Circular Economy Podcast
93 Guglielmo Mazza – helping communities refuse packaging waste
Catherine Weetman talks to Guglielmo Mazzà, an environmental engineer and social entrepreneur, and the co-founder and CEO of ReFuse, a social enterprise based in Beirut [Lebanon] that offers community-based solid waste management services.
Guglielmo worked in development initiatives and humanitarian response in the field of water, sanitation, hygiene and financial inclusion, across Europe and Africa. His passion is combining equitable access to resources with ecosystem justice and restoration.
ReFuse has a mission to work with underserved communities, enabling them to sort recyclables and get rewarded for it. ReFuse says: “Where most people see a pile of waste, we see opportunities to improve the lives of vulnerable people. Secondary raw-materials have an unexploited value.”
Guglielmo explains some of the issues faced by many people living in Beirut, where approximately one-third of the population are migrants, with many living in temporary tented communities. Poverty, inequality and lack of government funds are big issues, and there is a lack of basic infrastructure, including a reliable electricity supply.
We hear how the ReFuse operation works, how they’ve expanded the range of materials they can recycle, and what they do with it all. We find out what motivates people to bring their recyclables along to the ReFuse stations – surprisingly, for many people, it’s not about the cash.
Podcast host Catherine Weetman is a circular economy business advisor, workshop facilitator, speaker and writer. Her award-winning book: A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business includes lots of practical examples and tips on getting started. Catherine founded Rethink Global in 2013, to help businesses use circular, sustainable approaches to build a better business (and a better world).
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Read on for a summary of the podcast and links to the people, organisations and other resources we mention.
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Links we mention in the episode:
- A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business – buy from any good bookseller, or direct from the publisher Kogan Page, which ships worldwide (free shipping to UK and US) and you can use discount code CIRCL20 to get 20% off. It’s available in paperback, ebook and Kindle. If you buy it from online sources, make sure you choose the new edition with an orange cover!
- Sign up to get the podcast player and shownotes for each new episode emailed to your inbox
- ReFuse on Linkedin ReFuse | LinkedIn
- Instagram ReFuse (@refuse.lebanon) is on Instagram
- Facebook ReFuse – Home – facebook.com
- Website refuse.eco
- Guglielmo Mazza on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/guglielmo-mazzà/
- Nestlé – net plastic neutrality in the Philippines https://www.nestle.com.ph/media/news/maintaining-plastic-neutrality
About Guglielmo Mazzà
Guglielmo Mazzà is an environmental engineer and social entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of ReFuse, a social enterprise based in Beirut that offers community-based solid waste management services. Guglielmo worked in development initiatives and humanitarian response in the field of water, sanitation, and hygiene and financial inclusion.
Projects implemented reach Italy, Kosovo, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda. As a member of the Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group of the European Microfinance Platform and working with Microfinanza Srl, Guglielmo focused on the development of sustainable microcredit strategies and products for microfinance institutions in Africa and the MENA region.
His passion is combining equitable access to resources with ecosystem justice and restoration.
Interview Transcript
Click here to open the transcript…
Want to find out more about the circular economy?
If you’d like to learn more about the circular economy and how it could help your business, why not listen to Episode 1, or read our guide: What is the Circular Economy?
To go deeper, you could buy Catherine’s book, A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business. This comprehensive guide uses a bottom-up, practical approach, and includes hundreds of real examples from around the world, to help you really ‘get’ the circular economy. Even better, you’ll be inspired with ideas to make your own business more competitive, resilient and sustainable.
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Podcast music
Thanks to Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow, otherwise known as the brilliant, inventive and generous folk duo, O’Hooley & Tidow for allowing me to use the instrumentals from the live version of Summat’s Brewin’ as music for the podcast. You can find the whole track (inspired by the Copper Family song “Oh Good Ale”) on their album, also called Summat’s Brewin’. Or, follow them on Twitter.
92 Elmar Stroomer – circular textile solutions in Africa
20th November 2022
design
fashion & textiles
recycling
reuse
socialvalue
upcycling
Elmar Stroomer is the founder of Africa Collect Textiles (ACT). Africa Collect Textiles does exactly that – collecting used textiles across Africa, for reuse, recycling and upcycling. Elmar Stroomer has a strong background in the circular economy and design, and lived in Kenya and Uganda between 2012 and 2017 to get Africa Collect Textiles up and running. Now, Elmar is…
91 Michael Smith – Investing in regenerative startups
6th November 2022
Catherine is talking to Michael Smith, General Partner of Regeneration.VC, an investment fund set up earlier in 2022 that is investing in solutions addressing the climate emergency. The Regeneration.VC advisory board includes Bill McDonough, one of the early and leading thinkers on the circular economy, and co-author of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. The board also…
90 – Does circular mean it’s sustainable?
23rd October 2022
Circular economy
social value
sustainability
Does circular mean it’s sustainable? Or, are companies just using circular economy solutions to grow their business (and their footprints)? In this episode, I want to shine a light on something that’s been worrying me. Over the last few years, I’ve come to realise that the circular economy is not fit for purpose. It’s not helping create the future we…
89 Simon Hombersley – plastics from plant protein
9th October 2022
biomimicry
Circular economy
plastics
regeneration
Simon Hombersley, CEO of Xampla, shares the story of how this Cambridge University spin-out has created the world’s first plant protein material for commercial use, pioneering the replacement of the most polluting plastics with natural alternatives. Xampla’s ambition is to become the leader in natural polymers, and it’s been developing its natural polymer resin over the past 15 years. The…
88 Alexandra Rico-Lloyd – the Bike Club
25th September 2022
Circular economy
mobility
rental
Alexandra Rico-Lloyd is one of the UK’s circular economy entrepreneurs, and is passionate about inspiring the next generation to get active and outdoors. Alexandra says there are over 12.5 million unused kids bikes, just in the UK. That spurred her on to create Bike Club back in 2016, to provide a better way to cycle; better for the environment, better…
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