Jonathan Deller

I wasn't expecting my new bank card to make me think about circularity but it was my first time seeing one made from 100% recycled plastic! Gone is the embossed lettering (all the details are printed on the back) yet the card still feels high quality and premium. I do think it's interesting when companies quietly make recycled materials the default, especially for products people associate with quality and trust. Hopefully as more banks transition, it will help change people’s perceptions of recycled plastic. It made me wonder, is one of the biggest barriers to circularity simply perception?

THIS IS WHAT CIRCULARITY LOOKS LIKE BEFORE THE BIN ♻️ I’ve walked past these water refill machines in Thailand more times than I can count. They’re so common that I’d honestly stopped noticing them. It was only recently that I realized they’re tackling a completely different problem from most of the circularity projects I’ve been writing about. In my last few posts, I’ve looked at bottle cap recycling, battery collection bins, shoe donations, bottle-return machines, and coffee cup collection systems. They all have one thing in common: they deal with products after they've been used. These machines do something much simpler. They encourage people to hang onto their plastic bottles a little longer and keep using them until they either become too dirty or damaged to use any more. Maybe that's the real opportunity. What do you think; is prevention where the real circular economy begins?

These coffee cups actually have a next step. I spotted what I thought was a cup-return point inside a coffee shop in Thailand. At first, I thought it was just another place to dump cups, but when I looked properly, it’s actually more thought-out than that and a pretty great example of recycling and circularity. The goal is to get people to return their disposable cups in good condition, so that they can be upcycled. Yes, there's a small incentive (each cup is worth one loyalty point), so customers can get a small discount if they return enough cups. It kind of makes disposal feel like part of the customer journey itself. Buy drink → finish drink → return cup → get points. It sounds obvious, but that missing “next step” is often where circular systems break down. Just to be clear, Café Amazon does sell a wide range of permanent tumblers that are designed to be washed and reused. But this ‘Return the Cup!’ project seems like a great solution for customers who just want to get a disposable cup. I think this type of system shows that people are usually willing to participate, but only if the action is easy, visible, and built naturally into their routine. It made me wonder: how many waste problems are actually design problems?

This machine doesn’t see plastic bottles as trash ♻️ I spotted this bottle-return machine inside a supermarket in Thailand and was really struck by the message: “Clear plastic (PET) bottles are valuable, don’t throw them away!” Rather than just being a normal recycling bin, there’s actually a small reward built in: if you collect 100 bottles, you get a free reusable bag, which is a nice little extra. As you can see from the photo, the machine wasn’t working when I saw it (might need to be emptied!). Still, I quite liked the idea behind it. It made me realize that plastic isn’t always the whole problem; a lot depends on what systems are in place after we use it. This machine gives people an obvious path for plastic bottles after using them, and actually makes the next step so obvious that people barely have to think. I love seeing different companies designing better routes for materials after use. In this case, the company has a great idea for a machine, but just needs to look into maintaining the machine a little more regularly! This made me wonder: how much is waste really just a logistics problem?