and where to implement the circular economy, EHERO and Circle Economy aim to uncover: The effects of circular economy strategies on employment in cities and what this means for labour market needs.

"Living in the era of urbanisation, cities across the globe have put employment and related skills high on their agendas. We see cities as central drivers in bridging the gap to a circular economy with enough jobs for its citizens. Therefore, insights on the future employment effects of circular policies are key drivers in defining strategies of a city"Annerieke Douma, Director of Program and Business Development at Circle Economy

The Circle Cities Dashboard ultimately will provide policymakers with insights into available circular strategies so that they will be better equipped to adopt them. Provide a methodology to model employment effects of circular economy strategies; and increase the understanding of skills gaps that might emerge in the transition to the circular economy. The first results of the project will be expected later this year.

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 The Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI), Circle Economy and Fashion for Good have announced that they will form a partnership to evolve the current AMFI MA Fashion Enterprise Creation (MA FEC), launched in 2016, into the world's first master's degree focused on circular fashion entrepreneurship. 

The MA FEC programme aims to inspire and equip fashion entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs with the skills to build purpose-driven fashion businesses with a societal, cultural or environmental mission at their core. This master shall build on the core belief that profound change is needed in fashion education in order to safeguard the long-term future of the fashion industry. Leslie Holden, Head of design and of the Master of Fashion Enterprise explains:“Fashion is one of the most polluting industries on earth and this is neither sustainable nor acceptable. At the same time, it’s also one of the most creative, lucrative and engaging industries. Therein lies fashion’s unique responsibility and opportunity. We need to rethink how we create, design, produce, sell and use clothing, so that the industry can be a force for good and act respectfully to the world.”The Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI) is the largest fashion institute in the Netherlands and has an international reputation for sustainability. The AMFI 'Reality School' concept drives innovation within all their programmes to accommodate and respond rapidly to industry challenges and collaborate to bring change. It is for this reason, that AMFI has begun to integrate the circular economy strategy in the foundations of its Reality School. To emphasize this commitment, the Master in Fashion Enterprise Creation has been chosen by AMFI as the ideal platform to challenge the industry norms. Partnering and collaborating with industry specialists, Fashion for Good and Circle Economy, is at the heart of the success and together they can build for a better future.

"Education can no longer shy away from the vast and damaging impact that the fashion industry has and must equip the next generation of fashion professionals with the values, perspectives, knowledge (and audacity!) needed to mend this ship we have set sail on, or to build a smarter, vehicle for change. The AMFI Masters aims to do just that - and Circle Economy are honoured and excited to be part of this crucial development”

Gwen Cunningham, lead of the Circle Economy textiles team

Together, the partners aim to bring together a multi-disciplinary and international class of students, who all share in the pursuit of re-designing the fashion industry and becoming a global force for good. The programme will provide students with a strong foundation in business research, practical entrepreneurial skills, and training in all the essential components needed to develop innovative fashion concepts. This multidisciplinary focus will enable students to turn their dream - of playing a positive role in changing the fashion industry - into a reality.

About the Amsterdam Fashion InstituteThe Amsterdam Fashion Institute is the largest fashion institute in the Netherlands, teaching on all aspects of the fashion chain. Students can choose from 3 Bachelor programmes: Fashion & Design, Fashion & Management or Fashion & Branding. In addition, AMFI provides a two-year Master in Fashion Enterprise Creation. In this fast-moving industry, where fashion is in perpetual change, AMFI provides guidance and expertise in establishing more sustainable fashion brands using a ‘Reality School’ concept. Together, a group of highly skilled educators and industry professionals, guide these aspiring fashion professionals in developing skills and aptitudes that can be a force for good in the fashion world. For further information contact: Leslie Holden at l.t.holden@hva.nl

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On April 5, 2018, the city of Bilbao and the surrounding territory of Bizkaia presented the results of the Circle City Scan, a visual roadmap with an analysis and identification of impactful and tangible opportunities to spark the circular transition within the city and the territory. Spain’s first Circle City Scan was initiated through a consortium composed of Circle Economy, Innobasque, Bilbao Ekintza and BEAZ in collaboration with Aclima, Ihobe and Inèdit.

Six circular strategies ‍

Through an extensive analysis of the economic and political landscape as well as resource flows of the territory, the metal, restaurant and wholesale sectors were identified to be the most influential in the realisation of a circular Bilbao-Bizkaia. Combined, they provide over 137.000 jobs (28%), add €8 Billion to the local economy and are responsible for 17% of total resource use. Building upon this, the Circle City Scan creates a Circular Vision for the territory; providing 6 strategies that fundamentally change the flow of materials and resources through the city. The vision highlights the interconnectivity between the sectors to demonstrate how circular strategies can build upon one-another to boost employment and strengthen the Bizkaian economy.

The restaurant, wholesale and metal sectors are best positioned to transition towards the circular economy

‍A circular economy is created through action. Recognising this, the visual roadmap provides a practical and scalable roadmap to implement 6 pilot projects that have the highest transformative potential. For example, what better way to re-vitalise Bilbao’s historic metal sector as a high-tech hub for the future, than through the 3D printing of metal components, in a process known as ‘Additive Manufacturing’. Due to the lighter environmental footprint and possibilities of remanufacturing, Additive Manufacturing can be a powerful tool in transitioning the Bizkaian metal sector towards a circular economy.

“Now is the time to bring these six projects to reality. [...] We believe there is a big opportunity to make a more efficient use of resources, create jobs and growth, and develop new innovative solutions and business models, so we are willing to see how the projects jump into the next step!” - Lola Elejalde, Foresight and Internationalization Manager, Innobasque.

The strategies proposed in the report present a clear way forward for the city and the territory. To ensure the implementation of pilot projects, the next step of the collaborative project is to bring together local stakeholders to create a circular ecosystem and further propel the transition towards a circular economy.

“With this visual roadmap, Bilbao-Bizkaia starts to position itself as a frontrunner in the transition towards circularity. They are now in a prime position to capitalise on the energy of the consortium partners, to drive the implementation of innovative circular business models that operate within the planetary boundaries of our planet.” - Annerieke Douma, Director Program and Business Development, Circle Economy.

From post-industrial economy to an innovative circular hotspot

‍Rapidly re-inventing itself as a high-tech, trade and service-oriented economy, Bilbao-Bizkaia recognises the circular economy as a vital component in creating a competitive, healthy and sustainable future for the territory. By applying innovative circular strategies, companies can create new value by keeping resources in circulation for as long as possible and utilising resources, once considered waste, as inputs in a new cycle. The circular economy promises to open up new economic opportunities; boosting GDP and employment and, ultimately, create a more future-proof and resilient city and territory.

“The Bilbao-Bizkaia Circular project has allowed us to approach a methodology that helps identify market niches with high potential for circularity and to identify specific opportunities.”- Ainara Basurko Urkiri, Director General BEAZ.

Today the city of Bilbao, and the surrounding territory of Bizkaia, present the results of the Circle City Scan, a visual roadmap with an analysis and identification of impactful and tangible opportunities to spark the circular transition within the city and the territory. Spain’s first Circle City Scan is initiated through a consortium composed of Circle Economy, Innobasque, Bilbao Ekintza and BEAZ in collaboration with Aclima, Ihobe and Inèdit.

Today, with generous support from eBay Foundation, we are launching Circle Lab, an online platform that utilises the power of the crowd to solve universal challenges with circular solutions.

“Circle Lab is an ideation platform that leverages and combines the power of crowdsourcing with circular economy expertise, in an open access environment, to create circular solutions. If you are a problem solver, circular enthusiast, policy maker or finance specialist - Circle Lab is the place to make a real impact,"- Harald Friedl, CEO of Circle Economy

The circular economy is a concept that provides new business strategies and economic policies to create value again and again and aims to achieve inclusive economic, social and environmental prosperity within the planet’s boundaries. The launch of Circle Lab follows the news that the global economy is only 9.1% circular and that the current linear system of production is failing people and the planet.

“eBay has been at the heart of the circular economy since its founding over 20 years ago. The eBay Foundation believes that by using the power of technology to bring people together, the circular economy can help fuel the future of commerce. We are proud to support Circle Lab, a platform that accelerates creative problem-solving and entrepreneurial action towards a more circular economy,”- Amy Millington, President of eBay Foundation

During the past five years, we have worked on hundreds of business cases, and supported businesses, cities and regions in imagining a new "circular future". After bringing to life countless pilot projects, we have identified the need for a platform that not only captures ideas and encourages collaboration, but also ensures that those ideas see the light of day and are actually implemented.During a successful market validation phase last year, Circle Lab brought together a community of nearly 14,000 and co-created unique reverse logistics solutions for the mobile phone industry. Following this phase, we launched the open-access knowledge portion of Circle Lab in August of 2017. The knowledge hub has since brought together nearly 2,000 circular economy enthusiasts who are now using the hub’s 750 case studies to share and further learn about the topic."The launch of the knowledge hub and results of the market validation showed us that there is a high demand for a global community to engage and co-create circular solutions. The addition of a challenge environment is the next step,"- Harald Friedl, CEO of Circle EconomyWe aim to mobilise a global community of circular economy experts, innovative entrepreneurs, forward-thinking businesses, citizens, cities and governments through Circle Lab. The power of this online accelerator for circularity comes to life by:

• Harnessing the global power of the crowd in a unique, open access, collaborative environment.
• Providing expertise to identify and accelerate circular solutions to the most pressing challenges of today.
• Ensuring that the best solutions see the light of day with support from local incubators to assuring implementation locally and shared learnings globally.

Today the platform will launch its first challenge, hosted by Circular Glasgow, an initiative of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Event Campus and the Glasgow Convention Bureau and Major Events team at Glasgow Life. This challenge will focus on how small to medium-sized businesses can improve the legacy of major city events and conferences. The city of Glasgow sees the circular economy as an essential tool to ensure that the city remains liveable, offers employment to its growing population, and attracts innovation. With the help of Circle Lab, they can provide a challenge that has a broad appeal to a diverse range of sectors and industries and to tackle a challenge faced by cities worldwide, enabling solutions that arise to be implemented both locally and internationally.

“There is great potential for the circular economy to create a future-proof and resilient Glasgow through innovative ideas that will provide economic and social benefits to our city. Glasgow regularly hosts major events such as the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Celtic Connections to this year’s European Championships, and has recently achieved a hat-trick of events industry award successes, reinforcing the city's reputation. Whilst these events undoubtedly already benefit the city, there is still a significant financial opportunity for businesses to embrace and to prolong the impact made by these events. We look forward to seeing ideas from across Glasgow and the world coming together on Circle Lab to generate new methods that will change the way we host events and the way we collaborate.”- Alison McRae, Senior Director at Glasgow Chamber of Commerce

The circular economy has the power to change the world and the time is now to bring the concept to the kitchen table so that everyone, from entrepreneurs to big brands, can play a role in making it a reality. By breaking down information silos and fueling cross-industry collaboration and innovation, Circle Lab is calling upon a global community to engage and participate in creating a visionary future for the world.For more information on Circle Lab and to participate in the challenge go to http://www.circle-lab.com/.[hr]Circle Lab has been made possible in part by a grant from the eBay Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.Circular Glasgow complements Zero Waste Scotland’s and the Scottish Government's nationwide support for SMEs to develop circular economy business ideas, including its £18million Circular Economy Investment Fund and Circular Economy Business Support Service. Both are supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the £73million Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Accelerator Programme.

Nice to meet you as well Mud Jeans! We find the story behind the circular jeans company very inspiring and are thrilled to give space for a MUD Jeans guest blog:

In 2017 MUD Jeans made a bold shift. At least, that is what it feels like to us. A shift from a start-up to a serious circular jeans company. 2017 was a big year. We now sell our jeans in 250 stores, got a new B2B portal for our retailers and we have been featured in blogs, magazines and TV shows worldwide. The last 5 years have taught us that we can achieve our goals while being profitable as a circular company as long as we keep on believing in our mission and our products. It has been a fascinating ride and we would like to share a few lessons learned with you. But first things first, a small introduction on who we are, what we do and how we do it.Who, what & howWe believe in a world without waste. We believe in a world where everyone is responsible for cleaning up their own mess. With our circular philosophy, we want to design our products in a way that they can be reused, recycled and upcycled easily. That’s why we don’t use leather labels, but printed ones instead. Worn out jeans are shredded, cut into pieces and blended with virgin cotton. This is how a new MUD Jeans denim yarn is born. All MUD Jeans are produced using post-consumer recycled and organic cotton. Together with our mill Tejidos Royo we were able to develop a jeans fabric which consists of 40% post-consumer recycled denim.The idea of creating our own Circular Denim Economy led to the revolutionary concept Lease A Jeans. While we are all using up our planet’s resources, it was time to stop for a second and ask ourselves: do we really need to own one pair of jeans for life? Or could we wear our jeans and send them back after use? You then become a user of the raw materials and pay only for the performance. We are very excited to announce that after launching the Lease A Jeans concept in 2013 we are now 5000 leasers strong and this is still growing.We collect pre-loved MUD Jeans through our take-back program. If the quality is still adequate, we sell them through our vintage platform. If not, they are shredded and made into beautiful new jeans. Using RePack bags for our packages allows us to avoid plastic and paper in our logistic chain and our customers can use the reusable bags to send old jeans back to us. Besides MUD Jeans we also accept jeans from other brands. The only requirement is that the jeans are at least 96% cotton.

Lessons Learned At MUD Jeans, we care deeply about transparency, in all aspects of our business. Consequently, we are passionate to share a few lessons learned we have encountered over the last 5 years.We realized that small changes can have a big impact. When we opted for printed labels instead of leather ones, this was merely for recycling purposes. A mono-material product is easier to recycle. When we made this transition we never thought that we would attract a whole new target group. Our jeans now became attractive for the vegan community as we banned the use of animal products in our jeans.You should not dwell on the lack of money or funds. A good brainstorm session and a big portion of creativity can already bring you a long way. Also, we always think big, what seems out of our reach sometimes suddenly happens. A mindset needed in order to change the status quo.When we first introduced Lease A Jeans in 2013, the world declared us mad. This concept required a huge mentality shift, moving away from the idea of owning everything. It did bring us a lot of press coverage but in the beginning, the masses were not ready for it yet nor was our administration.Your mission, vision and storytelling can be on point but in the end, people want to look good in the product they buy from you. When Dion Vijgeboom, who has a 10-year background in the jeans business joined the team, our products were truly upgraded and this helped tremendously in our growth.Working at a circular company, topics such as the circular economy, corporate social responsibility and closing the loop are a part of our daily conversations and become common practice. From time to time we get so caught up in our own story that we forget that not everyone is familiar with these concepts. We have learned that sometimes we need to take a step back and tell our story all over again. What we do, why we do it and how we do it might be very clear for us, but explaining it from scratch, again and again, is substantial to our success.As a pioneer in the circular economy, we have become an interesting case for companies, universities and organisations. Bringing a positive and ingenious story motivates people, students and companies to be a part of it and lend a hand. We get numerous emails with internship and research inquiries. In order to meet this high demand, we launched a monthly Skype meeting with Bert van Son, our CEO. During this meeting students and interested parties can ask everything they want to know about MUD Jeans.Being a B-Corp, we use business as a force for good. This allows you to build a very loyal customer base and collaborate with other B-Corps. In the past, we had the opportunity to create jeans aprons for B-Corp Davines. Joining forces with like-minded companies and organisations such as Circle Economy can create synergies to accelerate change from within the industry.Our customers adore what we do and love to share their stories and adventures with us. It’s very special as a brand to receive postcards, drawings and letters from customers on a regular basis. We are proud to have such committed customers. Although some of them are really critical, they are not afraid to ask us questions, which keeps us on our toes.

FutureToday our jeans consist of 40% post-consumer recycled denim, but of course, we want more! Our ultimate goal and dream is to design jeans made of 100% recycled denim.To explain this, we have to indulge you into the spectacular world of recycling. Together with Recovertex, we recycle old denim through mechanical recycling. Using mechanical operations to recycle old jeans withholds certain limitations, as the fibres are shortened over time and lose strength. Virgin cotton has to be added to regain durability and performance. Due to this reason we have reached the maximum of post-consumer recycled denim (40%) that can be obtained through mechanically recycling.Hence we have to look at other technologies to increase the percentage of recycled denim in our jeans. State of the art techniques such as chemical recycling will allow us to further increase this percentage and ultimately reach our objective of developing a fabric of 100% recycled denim.Together with the Global Fashion Agenda, we have set our circular fashion goals for 2020. In 2 years we wish to design 50% of our rivets, buttons and zippers for recyclability, we want to increase the amount of jeans collected through our take-back program and increase the amount of resold used garments through our vintage platform. Finally, we have the ambition to include minimum 20% post-consumer textiles fibres in all our jeans and we aim to develop a jeans fabric consisting of 100% recycled post-consumer textiles.Being a member of the Responsible Denim Alliance we are working on making the jeans industry cleaner & smarter. Through nurturing collective change and aiming at higher industry standards, the Alliance focusses on two main topics. Firstly, improving the environmental impact of denim finishing, meaning the washings. Secondly, scaling up the post-consumer recycled denim production. Together with the other members of the Alliance we are working closely to improve the standards in the denim industry.As you can tell we are very excited for the future. We hope you will join us in our journey towards 100% recycled denim.