Episode 04: How to decouple profit from environmental impacts with Daniel Böckin

Daniel Böckin is about to finalize his PhD on environmental assessment of circular solutions at Chalmers Technical University in Gothenburg, Sweden! A great moment to share his knowledge and critically discuss the challenges of truly decoupling environmental impacts from profits through circular solutions. If you are curious how to look at environmental impacts and financial value in circular business model design more systematically, listen in and hear Daniel explain his new method – The Business Model LCA – that helps assess whether a circular business model design results in decoupling or not, taking the example of a Swedish company that is shifting from sales to rent of outdoor gear.

01:00 An introduction to the idea of decoupling in a circular economy // 01:50 Is the idea of decoupling in a circular economy enough to address the environmental crises we experience? // 04:20 Why should businesses care about decoupling their environmental impacts from profit generation? // 06:09 The importance of focusing on environmental impact reduction when designing circular solutions // 06:44 Hear about Daniel’s PhD journey // 07:46 Businesses Daniel consulted during his PhD // 10:37 Why is it sometimes not enough to only do a life cycle assessment? // 12:00 Why profit generation is a good basis of comparison to assess decoupling of circular business models? // 13:00 An example of a case study of a rental model for outdoor gear // 14:48 Daniel’s summary of the Business Model LCA method// 16:45 Daniel’s suggestion for tools and softwares to help develop circular business models // 18:38 Hear Daniel’s call for action.

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