Jessica has been helping businesses create positive environmental impact for over two decades. She is also co-author of The Circular Economy Handbook: Realizing the Circular Advantage.
Jessica explained why our system of ‘take, make, waste’ isn’t working, with some startling figures:
‘Today, we use about 1.6 times the earth's capacity, meaning we use 60% more than the earth can generate every year. Clearly that's not sustainable.’
Instead, she believes we should move to more viable ways of sustaining ourselves:
‘A circular economy tries to get rid of the concept of waste altogether. So instead of going from take, make, waste, you essentially go to an economy that is based on take, make, take, make, take, make.’
For over ten years, Paul Polman has been on a similar mission to make sustainability mainstream. His direction at Unilever drove up profits on the coattails of increased corporate responsibility and prompted companies across all industries to start to realise and prioritise their duty to protect the environment.