The circular economy debate: examples of good practice in business

Innovative businesses and projects on Plastic, Food and Toy sectors initiated in regards the circular economy in Turkey were discussed in a panel on the 14th of November, 2018 at Atölye Bomontiada, Istanbul. The debate were on the good practices; PlasticTwist by Leyla Arsan CEO of TAGES, TOYI by ATOLYE’s co-founder Engin Ayaz and Fazla Gıda by its founder Olcay Silahlı, This has been one of the activities of Disruptive Innovation Festival 2018, curated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Circular Economy Club and moderated by ZERO Circular Design Studio’s Founder Gülin Ölçer.

How aware are we of the importance of circular economy? Ellen MacArthur, who is the pioneer of the circular economy, defines it as a framework for an economy that is restorative and regenerative by design[1]. Nowadays, it is very nice to see many campaigns, events, platforms and projects to increase the awareness of people on this topic. One of them was the Disruptive Innovation Festival (DIF) which was organized between 6th and 23rd November 2018. The DIF is a fully online experience which aims to shift mindsets and inspire action towards a circular economy and it is curated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to accelerate the transition to a circular economy[2]. During the festival, on-line screenings are shown all over the world at the same time. You can still watch the videos of this year’s festival and the previous ones here.

As a part of this festival, an event including screening and panel was organized at Atolye in Istanbul on the 14th of November, 2018. The event started with the online screening with the several videos and the event participants discussed the concepts of the circular economy and its effectiveness. The event followed the panel which was moderated by ZERO’s founder Gulin Olcer. The panellists were the founder of Fazla Gıda’s founder Olcay Silahlı, ATOLYE’s co-founder Engin Ayaz and CEO of TAGES, Leyla Arsan. During the panel, they discussed the role of regulations, circular design strategies and new business models with three innovative projects and business attempts.

Engin Ayaz, talked about the TOYI Project which is a creative play kit without instructions enabling children to transform everything around them into unique toys. Ayaz pointed out that with the special play experience TOYI provides, as children redesign the materials around them they acquire the up-cycling instinct by producing without consuming in their early ages. Leyla Arsan, talked about the PTwist Project which is funded by the European Union H2020 Programme. PTwist is an open platform for plastic lifecycle awareness, monetization and sustainable innovation. Arsan explained how PTwist will create an impact on circular economy and what the planned activities are to revalue recycled plastic, using blockchain technology. Lastly, Olcay Silahli talked about his own business attempt named FazlaGida which is one of the 9 initiatives selected worldwide to be supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). FazlaGida takes into account the economic, ethical and environmental circumstances around food waste by providing innovative technological solutions such as connecting food donors and charities, allowing surplus food e-commerce between businesses. Silahli shared his experiences while creating this donation platform and how they take role to change the regulations.