What a year it’s been. We have seen some impactful events happen across the world. From natural disasters caused by climate change, to significant initiatives to alter the current linear direction. We have also witnessed an increased interest in circular economy as a possible solution for the world’s biggest problems and we are happy to work with both our members and others to make the circular economy happen. At Circle Economy we have also gone through quite a few changes. Since I’ve joined the organisation in April we have focused the organisation around practical implementation of circular economy and scalability of the programs and tools we develop. We’ve been working really hard to set up and redesign programs and tools so they are ready to hit the market in 2016 and facilitate and accelerate the transition. One of our main focus point is the cities program; as cities are the main polluters as well as the political and financial powerhouses of many nations. We are also focusing on the digitization of our tools. All tools are designed to facilitate practical circular action and decision making of businesses and governments in different sectors and with different approaches. Probably one of the most important events of 2015 was the Climate Conference in Paris (COP21) during which 195 signed the agreement to keep global warming under 2 degrees and aim for 1.5. Circle Economy welcomes the agreement and at the same time calls for concrete steps and action. We must now urgently accelerate the practical actions to achieve this goal. It is promising to see so many concrete steps already being taken, and so many opportunities for circularity in the pipeline. For example high quality fiber sort technique is being developed as we speak, that will close the loop for textiles, a dashboard for cities is being developed where cities can see their own circular performance and compare this with other cities around the globe, therefore stirring a positive competition. We are looking forward to an important year, a year of taking concrete steps to meet the COP21 goals.Wishing you all the best for 2016,Andy RidleyCEO Circle Economy[read Andy's full blog on COP21 here]
