Welcome to the Green Alliance podcast.

We are the charity and think tank that is all about achieving ambitious leadership for the environment.

I'm Jasmine, policy assistant at Green Alliance working on the Circular Economy Task Force,

where we have long been publishing evidence on the environmental, economic and social benefits of switching to a circular

economy. But what does that look like in practice? In our latest report, ready, steady, grow

how the Treasury can mainstream circular businesses, we interviewed 10 circular businesses to better

understand how the economics of circularity stack up, the socio-environmental impacts they have, and what

is holding circular businesses back from moving from the market peripheries into the mainstream.

They showed us how circular businesses can offer a host of environmental benefits associated with

reducing raw material consumption, potential cost savings for consumers, and can be as profitable,

if not more, than their linear counterparts. But many businesses struggle to realise these benefits as scaling up and reaching a wide, receptive customer base is a challenge in an economy that is dominated by a take, make, use and throw mindset.

All businesses agreed that government could do more to help overcome these

challenges and incentivise circularity. So without further ado, I'm delighted to be joined by three of

the innovative circular businesses we interviewed in our report. They shed some more light about how

they work, the business case for circularity and what further support is needed from government.

Thanks so much for joining us, Charlotte.

So Charlotte is from the Little Loop, a children's clothing rental platform.

Customers pay for monthly or quarterly membership plans, swapping items as frequently as needed.

Charlotte, can you tell us a bit more about the business case for rental?

Absolutely. At the core of the Little Loop and indeed rental is keeping clothing in circulation for as long as possible.

Clothing is a very precious resource and hugely wasteful. And all we're trying to do is enable people to access clothing when they need it, rather than buying it, keeping it hanging in a closet for years,

and then ultimately throwing it away when they don't know what to do with it.

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