What does the circular economy look like for Aotearoa New Zealand?

What does a circular future look like for Aotearoa New Zealand?

That was the question that we put to our first panel discussion at XLabs, in order to get business teams thinking about what the circular economy might enable. Moderated by Louise Nash , the panellists included business journalist Rod Oram , Ministry for the Environment’s Deputy Secretary Anne Haira , Scion’s Florian Graichen , Tamoko Ormsby of Ka Awatea, and Alimentary Systems co-founder, Matthew Jackson .

This week Newsroom published our article highlighting the panellists' vision of what a circular future looks like. Featuring themes such as shifting our relationship with nature, providing bolder government leadership, embracing nature-based solutions, and localising our economies, a circular economy requires some bold shifts, which many in our community are already undertaking. 

In this edition of our newsletter, we hear from John Steiner of Lion about what the future of FMCG could look like, while Circularity CEO and founder Louise Nash addressed youth and businesspeople alike at Festival for the Future with the provocation that sustainability is not enough. We also celebrate our Environmental Strategist Samantha Walmsley-Bartlett , who hit her first 100 circular solutions in her newsletter 999 Days of Circular Practices, highlighting the ways that innovators and entrepreneurs are creating a circular future, today.

What's new?

We are thrilled to share with you our video highlights from XLabs LIVE 2022, New Zealand’s dedicated circular economy program. Our team at Circularity, along with our XLabs partners wish to extend heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to the 15 teams from across the country who are leading Aotearoa into a circular economy future!  

The transition towards a circular economy for Aotearoa New Zealand requires a radical redesign of the way we do business. We are currently in conversation with a number of businesses, industries, regions and even schools on how XLabs can become their creative space for tackling wicked problems, unlocking circular solutions and engaging their stakeholders— right at the intersection of sustainability, science, and technology.

From tourism to agriculture, our transport system to the way we build our cities, XLabs is a proven capability-building program that is actively responding to the action point in the Emissions Reduction Plan to support businesses to move towards circular economy solutions.

The movement is growing. The momentum is accelerating. New Zealand’s transition to a circular economy is well underway, and we invite you to join us. If your industry, business, or city is looking to build capability, lead new innovations and co-design the future – then XLabs is the place to do it. Put your plans and goals into action, with solutions that will transform your future to be regenerative and climate positive. It starts here – together. Register your interest at XLabs.nz.

• Louise recently shared her vision for Aotearoa’s circular future and what the radical redesign of business looks like, at the Festival for the Future in Pōneke/Wellington. Delivering a Saturday morning keynote address, she challenged participants to rethink whether sustainability is enough, or if the future rather needs to be circular and regenerative? Follow Festival of the Future on LinkedIn and Facebook to ensure you can view the video once it is released.
• Our latest episode of The Redesign of Everything podcast features John Steiner, General Manager Accelerated Change at Lion. We cover off what the circular economy means for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), the importance of change initiatives taking an end-to-end approach, and about how the circular economy is not just a good move for the environment, but also enables businesses to lower costs and improve resilience in the face of future disruptions to supply chains, international market volatility, and carbon pricing. Give it a listen on our website, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. 
• Our Environmental Strategist Samantha recently interviewed Mikayla Plaw of Profile Group about the company’s circular journey and how they measured their progress using the Circular Transition Indicator (CTI) tool, in a webinar hosted by the New Zealand Green Building Council. Representing a group of companies making up New Zealand’s leading integrated supply chain for aluminium windows and doors, Profile Group has contributed to over 50% of New Zealand’s homes and buildings. Watch the webinar to learn how Circularity is helping them to take their CTI circularity score for packaging from 64% to 90%.
• In collaboration with Plastics New Zealand, we are running five more Re:Plastics training days in the coming months. Focused on reducing and eliminating unnecessary plastics use, these training days will help you to build capability, define your impact, design solutions, and learn how to get buy-in and identify funding opportunities. To register for one of the upcoming dates below, email Kelly@plastics.org.nz: 
• Fri 23 Sept: Auckland
• Tues 4 Oct: Wellington
• Tues 18 or Weds 19 Oct: Hawkes Bay
• Tues 1 Nov: Christchurch
• Thurs 3 Nov: Queenstown 
• Samantha has recently hit her first 99 circular practices on her LinkedIn newsletter, 999 Days of Circular Practices! Sam created this newsletter to highlight the 999 days until we hit peak emissions; this is the timeframe we have to radically redesign business and society to be circular. From hempcrete houses to cover crops, circular headphones to sustainable fabrics, Sam has been showcasing and celebrating all the amazing companies and innovations that characterise the circular economy. Subscribe to be inspired! 

Some good news to light your fire

• A shopping mall in Australia is bringing sustainable urban design into suburban life, with solar energy capture, rainwater harvesting, and a roof-top farm 
• Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenberg have successfully managed to store solar energy in a form that can now be stored for up to 18 years, releasing it in the form of heat.  
• According to some thought leaders, and in response to the climate crises, the 2020’s will need to be a decade of cooperation. The “Getting to Cooperation” workbook is a free resource that shares counterintuitive insights gained over author Scott Poynton’s two decades at the frontiers of complex change journeys.

Want to join us in creating this change for Aotearoa? Start a project with us. Contact us at hello@circularity.co.nz and let’s chat.That's our Circularity round up for this month. Catch you next month!

Ngā mihi nui,