Inside IKEA's strategy: building a resilient circular business

In a world of rising tariffs and supply chain disruption, could circularity be one of the smartest business moves a company can make? Danielle Holly, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s North America Lead, is joined by Tensie Whelan, founder of the Center for Sustainable Business at NYU Stern and former President of the Rainforest Alliance, to explore this and more. Tensie explains the ROSI (Return on Sustainability Investment) framework, developed at NYU Stern to help companies track and monetise the full value of sustainability strategies. This includes operational efficiency, risk reduction, new revenue and customer loyalty. Together, they explore how circular approaches can shorten supply chains and reduce exposure to tariffs and geopolitical shocks. They also tackle the harder questions: why do most companies still not act, even when the numbers stack up? And what will it take to bring finance, governance and the boardroom along for the journey? Sign up to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's North America newsletter to keep up with the latest on circularity in North America. And if you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review or share it with a colleague to help us spread the word.

What if buying second-hand felt exactly like buying new? In this episode of the Circular Economy Show, we explore how IKEA is embedding circular principles into its core commercial strategy. Fin is joined by Conor Hill, Global Director for Circular and Sustainable Living at IKEA, who shares how the brand is delivering measurable impact, all while making circularity affordable and accessible for their customers. Watch the full episode to find out how implementing a Buyback & Resell model has enabled IKEA to: Allow their consumers to become active participants in the circular economy.  Use tailored marketing tactics to drive increased brand awareness and business resilience.  Use data to understand friction points, optimise loyalty strategies, and keep customers engaged. If you enjoyed this episode, then please share with your colleagues, or leave us a review or comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. 

In a circular economy, products may not be sold just once, but multiple times. This enables businesses to generate more revenue from one item. As a result, businesses are shifting their metrics beyond short-term profit to embrace the long-term strategic advantages of circular business models. In this episode of The Circular Economy Show, host Fin is joined by Emily Hill, Director of Sustainable Transformation Practice at Kantar, to discuss measurement guidance that will allow marketing teams to support the shift to circular business models and behaviours at scale, while delivering on their key priorities. Emily explains how marketers can redefine success across four key areas: Commercial, Brand, Creative, and Consumer Insight. From building a compelling business case for pilots, to using creative campaigns to shift consumer behaviour, we explore how measurement can be a powerful tool to unlock resources for circular initiatives. If you enjoyed this episode, then please share with your colleagues, or leave us a review or comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Learn more about the measurement guidance, developed in collaboration with Kantar Explore 'The marketing playbook for a circular economy' Other episodes on the marketing playbook: Ep 176: Driving demand for circular economy: What marketers need to know | Kantar and Swapfiets Ep 185: How can marketers turn ideas into impactful action? Ep 186: How do we make circular behaviours irresistible?

We are currently seeing a shift where circular economy policy is moving out of purely environmental ministries and into the hands of economic planning authorities and ministries of industry. In this episode, Lou is joined by Joss Blériot, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Executive Policy Lead, who cuts through the noise of global headlines and looks at what’s actually moving on the ground. Together, they explore why there has been a 35% surge in national circular economy strategies worldwide. From the Global North to the Global South, the conversation highlights how circularity is currently being implemented and how we might address regional and international fragmentation to harmonise definitions. We also hear which specific policy tools we should be prioritising right now to go further and faster. If you enjoyed this episode, then please share with your colleagues, or leave us a review or comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.

Biodiversity loss is accelerating at an alarming rate, but could circular economy solutions help turn things around? In this episode of The Circular Economy Show, Lou speaks with Marianne Kettunen, Biodiversity Lead for Policy at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Bianca Brasil, Programme Manager at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. They explore why around 90% of biodiversity loss is linked to the way we extract and process resources, how circular business models can support the targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework, and what needs to happen before the COP17 Biodiversity Conference to accelerate action. The conversation also looks at the growing role of businesses in biodiversity discussions, why circular economy and biodiversity strategies must be better connected, and how global supply chains could help scale solutions worldwide. Explore the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s recent policy paper, Scaling action for nature. Learn more about the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Over the past decade, leading businesses have shown that progress on plastic pollution is possible. And while individual company action has been successful, even the most ambitious businesses are running up against the same obstacles. As a result, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has rallied leading businesses behind an evidence-based, ‘2030 Plastics Agenda for Business.’ In this episode of the Circular Economy Show, taken from a Foundation’s webinar, we explore that Agenda, and evaluate the plan and priority actions for business and policy to drive implementation at scale. If you enjoyed this episode, then please share with your colleagues, or leave us a review or comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.  Learn more about the 2030 Plastics Agenda for Business and how your organisation can play a role. .

What do some of the more surprising stories of scale teach us about implementing the circular economy? In this episode of the Circular Economy Show, Fin is joined by Rachel O’Reilly, Global Human Sustainability Design Director at Accenture, to discuss their upcoming report. The report, titled ‘Circularity is Working’ provides direction on how to improve the consumer adoption of circularity. From musicians in Liverpool reinvesting savings from second-hand instruments, to informal sharing systems in Hamburg, the conversation explores businesses and communities where circularity is succeeding. Rachel shares insights into the hidden drivers of circularity and explains why they could be the secret to normalising, embedding, and scaling circularity.  If you enjoyed this episode, then please share with your colleagues, or leave us a review or comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. The report will be attached in the show notes upon its release in Spring 2026.

Welcome back to The Circular Economy Show and another episode of Circular Snapshots, where we unpack the headlines shaping the transition to a circular economy.This month, Seb explores the EU’s upcoming Circular Economy Act and its shift toward positioning circularity as industrial strategy, not just environmental policy. We look at new global data revealing rapid growth in national circular economy roadmaps, and why implementation is now the real test.We also dive into the growing link between circular economy and critical mineral supply chains — from insights at the World Economic Forum to new analysis on EV batteries and material security. Finally, we examine a major UK industry push for a mandatory textiles Extended Producer Responsibility scheme, and what it could mean for transforming one of the economy’s most linear sectors.From policy to supply chains to industry coalitions, this episode highlights one clear trend: the circular economy is becoming central to competitiveness.Stories referenced in today’s episode:EU Circular Economy Acthttps://www.brusselstimes.com/1937610/europes-new-circular-economy-act-getting-the-basics-right-for-eu-competitivenessNational Circular Economy Roadmapshttps://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/unido-publications/2026-01/Stocktake%20CE%20Roadmaps%202025.pdfCritical minerals and the circular economyhttps://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/circular-economy-clean-energy-supply-chain-critical-minerals/Circular economy and EV batterieshttps://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiehailstone/2026/01/27/circular-economy-could-prevent-an-ev-battery-minerals-bottleneck-study-finds/Textiles and EPRhttps://resource.co/article/uk-textiles-industry-group-publishes-10-point-blueprint-mandatory-epr-scheme

Wen-Yu Weng, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Critical Minerals Lead, joins Lou to explain why critical minerals are currently taking centre stage in global political conversations. They explore:How we can create secure and resilient supply chains to close the gap on fast growing demandThe circular opportunities that  currently lie in shaping supply chains to capture value right nowThe enabling factors that have opened windows of opportunity for immediate actionIf you enjoyed this episode, then please share with your colleagues, or leave us a review or comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.

Join Seb as he speaks to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s CEO, Jonquil Hackenberg about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the circular economy in 2026.What are your priorities for 2026? Let us know in the comments or on our LinkedIn page.