53. Season 3: Circularity in Action

The conversation you’ve been asking for is finally here: fewer slogans, more results. We’re kicking off season three by sharpening our promise—spotlighting real stories of business circularity that cut waste, save money, and build resilient operations across North America.

We trace how listener questions evolved from “What are carbon credits?” to “How did they actually do that?” and explain why the centre of gravity has moved from ESG buzz to measurable circular outcomes. Along the way, we unpack the role AI now plays in the loop—forecasting returns, improving grading, streamlining reverse logistics—and where human know‑how still drives the toughest wins. You’ll hear how brands navigated reuse at scale, launched packaging innovations, and partnered with vendors to extend product life without sacrificing quality or compliance.

This season brings clearer structure and higher utility: two episodes per month in an eight‑month run, tighter segments for easier listening, and case studies that answer three practical questions—what was achieved, how it happened, and what you can copy tomorrow. We’re expanding our scope beyond Canada to reflect a North American audience and the cross‑border realities of electronics lifecycle management, recycling infrastructure, and policy. If your team has a circular success—from take‑back to refurbishment to materials recovery—we want to surface it so others can learn and build on it.

Join us as we advance business circularity with stories that travel and tactics that pay off. Subscribe, share with a colleague who owns sustainability or operations, and leave a review to help more practitioners find these lessons. Have a circular win to feature? Pitch it at quantumlifecycle.com/podcast.

Thanks for tuning in to The Circular Future. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

Interested in joining us as a guest? Reach out to Sanjay Trivedi at strivedi@quantumlifecycle.com.

Listen to more episodes at https://quantumlifecycle.com/podcast, and stay connected with us on LinkedIn.

Chapters

• 0:00 Season Three Kickoff
• 1:07 Why The Show Is Changing
• 2:56 From ESG Buzz To Circular Focus
• 4:49 Stories, Scope, And New Format
• 7:27 How To Get Involved

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hey, welcome to season three and happy circular economy month! I am so grateful to be back, and we've got some exciting changes in store. Welcome to the circular future, showcasing stories of circularity that reshaped how businesses operate and how you can do it too in your organization. If you've been a longtime listener of the podcast, and thank you if you are, you may have noticed something different right away in what I've already said. We've updated what's known as our show promise. But I digress. Before I get into the changes, let's talk about why we've updated the podcast in the first place. And actually, let's take a step back. We started the Circular Future Podcast back in January of 2023. Honestly, it feels so long ago. In the past two and a half years, we have released about two episodes per month and are now on episode 53. We're really proud of that because less than 9% of podcasts ever hit the 50 episode milestone. And that percentage may actually be generous. A fun fact almost half of all podcasts stop by episode three. Another cool thing we're proud of for the Circular Future is that we've done three live podcast recordings at industry conferences: the Canadian Telecom Summit, eScrap, and eSummit. We've had so many guest experts on as well. It warms by heart. We've also received so many stories about how the podcast has inspired Quantum's customers and our staff and frankly the broader community in many new ways. So as we were approaching the summer of 2025, we were ready to take a little break. And we'd actually never given ourselves the opportunity to have space to step back, review the podcast, and make any fundamental changes. We hadn't really reassessed who our listeners actually were, where they were located, what was working well, and what needed to change. So we did that and we took a little break over the summer as well, personally. When we gave ourselves the space to refresh the podcast, we saw that the industry and the types of questions we were getting asked had fundamentally changed since the beginning of 2023. At the time of starting the podcast, one of the questions we got asked commonly was, what are carbon credits? And why do some companies offer them while others won't, like Quantum. We actually tackle that topic in episode six. We were being asked sustainability questions since that was the time when companies were really releasing new goals and all employees, regardless of your title, were in some way in charge of sustainability outcomes. And while that still is true, the level of sustainability knowledge has improved significantly, and it's no longer the pain point it once was. We're also seeing a new focus emerge. Certainly, ESG was a big term back when we started the podcast, but now that's fading. And while sustainability is very much alive, especially now focusing on the value it provides companies, we're seeing a shift in the conversation. Instead, we're being asked at Quantum more and more about circularity. And some organizations actually have circular goals that they're working towards. And regardless, everyone is interested to recycle more, reuse more, and have good environmental and financial outcomes. Let's also not forget how everything has shifted in the last couple years around AI, artificial intelligence, and how this will continue to be a current in all that we do. So, besides a focus on circularity and the impact of AI, we also heard that our listeners loved hearing the stories and specifically how companies achieved certain successes. A few of those examples are episode 28 with Keurig Dr. Pepper, and how they're releasing a new innovation of packageless coffee pods. Also, episode 50 with iconic Mabel's labels and their untold sustainability story. Or the live podcast recording we did with the Canadian telecom giant Rogers Communications on how they work with vendors like Quantum to maximize their own sustainability efforts. That's episode 18. Okay, so what are the changes going forward? Well, much is staying the same. The circular future name, the logo, and hey, you're stuck with me as the host. But I want you to know I'm real, I'm not AI. But we have a major pivot if we're allowed to say the word pivot again after COVID. Going forward, we'll be sharing stories of business circularity, some real-world examples of companies succeeding with reuse, recycling, and innovative circular practices. We'll highlight what they've accomplished, how they got there, and the lessons others can take away. We're shifting from the tagline of driving business sustainability to advancing business circularity, which reflects a deeper focus on innovative circular solutions for today's organizations. In our first two seasons, our focus had largely been on Canada, but now we're broadening this to North America to reflect our current listener base. As for the podcast format, there will still be two episodes per month, but we'll be doing this in an eight-month season versus all year long. The show will have more defined segments with a ding. There it is. Because it turns out our brains need a little bit of variation. And there will be a short and sweet ad. Because come on, we all need to pay the bills. So, yes, as you can tell, we're super excited for season three and look forward to sharing these stories of circularity in businesses. If you know of an organization with a great story to tell around circularity, please do reach out at quantumlifecycle.com slash podcast. And remember, if you're looking for a leader in electronics lifecycle management, we'd love to chat. Head on over to quantumlifecycle.com and contact us. This is a Quantum Lifecycle Podcast, and the producer is Sanjay Trevetti. Thank you for being a circular future champion in your company and beyond.