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Articles by Seb Egerton-Read
Could eBay become your ‘personal inventory of things’?
Optimise resource yields by circulating products, components, and materials at the highest utility at all times Sound familiar? Whilst it might not roll off the tongue, it’s a core principle of the circular economy, and basically, means that we should keep products and materials in use where possible.
Weaving the future of textiles with spider silk
Earlier this month, Patagonia announced that it will make its next jacket out of “spider silk”, or at least a laboratory based copy. For the company behind that innovation, California’s Bolt Threads, the jacket is only the beginning and could be the start of a material transition in the fibre industry more broadly.
What does material innovation look like in a circular economy?
Impressive technological and innovative individual business solutions have been developed throughout the industrial revolution, and more recently, many of those are taking advantage of the additional value propositions created by the circular economy model.
Capitalising on circular economy in the mobile phone industry
Mobile phones are often held up as the example of the linear economy. Highly valuable and mostly unrecoverable materials produced into a small device with a short lifespan, which generally ends up as weight in a person’s drawers. However, in the first volume of the Towards the circular economy report series, mobile phones were identified as a significant circular economy business opportunity, and recent sales figures may be vindicating that research.
Ikea to sell affordable solar battery solution
A new announcement on the availability of batteries by Ikea could make solar electricity more attractive to potential customers, potentially reducing electricity bills by hundreds of pounds. Ikea, in partnership with UK panel provider Solar Century, has said that it will start selling batteries for rooftop solar panels as part of a new solar system. Storage technologies have been typically expensive in the past, a key obstacle to wider adoption of solar power.
Circulate on Fridays: Bees, the Internet of Things and more…
Every Friday, Circulate rounds up a collection of interesting circular economy related stories and articles. This Friday, what role can the Internet of Things play in saving bee populations? An Uber for buses and much more… In natural capital terms, honey bees are vital to the global economy. They play an essential role in the world’s ecosystem pollinating two thirds of the 100 most widely eaten crops globally, which feed 90% of the world’s population.
Why large scale indoor farms will be crucial to feed our fast growing cities
Technological innovations are enabling a new way of producing food transforming indoor environments into places where fruits and vegetables can be grown without soil, close to the city, with an extremely short supply chain, fully independent of weather fluctuations, while reducing demand on water and chemicals.
Isle of Wight gets set for the return of All Stars cricket
Seb shares this news of upcoming events with the Isle of Wight Cricket Board. Ed The Isle of Wight is getting ready to reach for the stars with the relaunch of All Stars Cricket at eight Island Cricket Clubs. From May/June onwards we aim to have 300 5-8 year olds experiencing cricket for the first time through an eight-week programme delivered at centres across the Island.
Why biology holds the key to the future of design and manufacturing
It is becoming increasingly apparent that transitioning towards a more restorative and regenerative economic model that decouples economic prosperity from the consumption of finite resources will necessitate the breaking down of the silos created across business, education and the broader economy, on which a linear, take-make-dispose system has thrived. The emerging discipline of synthetic biology sits at the crux of the intersection between design, biology, computing and manufacturing.
Circulate on Fridays: Two great podcasts and much more
It’s Friday, which means that we have a selection of circular economy content recommendations to be enjoyed at your leisure this weekend. Cream of the crop this week is the latest episode from the excellent How I Built This podcast on NPR. The company under the spotlight this week is Rent the Runway, and Guy Raz is joined by co-founder Jenn Hyman.
Our current economy is based on 'physics envy' & more
Spring has officially arrived here at Circulate’s HQ in Cowes, Isle of Wight, and we hope to share some of that sunshine with one of our richest Friday circular economy roundups featuring some of the best reading, viewing and listening for you to enjoy this weekend.
Is the digital economy in danger of becoming the taking economy?
Sharing economy firms like Uber and Airbnb may be leveraging their access to information, gained by facilitating trusted transactions between strangers on a digital platform, to disadvantage their participants and avoid regulation according to a new research paper co-published by a law professor and a technology ethnographer at the University of Washington.
Singapore company introduces new air conditioning as a service model
The world needs to re-think how it stays cool and Singapore-based company Kaer Water may have the answers. They aim to revolutionise air conditioning building management by combining a breakthrough technology with a new business model that has already been trialled successfully in other sectors, including lighting. Rising temperatures and a rapidly expanding global middle class are increasing demand for air-conditioning worldwide.
Disposable plastics banned from Delhi - Circulate
While a number of cities, states and countries around the world consider mechanisms by which to manage some of the growing challenges relating to the plastics, India’s capital city Delhi has made the headlines by placing a blanket ban on all disposable plastics. Far from being altruistic, the city’s decision has been made out of practical necessity.
Manufacturing could be revolutionized by synthetic biology | Genetic Literacy Project
The emerging discipline of synthetic biology sits at the crux of the intersection between design, biology, computing and manufacturing…[I]t appears more and more probable that we are on the cusp of a paradigm shift, where…biology is adopted as the next big manufacturing technology.
Why open source seeds could be vital for the future of food - Circulate
Open source, a movement most commonly associated with tech, coding and hacking, is now becoming an increasingly important issue for food according to a recent article published on Ensia and GreenBiz. It might be somewhat surprising, for example, to learn that more than one-third of all carrot growing material has been patented and is protected by intellectual property rights (IPs).
Islabikes: You'll never have to buy your child a bike again - Circulate
Why sell bikes outright to children who will only be able to use them for a short period of time before they outgrow them? It’s the question that Isla Rowntree, owner of children’s bicycle manufacturer Islabikes asked herself. The solution, it turns out, is simple, Islabikes will now rent out its products to customers, who will have the opportunity to return the bicycles to the factory for refurbishment.
Profiling Patagonia, Obama on self-driving cars and mushroom leather
Remember all those “I’ll read this later” articles you bookmarked this week? We’ve got you covered. In Circulate on Fridays, we pick out the most essential circular economy coverage from the past five days. Enjoy! Self driving cars have been in the news again, and it seems Uber’s recent launch in Pittsburgh has accelerated the debate.
What does the sharing economy mean for a circular economy?
With startup success stories, acres of media coverage and stacks of investment, for better or worse the sharing economy has earned its place on the hype cycle of new trends and technologies in recent years. Use of the term and development of models have grown in parallel with the circular economy and the two concepts are clearly linked. This article will aim to answer some of the basic questions. What exactly do we mean by the term “sharing economy”? How does it relate to the circular economy?
Is Aerofarms providing the model for scaling urban farming?
Two million pounds of fresh produce, including salads, potatoes and herbs, are grown and distributed to the New Jersey and New York City area each year from AeroFarms’ Newark facility. However, instead of open fields, soil, sunlight and large quantities of water, this facility demonstrates aeroponics at scale, and is beginning to be viewed by many as a potential model for the future of urban farming.
Six Start-up Finalists For Green Alley Awards Announced
Details of the six finalists for the Green Alley Awards, a prize awarded to start-ups innovating towards circular economy models, have been announced. The inaugural prize was won last year by Helsinki-based RePack, a company that put forward a business model to reuse ecommerce packaging waste.
Could Compostable Electronics Solve E-Waste Problem?
Researchers from the Young Investigator Network at Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) are building towards a future where gadgets and electronics are just as compostable as banana peels and old coffee grounds. The team have managed to develop printed electronics using compostable materials. Electronics are usually made out of silicon, heavy metals and other elements, often with high toxicity, that take a long time to degrade or break down in landfills.
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