#22 Creating A World Without Waste, with Ryan Swenson, CEO of Circonomy

My guest in this episode is Ryan Swenson, CEO at Circonomy, a social-enterprise with a purpose to create a world without waste, including human potential, by scaling circular solutions to mobile dormant goods and resources. In doing so, Circonomy enables the transition to a net-zero circular future. 

Some of the highlights of our conversation include some striking examples of sustainability initiatives, how Circonomy grew out of the World's Biggest Garage Sale after an investment by Officeworks, the Circonomy mission to create a world without waste, the plan to expand across Australia as quickly as possible, and the work of "re-commercing" to reduce landfill and provide lower cost products to consumers.

If you'd like to learn more about Circonomy, go to: https://circonomy.com.au 

You can reach out to Ryan at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-swenson-37768220 

To learn more about what it takes to be an evolved leader, and to check out our other podcast episodes, go to:  https://www.evolvedstrategy.com.au

Chapters

• 7:54 Striking examples of sustainability initiatives
• 9:54 From World's Biggest Garage Sale to Circonomy
• 13:54 The Circonomy mission to create a world without waste
• 18:24 Expanding across Australia as quickly as possible
• 24:24 The work of "re-commercing" to reduce landfill and provide lower cost products to consumers

Transcript

00:49.20
davidmcdermott
Um, Ryan welcome to the show.

00:52.55
Ryan Swenson
Thanks David great to be here.

00:56.67
davidmcdermott
Um, tell us about your leadership journey so far.

01:02.30
Ryan Swenson
Yeah, so I suppose. Um, if I start with finishing uni. My first career was um in buying so in the retail side after completing a business degree but after a few years of of being a buyer. Um I suppose I was really starting to seek meaning and look at What's next What's more out of a role. It led me to travel with my an nowwife for about a year um and part of our journey actually was jumping on a last minuteute cruise to Antarctica and it was down there that I spoke to a climate scientist that really started to point me in the direction and pick my interest around the role of. Transitioning to a low carbon future and what that means from a business perspective. So um, in england I completed an Mba in strategic carbon management and after that was really looking at what how I could transition my career into sustainability and I was really fortunate when I joined officeworks. Then have those opportunities over the nine years that I was there to really develop personally and professionally and transition from from a traditional buying to manager set up the global sourcing program and really looking at human rights throughout the supply chain to then establishing a sustainability team and and developing the strategy over time. Ah, which then evolved into leading the the broader corporate affairs stakeholder relations government relations piece. Um through all of that. Ah, you know the the professional development um was really something that I valued really highly It made me reflect on. You know the qualities of a leader.

02:35.64
Ryan Swenson
What authentic leadership really means and I suppose as I became more focused around my own purpose meant that as I was leading a a larger team that was really values aligned and purpose-driven could see firsthand the benefits that um, that delivers in terms of the culture of the team. The high performance of the team and then the overall. Team engagement What we were achieving but also how enjoyable it was for for all of us in the team that were operating in such a high trust and and high performance space. Um, so following.

03:09.18
Ryan Swenson
There which really, um, led to some innovative sustainability initiatives including an investment in ah, the social enterprise called world's biggest garage sale that really led to the opportunity for me to actually step on as a step in this economymy which it's now known as and take on the Ceo position. Um, from November last year and you know being a ah truly purpose-d driven organization social enterprise really aligns with my values. Um, personally and also draws on my skills professionally so five months in and and loving it so far.

03:42.90
davidmcdermott
Really fascinating and we're we're definitely and going to get into ssoomy itself shortly. But before we before we look at you know what? you're what you're currently doing as the the new Ceo of S Economynomy and I'd like to. Understand a little more about your your time at office works and you mentioned and being involved in both human rights and environmental sustainability. But and were you involved in sort of work and projects in the human rights space and environmental sustainability space at the same time or did one. We focused on each separately.

04:22.92
Ryan Swenson
Yeah, no, um, the broad spectrum of sustainability. So the social environmental aspects I suppose what I saw over nine years and is probably reflective of many organizational journeys with sustainability is joining. There was you know, really tactical approach so there was um. People wanting to do the right thing and there were some initiatives but there was no overarching strategy. So we then moved into developing a 5 ive-year plan from 2015 to Twenty Twenty establishing long-term targets across people in the planet and some of you know we didn't know the answers at the time. Um. But what we did see is that all of the targets were either exceeded or or near on what what we set out to achieve and so when the third phase was then really looking at the true integrated approach to sustainability. Um, and what that meant from all aspects of people and social elements. But then the environmental aspects.

05:10.60
davidmcdermott
Um, yeah.

05:16.25
Ryan Swenson
Um, and underpinning that um, as we matured and really understood the value and the benefit of our initiatives started to accelerate progress because we could understand how by prioritizing people or the planet. It was unlocking value to the business.

05:29.87
davidmcdermott
Yeah now I know and office works is owned by Wes Farmers who also owns and Kmart and bunnings were were you aware or involved in any cross-coaborion between the the group of businesses or were were they treated quite separately and. You know, not not really in communication with each other.

05:52.56
Ryan Swenson
Yeah I think the westfarma is model by nature obviously is that it's divisional autonomy. However, this was definitely an area where there was a lot of collaboration and I think that's true of this much more broadly that the only way we're going to solve all of these complex issues is actually. Ah, by much closer collaboration and moving Beyond traditional thinking around competition to collectively working towards what the right solutions are and so yeah, there was definitely a great level of collaboration across the divisions and then much more broadly.

06:25.56
davidmcdermott
Um, and what were some of the environmental sustainability initiative initiatives. Um, you know some of the top stories that you can share in terms of office works. What came out of that work.

06:37.70
Ryan Swenson
Yeah, so probably the the first thing I say is understanding what the material issues were and then anchoring our initiatives around those that were important to our stakeholders was obviously really important but then also understanding how could we take? what is seen as a risk. And turn that into an opportunity and exceed stakeholder expectations. So 1 example would be sustainable paper clearly officework sold a lot of paper so moving towards 100% recycled content. Um and full fsc certification across all paper products was really important but we then went beyond that and said I actually. What's the next level we could do and so we developed resoraring Australia which was a 2 for 1 tree planting program. So whilst we had you know the best certification and sustainability. Um credentials around the the baseline we then went beyond and what that initiative saw is that we planted. We had a goal to plant 2000000 trees but 2025 um, well over halfway towards that now 

00:00.20
davidmcdermott
So that that is fascinating Ryan and 2000000 trees is um is certainly a ah significant contribution to the planet and and you said office works are about halfway through that. What what other stories in terms of environmental sustainability. Can you share in terms of your office works experience.

00:22.68
Ryan Swenson
Yeah, probably the other um one of the other ones that really stands out is our bring it back recycling program that we offered and that really went to the point of I suppose everyone recognizing that sustainability is a shared effort. So there is a role for us to play as individuals but also organizations and businesses more broadly and so with that program it was about providing a recycling solution for items that couldn't be easily recycled at home. Everything from Batteries Pens Computers mobile phones and that was really sick.

00:51.90
davidmcdermott
Are.

00:57.17
Ryan Swenson
Successful from an from an uptake perspective and the other one was our greener choices program that we offered which was providing more sustainable options across every category. There was around two and a half products in that and what we saw was that those product sales were growing 3 times faster than the traditional.

01:05.21
davidmcdermott
Um, yeah.

01:16.35
Ryan Swenson
Products.

01:16.85
davidmcdermott
Right now. The the recycling program is that what led to world's biggest garage sale and now economy or is there another story to that.

01:27.40
Ryan Swenson
Now there isn't another story so one of the area. One of the commitments we had was around becoming a 0 waste business and so over a period of 3 to 4 years we had a real focus on reducing our waste to landfill and increasing recycling rates and. I often point to this one as an example because over that period we went from recycling around 67% of our waste to over 90 and what that means in practice is you've got 9000 team members that every time they make a decision about what bin to put something in they have to choose the right bin and so this. More points to the cultural shift um of what we were able to achieve organizationally about bringing people along on the journey to to achieve those outcomes but through that process empowering individuals right? across the business to think about new ways that we could reduce our environmental impact. And so one of those actually resulted in the team in Queensland Dc because we knew that damaged furniture coming back from customers or damage in transit was one of the problematic areas of becoming the 0 waste business. So the team in the Queensland Dc actually came across the world's biggest garage sale and. Put that up as an initiative to say let's partner with them. They could repair repurpose the damage furniture and keep it out of lampfill and so we did and um for for me and my team it was about how do we actually? yeah operate with our own startup mentality so that we can really enable initiatives like this to to really.

03:00.60
Ryan Swenson
Flourish across the business and just get them off the ground and so we did that pilot we proved that it was commercially feasible. It operated cost neutral so we were reducing our landfill but we had the reverse logistics to collect it and and take it to the world's biggest garage sale. The biggest issue was that we needed a national solution. And this is you know one of the things when we talk about sconomies what we're talking about is really consistent issues across Australia and and more broadly globally. How do we get the solutions we need at scale and quickly and that was the the really key barrier for us to actually go beyond queensland at the time.

03:35.58
davidmcdermott
Right? and sconmy now So Officeworks acquired World's biggest garage sale which was an existing business.

03:45.21
Ryan Swenson
Yeah, Officeworks invested in the business. So when yans the founder did the first capital raise it was an opportunity to say well what could officeworks bring to the table because yes capital was obviously important but also having an anchor partner that had that national footprint that could help.

03:50.53
davidmcdermott
Um, okay.

04:04.63
Ryan Swenson
<unk>s biggest go of sale and this economy now enter other states in a much more lower risk way but also faster having that customer footprint and a model so that's exactly what we've been working on and and now so. Set up in victoria and also new south wales

04:21.29
davidmcdermott
Yeahp Okay, and economy So is it a publicly is it a public company that's unlisted or publicly listed company. What's the current status.

04:34.64
Ryan Swenson
Correct. So it's a social enterprise unlisted but obviously with with shareholders.

04:41.22
davidmcdermott
Yeah, cool and tell us about S Economyomy specifically like how do you summarize? you know what? what's the sort of 1 minute summary of what is economy. What does it do.

04:54.62
Ryan Swenson
Yeah, for Sure. So Schoomy is a social enterprise which exists to create a world without waste including human potential and the human potential aspect is about building an inclusive business providing opportunity for people of all abilities as we grow. Ultimately, we're doing this by mobilising dormant goods and resources. Um across the country to limit the use of new resources being used and ultimately contribute to a net 0 cirular economy. The problem. We're essentially trying to solve is how do we capture the endless amount of supply of dormant goods and that can be anything from excess or clearance stock in the retail sector. It could be the materials such as furniture or ceiling tiles coming out of the property sector when they do Reef bits. It's really broad. How do we capture those dormant goods. Um, and adequately stimulate demand to find feasible channels back into market that make it just as easy to purchase refurbished or renewed products as it does for businesses or individuals to purchase new products today.

05:51.47
davidmcdermott
Um.

05:59.81
davidmcdermott
Yeah, so is there anything excluded and and as a caveat to that. Ah I mean it sounds like the model is really about capturing things that would otherwise go to landfill to waste and seeing that they have a use. With some refurbishment that can then be sold on and and so and to stay in and inactive use in in industry and Marketplace rather than just adding to landfill is that essentially the business model.

06:31.60
Ryan Swenson
Yeah, essentially it's about how do we get? what we've got today and make sure we're keeping it at its highest value for longer. So one of the key principles of the cir economy. How do we make sure we're designing out waste and. Cost through that and do it in a way that is really improving the productivity of the resources we have because we know the only way we're going to transition to a net zero circular economy is by leading with the commercial outcomes first that's what we're going to say quicker.

07:02.46
davidmcdermott
Yeah, it's a little not exactly the same It's a little bit similar similar to Patagonia's warnware business. So they you know they now have ah a model where they capture and secondhand goods when customers have finished with them and they they do sort of. Refurbish tier them up if needed because they they're very long-lasting where and they um they resell rather than having them go to landfill and and is there anything excluded I mean would you would you work with large steel sort of ah.

07:27.85
Ryan Swenson
And then.

07:37.87
davidmcdermott
You know bits of a construction of a construction or demolition of ah of a building large large bits of steel that um, a part of the foundation of a building that you could repurpose in some way. Is there a limit to how far you'll go.

07:49.79
Ryan Swenson
Yeah I think when we look at the business units. We're establishing today. We've we've got 5 areas so one is around providing solutions for the retail industry. Another one is around solutions for the property industry which is largely the soft demo and the the furniture and other fixtures that are in there today. We've then got circular asset management because what we do know is across the country There's millions of items sitting dormant in warehouses that are depreciating every day and it could be e-waste or computers and used it equipment. There's a lot of that so we can get that back into the economy.

08:08.41
davidmcdermott
Um.

08:25.19
Ryan Swenson
And then the other one is around sustainable operations so helping businesses get to 0 waste or um, change the way things are done such as influence in the design Upstream to have better outcomes on the use of products and Materials. So That's ultimately our supply site and then all of that is feeding our recommerce business. Um, which is then looking at the right channels to Market. So um, ultimately our dormant goods materials is broad but we are a startup that's scaling up so we'll focus on um the right partners to begin with and the right the right products where we've got capability to be.

08:56.40
davidmcdermott
Yeah, yeah, and tell us about the scaling up because what I've understood is that there's been a significant growth. What what is this? What is the growth at the moment and what do you anticipate it to be you know over the next one two 3 Years and beyond.

09:14.45
Ryan Swenson
So obviously I'm only a month five into the role. But really, it's about first of all, how can we provide a national service as quickly as possible because we know that's where the need is and we know that we need to make it easy for businesses. To embrace circular solutions and and then also on the other end people are purchasing. How do they get access to those products. So um, we've got Melbourne operations established now and we've got a team in Sydney and we've got partners that can ultimately service the country so it is about that role of. Establishing our direct operations but also finding the right partners to work with that enables us to have those solutions across the country. We're building. Ah you know a really great team and the the capability needed to actually be a great retail business to be a great service business to work with business customers. And also um, underpinning with the right technology solutions that enable us to capture data look at the esg analytics and impact and then make more informed decisions so we are definitely in that phase of establishing operations bringing the right partners and the right tech solutions that enable us. Ultimately to go quicker.

10:31.81
davidmcdermott
And what is the vision first economymy in terms of what what you want to create and not not just you personally Ryan but the leadership team you know the board the stakeholders you're speaking with where are you at in terms of clarity of vision on. What this might be in in the medium to longer term future.

10:52.70
Ryan Swenson
Yeah I think we're really true to remaining true to our purpose of creating the world without waste but doing it in a way as a social enterprise that really balances First of all as a people-first business. What's the benefit to to the. People we're working with we're employing and that the broader social impacts. We can have the benefit obviously to the planet environmentally and then the prosperity that comes with that. So I think there's 2 parts of what our vision is really, it's about yes what we can achieve and working towards that circular economy. But the second part is showing that ah of. Really feasible model as a social enterprise that genuinely balances the needs of people planet and prosperity is a great place to work. A great place to shop. Great place to invest and ultimately we need more innovative businesses like this that genuinely balance those outputs and impacts.

11:46.12
davidmcdermott
Well, what a cool business and we'll put this economy website in the show notes. So that listeners can can check it out and you know jump on and and learn more or get involved if they'd like to to finish in terms of a final question Ryan. So you're you're new in the role of Ceo five months in um, how's it been going so far in terms of leadership and what what have been your insights so far to share with listeners.

12:18.54
Ryan Swenson
Yeah, well look five months in and and so far so good. We're making a lot of progress I think um for me, you know the focus is definitely around finding the right building the right team and focusing on establishing that that right culture because we know just the importance of getting the culture right and I think personally the opportunity of actually joining a startup where you genuinely have that opportunity to focus on the values and the people that you bring in and and how you operate as a team is going to shape us into the future. Ah, find that quite um, quite exciting. So that's definitely been a big focus so we're at the point now of starting to attract some really great capable people that are value aligned purpose driven that we know are going to get us where we want to go quicker and as I touched on is also about creating a much more enjoyable employee experience. And if we love what we do and love coming to work that flows through to the customers and then the partners we work with I think the second part then is just who we work with and so we are seeing that there are so many values align partners out there and ultimately um, yeah, as circularity has been. Become mainstreamed across Australia that isn't just changing what we're doing at home and how we shop it's also changing what we're doing at work and what we're finding is the people we're working with are at all parts of the organisation. It's not just about the sustainability team. It's about facilities team supply chain teams.

13:44.13
Ryan Swenson
Operations Merchandisees Everyone right through that are saying there's a better Way. We can do this. This isn't right and starting to find those solutions and so for us working with those people and just co-creating. You know we're We're not saying we're a national business ah can go full speed right now. What we are saying is let's start. Small. Co-create the solution together grow together and then make sure that we're delivering the commercial outcomes to ensure that whatever the program we're working on is really feasible but then also overlaid with the social environmental outcomes and so we're having a lot of success in that in that space and then I think the third part is just um. Around trust and transparency and I think you know a lot has been said about the currency of trust and clearly as a social enterprise. That's really fundamental to how we operate obviously really transparent about what we're working towards but then I think that just goes. Even further in terms of the culture of of what that means as a team and as a leader personally that making sure I'm getting the right feedback. There is a safe space but then also how we work with people outside whether that's individual customers or businesses.

14:54.95
davidmcdermott
Yeah, and what is the size of the team at the moment out of interest.

15:01.29
Ryan Swenson
So we're a team of 25 at the moment but actively recruiting for a number of roles and ultimately the more strategic partners we bring on are confident about building the right team to support the growth and we've got.

15:17.43
davidmcdermott
Yeah, and is there Also um, sorry go on.

15:19.53
Ryan Swenson
For Know. So um to elaborate So One of the teams we're building at the moment is a national recommerce team which is really about looking at how we can take products and rehome them in a way that makes sense and so roles include. A community experience recommerce leader that is all about creating a great team Experience. A great customer experience but then more broadly the genuine connections with the local communities that we're interacting in a meaningful way through events through outreach and ultimately building. A great experience across those touchpoints.

15:54.68
davidmcdermott
So I did hear right earlier I actually thought you said ecommerce and I thought was that recommerce or ecommerce. But you've um, you've just clearly stated stated that term again I know I said yeah there was that was one last question but. Can we make can we just add this really 1 final question and can you just tell us a little more about this concept of recommerce and and house economy and contributes to that space.

16:24.37
Ryan Swenson
Yeah, for sure so for us ultimately, everything we sell in some ways either giving it a second life or is helping avoid buying new so we view recommerce in the holistic sense. It could be across every channel it is across every channel and it may involve. Resale of items such as refurbished and renewed technology but it can also involve donations to community organisations and we've had a recent example where working with the corporate partner. We were able to salvage half a container of new clothing that was destined for landfill and arranged to get that into flood affected communities in in the Kimberley. So for us recommerce is just a way of how do we use our resources better rather than just saying let's go and buy everything new. Let's make more sustainable choices and ultimately by shopping with the economymy or partnering with economy. That's what our our customers can be certain of.

17:07.58
davidmcdermott
Um, yeah.

17:20.38
davidmcdermott
Yeah, well that is really fascinating and and for listeners who'd like to learn more get involved and. I mean I mean of course, there's this economy website which we'll put in the show notes. Do you have any other tips for resources that people can access to learn more anything at all for um, for listeners.

17:41.18
Ryan Swenson
Yeah I think we're a very ah approachable team. So reach out to myself from Linkedin or yazrugulinas is is the founder and our chief evangelist because we know we need to spread the word and bring people along with us on this journey. Ah, but yes, our website um, it also has quite a bit of information.

17:58.73
davidmcdermott
Cool. So we'll put those Linkedin details in the show notes. Also Ryan it's been a real pleasure and such a fascinating business I I wish I wish we could speak for longer. But we're at time. Thank you very much for your time today and and sharing your experience so far with Ssomy.

18:16.16
Ryan Swenson
Thanks David I appreciate the opportunity.