The Circular Economy: From Awareness to Action with Sunil Thawani

Circular economy is dropping worldwide even as sustainability talk is louder than ever and that’s the wake-up call we can’t ignore. We’re consuming more than 100 billion tons of materials a year, yet only a small share loops back into the economy. So what does “circularity” actually mean when you’re running a business, managing risk, and trying to hit net zero targets without getting buried in competing frameworks and reporting demands? We sit down with Sunil Sawani, CEO of Quality Indeed Consulting and founder of the Circular Economy Forum and Awards, to translate circular economy from concept into action. We unpack “keep materials in use” through real examples: designing products to last and be repaired, dismantling buildings for certified reuse, secondary materials exchanges, and the rise of pay-per-use models where service replaces ownership. Sunil also shares how ISO 59000 brings structure by clarifying whether you’re pursuing value creation, value retention, or value recovery and why that clarity matters in the boardroom. We also get honest about what slows implementation: missing material flow mapping, limited lifecycle assessment data, uneven data quality, procurement habits that favor virgin inputs, and policy friction around moving used materials across borders. Along the way, we connect circular economy to organizational excellence and systems thinking, showing how circularity has to live inside strategy, KPIs, processes, and governance to last. If you care about sustainability strategy, supply chain resilience, digital product passports, and practical circular economy business models, this conversation gives you a grounded path forward. Subscribe for more conversations on excellence and sustainable transformation, share this with a leader who needs a clearer circularity roadmap, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.Send us Fan Mail