Introduction to Circular Economy

Explore the shared economy, where assets are borrowed or rented between individuals. Ownership shifts to access, propelled by 2007–2008 crisis, tech, and the app economy, with Uber as an example.

Discover how the circular economy uses the shared economy, via Airbnb and platforms like Just Park, tool libraries, and repair cafes, to create value from unused assets and sustainable experiences.

Explore repair culture in Bangalore through Repair Cafe, a volunteer-driven initiative promoting repair, reuse and upcycling in the circular economy, with offline and online workshops for all ages.

Explore how repair cafes illustrate circular economy in India, highlighting bottom-up jugaad, repair over recycling, and inner circle skills that extend product life.

Explore how the rental economy enables owners to monetize assets—from clothing and furniture to electronics and vehicles—through subscriptions, platforms, and on-demand delivery across India.

Explore the shared economy and the impacts of renting and non-renting within the circular economy, and try these models to see why sharing and renting matter.

Delve into the true costs behind pricing outfits, shoes, and fruit, and learn why sustainable goods cost more than traditional counterparts.

Explore stakeholder perspectives to embed circularity in economies, examine how true costs and supply-chain factors raise green product prices, and show how economies of scale and location nudges shape demand.

Apply nudge theory to steer decisions toward eco-friendly practices, using social pressure and social comparison. Explore how rental and subscription models, like Opower and Yulu, reduce barriers to sustainable consumption.

Explore how the peer-to-peer sharing economy enables access over ownership through subscription and rental models, promoting circularity, durability, and innovative financing despite adoption and maintenance challenges.

Shyam Sundar of Clean Label presents a plastic-free, waste-free grocery model with reusable containers, a return-and-clean system, and reverse logistics toward a circular economy.

Shared mobility offers transportation services and resources shared among users, including public transit, micromobility, bike and scooter sharing, car sharing, carpooling, and vanpooling, with low upfront costs and pay-as-you-use options.

Explore regenerative agriculture as holistic land management that enriches soil, boosts biodiversity, and improves watersheds while sequestering carbon to combat climate change.

Explore how the Sittilingi farmer cooperative built a thriving organic, regenerative system through farmer governance, shared equipment, and millets, achieving market premiums and better community health.

Explore regenerative agriculture in action within circular economy concepts, using cover crops and geotextiles to protect soil, reduce erosion, and boost soil organisms and health.

Turn animal, plant, and food waste into nutrient-rich compost you can harvest at home in your garden or balconies. Hear experts discuss what they can do with food waste.

Discover how composting, segregation, and solid waste management enable circularity, turning kitchen and garden waste into soil-enriching compost for homes, communities, and local farms.

Explore how black soldier fly larvae upcycle urban food waste into high-quality nutrients and compost, advancing circular economy and sustainable animal feed.

Explore agroforestry, farming in a forest with trees between crops and pastures and canopies over croplands, learn how cover sequesters carbon, protects crops from extreme weather, and improves water quality.

Explore how seaweed farming offers regenerative, biodiversity-rich circular economy solutions in India, with native species, community-led toolkits, and multi-species aquaculture.

Green Wave's regenerative ocean farming uses undersea vertical ropes to grow seaweed, fertilized by oysters, mussels, and clam cages, offering net zero carbon and 10 to 30 tons annually.

Explore biomimicry in the circular economy as nature-inspired solutions, from hexagon bins inspired by honeycombs to living filtration systems that mimic earthworms to reduce emissions and runoff.

Discover how Bhutan pursues regenerative agriculture through strong forest protection, carbon negative goals, and hydroelectric energy, supported by an organic masterplan and low agrochemical use.

Survey the current state of packaging from design to distribution, examining PET’s advantages and recyclability, and the need to keep plastics in the circular economy while reducing environmental harm.

Move toward a circular economy by redesigning plastic packaging for reuse. Redirect the linear take, make, and dispose model toward waste reduction, as most plastic ends in landfills or ecosystems.

Examine innovative circular packaging designs in action, including organic cotton stitched tea bags, seaweed sachets, edible pouches, and mushroom based materials that reduce single-use plastic and waste.

Explore Packmile’s shift from single-use plastic to sustainable packaging, including a patent paper bubble wrap made from unbleached kraft that is biodegradable, recyclable, suitable for ecommerce, and supports upcycling.

Dhwani Mehta introduces Ecovia, a packaging-as-a-service that eliminates single-use packaging in e-commerce by using reusable bags and a rewards-based return system to drive circularity.

Bare necessities uses zero-waste packaging with glass jars wrapped in cloth and paper scraps. We use post-consumer packing materials, recycled labels, paper tape, compost toothbrushes, and refill when possible.

Advance circularity in distribution with Flipkart’s electric last-mile fleet and edible packaging from Edco and Eat Raja, using edible cups and steel or bamboo straws.

Explore FMCG packaging innovations. Soapbottle demonstrates a personal care container that becomes hand soap after use, made from natural biodegradable ingredients, plus wood pulp packets that dissolve when soaked.

Explore innovative not-end-of-life clothing strategies in the circular economy, including Patagonia's Worn Wear credits for future purchases and Stuffstr's retailer-backed buyback to keep garments out of landfills and support re-commerce.

Accelerate ocean plastic solutions with the Ocean Fund, Circulate Capital, backing 100 million dollars in South and Southeast Asia, while governments pursue the European Plastics Pact toward 2025 targets.

Examine the reality of fast fashion's pollution, from microfibres and microplastics to water use and waste, including a cotton t-shirt's 2700 liters.

Denim made closer to the natural state of cotton uses less water and hazardous treatments; circular fashion guides greener denim through Better Cotton Initiative and Global Organic Textile Standard.

Explore circular fashion in activewear with Athlos. The brand uses alternative fabrics like bamboo and recycled ocean waste and promotes a take-make-dispose mindset guiding sustainable design, materials, and supply chains.

Drive circular economy in fashion by embracing slow fashion, transparent sourcing, and plant-based dyes, with Mahima Gujral of SUI sharing practical ways to design sustainable, durable garments.

Explore how circular fashion design and production advance regional and regenerative fibers, safe dyes and finishes, non-toxic materials, and renewable energy to extend product lifespan and enable end-of-life recovery.

Explore how hemp fabric lab advances circular economy with carbon-negative hemp, soot-based printing, and blended natural materials, while teaching makers through service-led sustainable fashion.

Explore reusing and keeping clothes in the loop through resale, sharing, rental, and upcycling, plus advances in recycling blends back into fibres of similar quality to virgin materials.

Explore what circular fashion means and what it does not, and examine how labels may turn circularity into a buzzword used by fashion brands.

Assess why fashion circularity is not yet a panacea due to an incomplete system to keep garments in circulation, with take-back schemes and consumer behavior not offsetting virgin material growth.

Explore how circular fashion reduces waste and pollution with sustainable design, and evaluate cradle to cradle material health and material reutilization, renewable energy, carbon management, water stewardship, and social fairness.

Explore how Fairtrade certifications promote circular fashion through transparent, traceable supply chains, social and environmental sustainability, and Fairtrade premiums empowering farming communities.

Explore how circular fashion and Fairtrade practices reshape the apparel industry, from farm level sustainability to transparent brands and durable, guilt-free consumer choices.

Become a circular fashion user by borrowing, swapping, renting, or choosing vintage pieces before buying new. Select high-quality items made from natural, non-toxic, or recycled materials; wash, repair, donate, recycle.

Explore circularity in fast-moving consumer goods ingredients and how models support natural processes, addressing consumer demand for sustainable brands and the rise of Gen Z and millennials.

Explore key sustainability trends reshaping the FMCG sector, including sustainable packaging, ethical sourcing, environmental protection, and plant-based alternatives.

Explore innovations in product formulation that drive sustainable fmcg practices, including reusable packaging, refill models, compostable pouches, and concentrate-based cleaning and personal care solutions.

Explore how refillable, a circular economy startup, uses a doorstep refill truck to curb single-use plastic, drive zero waste adoption, and align customer needs with sustainable packaging.

Discover refill models in products through real-world pilots, such as Sedal's aluminum bottle refills in Mexico and Loop's waste-free shopping, including return and refill systems and jar returns.

Discover how Restore enables refills with reusable packaging, bridging manufacturers and customers to advance the circular economy. Explore recycling limits and advocate for different solutions.

The fmcg industry makes incremental steps toward circularity through lightweighting and recyclability, but transformative, systematic innovations in business models and packaging are needed to achieve true circularity.

Extend the life of gadgets by adopting circular economy practices, including remanufacturing, easy-to-replace components, and rental models that lower waste, save costs, and improve product sustainability.

Explore how ethical sourcing, modular design, and repairable electronics like Fairphone enable circular economies, while smart homes, energy-efficient IoT, and direct air capture illustrate sustainable tech.

Learn how circular cities eliminate waste, keep materials in use, and regenerate natural systems, powered by renewable energy and local communities, with composting, waste sorting, and upcycled clothes.

Examine urban heat islands driven by heat-absorbent surfaces and show how green vegetation and indigenous trees curb temperatures and pollution, addressing NIMBY attitudes and environmental racism in city planning.

Learn how the move the date initiative promotes circular cities and policy measures to push back Earth Overshoot Day by embedding circularity, improving resource efficiency, and replacing non-renewable resources.

Explore how to design circular cities through sustainable urban planning, embracing green buildings, walkable streets, diverse energy, and five city-focused strategies for planning, designing, making, accessing, and maintaining.

Learn practical pathways to circular cities through end-to-end waste management and behavior change. Start with household segregation, dry waste centres, and value recovery through formal and informal systems.

Explains waste to energy, biomethanation, RDF, and extended producer responsibility, while highlighting Bangalore case studies on waste segregation, composting, and city-level policy challenges in circular economy.

Explore circular transportation in cities with Indian examples, such as Ather Grid fast charging network and scooter sharing. BeLive's electric bike tours blend cycling with immersive, sustainable travel.

Explore how Blive's electric vehicle tourism and electric-vehicle retail promote sustainable transportation, reduce CO2, and advance the circular economy in India, engaging local communities and policy support.

Explore circular cities advancing sustainability with electric vehicles, renewable energy, and the Ola Foundation’s employment linked skills and financial literacy for women; compare Dongton and Amsterdam’s 2050 circular economy goals.

Develop an entrepreneurial mindset to tackle urgent challenges through innovative, resilient, and collaborative approaches, and learn to design planet-centric, circular solutions within a circular economy.

Apply design thinking to align people's needs, technological possibilities, and business viability. Use the designer's toolkit to transform how organisations develop products, services, processes, and strategy.

Discover how design thinking integrates with the circular economy to center people and the planet, through Noorain's insights from housing and refugee contexts.

Goonj, founded in 1999 by Anshu Gupta, transforms old clothes into dignity-preserving products and humanitarian aid, recycling millions of kilograms to serve India’s poor across 25 states and disaster relief.

Explore how design thinking catalyzes the flower-cycling solution Phool, up-cycling temple waste into incense, cones, gulaals, vermicompost, and DIY kits to protect the Ganges.

Explore intrapreneurship, turning ideas into innovations within large organizations, from Post-it notes to Gmail enhancements. Embrace people and process, ask the right questions, and pursue sustainability-minded outcomes.