For years, the circular economy conversation has generated significant research, policy development, and business action around finite materials. But the same attention has not been given to bio-based materials. How can products and components made from these materials circulate and create value in a circular economy? In this episode of The Circular Economy Show, Fin is joined by Guilherme Suertegaray, co-author of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's new report — Circular by nature: a policy agenda for bio-based materials in a circular economy — and Beto Bina, CEO and founder of Farfarm, to explore why circular economy and bio-based material policies have developed in silos, and what's needed to align them.
For years, the circular economy conversation has generated significant research, policy development, and business action around finite materials. But the same attention has not been given to bio-based materials. How can products and components made from these materials circulate and create value in a circular economy?
In this episode of The Circular Economy Show, Fin is joined by Guilherme Suertegaray, co-author of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's new report — Circular by nature: a policy agenda for bio-based materials in a circular economy — and Beto Bina, CEO and founder of Farfarm, to explore why circular economy and bio-based material policies have developed in silos, and what's needed to align them.
We cover the policy gap on both sides, real supply chain examples, and the social stakes for smallholder farmers and rural communities. We also explore bio-based resource production as a key driver of biodiversity action as well as the policy recommendations the report puts forward ahead of COP17 — where we’ll be demonstrating that the circular economy offers a practical route to tackling biodiversity loss and meeting national biodiversity targets.
For more on COP17, listen to our previous episode on this topic — Circular economy, biodiversity, and the road to COP17 — and look out for the next one in September.
If you enjoyed this episode, then please share it with your colleagues, or leave us a review or comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.
Circular by nature: a policy agenda for bio-based materials in a circular economy
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[00:00:00.000] - Finn
The Circular economy has made real progress over the past decade. More than 100 countries now have national Circular economy roadmaps or action plans. But up until now, most of that progress is focused on the technical side of the butterfly diagram. We haven't explored with the same attention how products and components made from bio-based materials can create value in a Circular economy. Welcome to the Circular Economy Show. Today, we're diving into why this gap exists and how we can close it. Joining me to discuss this through the lens of our latest report, Circular by Nature, is Guilherme from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Beto Bina, founder and CEO of Farfarm. Let's get into it.
[00:00:41.860] - Finn
Gui, firstly, huge congratulations on the publication. As part of the research, you studied both Circular economy policies and bioeconomy policies. What did you find, and why does it matter?
[00:00:53.100] - Guilherme Suertegaray
The research we made analyzed national economy strategies and bio-based material policy frameworks worldwide to assess how those two strategies work together. The guideline is that those two agendas operate in silos, and each one of them have a blind spot that actually mirror the image of the other. What we saw is that Circular economy strategies tend to treat bio-based materials poorly as substitute for fossil-based inputs. They ask things like, "Can we switch plastic for something bio-based?" Or sometimes they are very opportunistic. They see a lot of agri-waste and wonder what they can do with those wastes. Actually, they ignore largely how those materials were grown, and how those materials could move into multiple cycles and how those materials could safely return to nature.
[00:02:14.000] - Guilherme Suertegaray
In the other side, those policies regulating the production and use of bio-based materials—I'm talking here about sustainable agriculture, bioeconomy policies, green industrializations—so those frameworks operate in the opposite blind spot. As a result, we have investments driven to optimize this linear bio-based systems rather than redesign those systems. For Regenerative production, value retention, safer integration into natural systems, all those Circular strategies are not addressed in both frameworks.
[00:02:58.820] - Finn
Okay, yeah. It feels like a huge missed opportunity, really. I guess what the report is proposing is to create more synergy between both bioeconomy and Circular economy policies. To address that misalignment, the report proposes a framework. Could you just walk us through the framework?
[00:03:13.800] - Guilherme Suertegaray
We come up with five mutually reinforcing strategies that fits very well this context of bio-based materials. The first one, it's about sourcing. Materials should come from farming and forestry practices that are Regenerative, like agroforestry, permaculture, silvopasture systems, that actually restore systems where they come from.
[00:03:44.560] - Guilherme Suertegaray
The second element of the framework is the need of design materials without substance of concerns. We need materials or components for products that are safe for people and the environment across the whole life cycles.
[00:04:03.240] - Guilherme Suertegaray
The third one is the need of design for durability and value retention. We should develop materials that are made to last, and sometimes you need more technology for that. We also need to include those products made of bio-based materials into systems that are prepared for repair and keep those materials in the high value.
[00:04:33.620] - Guilherme Suertegaray
The fourth element is the need of design for secondary applications, because after multiple cycles of use, such as resale, rental, repair, sometimes those materials should transition to a lower value uses because it's natural that the quality of those materials degrade over time.
[00:05:03.960] - Guilherme Suertegaray
Finally, the fifth one is the end of life of those materials. Materials should return to biological systems when possible through industrial composting and anaerobic digestion, only when we have the maximum value of those materials.
[00:05:21.080] - Guilherme Suertegaray
Surrounding all those elements, we need a fair and inclusive value chain, because bio-based materials—and this is very important—the production of those materials is rooted in communities with deep connections with land, and the transitions cannot bypass their needs and the social and economical aspects for the territory that produce those materials.
[00:05:50.480] - Finn
Quite a comprehensive framework, but I'm glad you mentioned the whole value chain representation there because I'm excited to get into that later. You did mention Regenerative production. That feels like a great segue to bring you in, Beto. Tell us a little bit about your work with Farfarm. Also, give us a bit of a picture of the Regenerative production landscape.
[00:06:09.340] - Beto Bina
Farfarm mission, right now, it's develop supply chains that Regenerate nature, promote social development, and tell stories. Finn, right now, the landscape is a little messy. There's no universal definition, but we can say about two different types of Regenerative practices. Some people call it the big R and the small R. But there's one type which is the threshold, which is you need to certify, you need to have a set of criteria in order to become Regenerative. The most well-known certification is Regenerative organic certification, so it must be organic, it must have fair trade practices, and then you become Regenerative.
[00:06:56.580] - Beto Bina
The other approach is the pathway approach, which is you just need to show that we are improving the process or improving the soil quality or other aspects in order to become Regenerative.
[00:07:08.080] - Beto Bina
None of them are perfect. The pathway sometimes can be a little fragile in terms of certification. On the other hand, the threshold, it lacks accessibility. It's really hard to get into these certifications. It's expensive. You need to have external auditors. When you think about smallholder farmers, it's impossible to get this type of certifications nowadays. You really need to design the way you're doing.
[00:07:34.820] - Beto Bina
But when you think about what's the best and the most ideal? None of them. I think it's a combination of the two. You really need to design, use these two approaches to help to design based on territory, based on the people that are actually producing these raw materials.
[00:07:52.980] - Finn
It sounds like quite a fragmented landscape, and actually different farms may need different things depending on their regional location. From what you're saying, shared definition does seem like a crucial next step for the Regenerative production landscape. Gui, to bring you back in now then, can you give us some concrete examples from the study of perhaps how companies are making this work in the real world?
[00:08:13.980] - Guilherme Suertegaray
Before we go to the cases, I think it's important to make a connection that we easily miss. The Circular by nature framework we developed proposes that a generally Circular system needs to operate across multiple strategies simultaneously. Regenerative production, yes, but also the use of bio-based materials, designing products for longevity, disassembly, keep materials in use through repair, resales, and when possible, return those materials to the ecosystems or to the industry in the end of life.
[00:08:51.420] - Guilherme Suertegaray
For example, Lojas Renner, it's a Brazilian fashion retail, and they have built what's essentially a Circular system across three levers. At the design stage, they develop a Circular design guide that orients the production and development around Circularity using, for example, natural dyes, components designed for easy disassembling, monomaterial compositions that make recycling and reuse viable at the end of life. Then at the use phase, they work with suppliers or pre-consumer waste through their Moda Responsável program. Post-consumer, they run operations like Repassa, that's a resale platform for second-hand clothing of any brand. That shows that the Circularity for textiles, for example, go beyond this Regenerative sourcing.
[00:09:59.560] - Guilherme Suertegaray
Another example that comes—still for textile sector—that comes from Colombia, from Crystal. What they made is that they have invested in Regenerative sourcing cotton. That's part of the history. But what's for me particularly interesting about this case is how they connect the use phase of those products. They build, along with other brands, a network of repair artisans they call Manos Reparadoras, and also a post-consumer collection points across the retail network under Renova Moda program. This was made actually collaboratively among other brands.
[00:10:53.220] - Guilherme Suertegaray
Here comes the transparency tool. In this case, they use a digital product passport developed by TraceSurfer—that's a Uruguayan traceability company—that go beyond account for the origin of those materials. They actually, using the digital product passport, they actively show to the consumers places where they could repair those products, and also collection points where they could leave those products in the end of use, enabling actually that those materials go back to the industry and close the loop.
[00:11:43.060] - Finn
You've mentioned a few industries there. There's clearly real potential to apply Circular economy principles to different business opportunities. What about the social benefits, Beto? What's at stake for the communities? I know you mentioned earlier a whole value chain representation. What's your view on that?
[00:12:01.400] - Beto Bina
Finn, it's huge importance for social communities. There's a Brazilian activist called Chico Mendes. He used to say that ecology without social justice is just gardening. I would think the same nowadays. Regeneration without social justice is just gardening as well. In Brazil and in the global south, all these ecological movements or agricultural movements, they're connected with the smallholder farmers. These communities are doing the type of agriculture we need. These communities are the most vulnerable to be impacted by climate change, and we need to integrate them in this landscape.
[00:12:42.320] - Beto Bina
A few examples, as Gui mentioned, Renner, we're working with them, developing agroforestry with cotton. These families are producing cotton using agroforestry methods that are really important data for us that 1 hectare of agroforestry sequester 18 tons of carbon per hectare per year in comparison with conventional agriculture that emits from 3 to 4 tons of carbon. We're developing a system that is sequestering carbon, promoting social development, and also providing these raw materials into market. That's one of the case studies I want to mention.
[00:13:20.850] - Beto Bina
Another one, it's with the French sneaker company called VEJA. I used to work with them for many years. Also, there's another company called Seringô that use similar practices. Harvesting, we call it wild rubber. It's that rubber that is inside the forest. You need to walk through these trails and tap the rubber trees to collect the rubber and then include that in the supply chain against the synthetic rubber. These families are being paid four times more than conventional rubber.
[00:13:55.040] - Beto Bina
This is a set of subsidies, other partners, different types of capital that comes into the hands of this community. It's not just that monoculture mindset when a company is buying from a vendor. You have the whole ecosystem to be able to bring these people into these industries as well and tell a different story. Brazilian and global south story is told through raw material exploitation. Since the beginning in Brazil, from pau-brasil to gold to sugarcane, all this raw material left poverty, inequality. You need to tell a different story, and that can be through Regenerative raw materials.
[00:14:35.320] - Finn
There's some really interesting case studies in there, some great use of some materials that perhaps get forgotten about, really. The opportunities are huge for this region, not only from an economic point of view, but also socially, you're getting that triple win. Zooming out now, Gui, what are the implications of this when we're looking at the economy as a whole?
[00:14:53.680] - Guilherme Suertegaray
The study suggests that a nature-positive transition could represent 10 trillion in annual opportunity globally until 2030. That's a lot. For bio-based material producers, this means the opportunity to shift from low value commodity exports to high value Circular activities.
[00:15:16.320] - Guilherme Suertegaray
Let's consider, for example, textiles. Beyond cotton production, a Circular approach could open a much broader set of opportunities. For example, the development of bio-based chemicals including natural dyes, bio-based elastane. Also in the use phase, we are talking about jobs in repair, remanufacturing, collection, sorting, and all reverse logistics needed for those Circular business models.
[00:15:52.820] - Guilherme Suertegaray
Also, imagine the growth of transformation industries linked to recycling and biorefining in all different spaces where biomass is being used. What we mean is that each additional cycle create more value from the same unit of biomass, generating economic opportunities while you're reducing the needs of virgin resources extractions over time. Again, this is not just an environmental opportunity, it's also a social and economic one. However, these benefits will not be distributed equally by default. Actually, we should ensure a just transition with attention to job quality, local value creation, and inclusion.
[00:16:51.700] - Finn
That's a perfect segue to my next question around the policy instruments that are needed to make this a reality. Could you walk us through those recommendations and bring them to life, perhaps?
[00:17:02.780] - Guilherme Suertegaray
Yes, definitely. In the end, the Circular by Nature paper suggests five pillar recommendations for policymakers. Let's give just a quick look in each of them. The first one is about design. We should develop and adapt design standards for bio-based materials. That means actually embed Regeneration as a principle across full life cycle, not just production methods, and mandate traceability through tools like digital product passports.
[00:17:36.110] - Guilherme Suertegaray
The second one is enable effective and safe Circulation of those materials. This means review waste classifications that push bio-based material prematurely into low-value treatments, and establish clear secondary use pathways so materials can Circulate at high value before energy recovery, for example.
[00:18:02.340] - Guilherme Suertegaray
The third is about economics. We should redirect agriculture subsidies toward Regenerative practices. That's central.
[00:18:13.920] - Guilherme Suertegaray
The fourth element is about innovation, skills, infrastructure. When it comes to infrastructure, we need biorefineries, fiber-to-fiber recycling systems, and composting facilities. When it comes to skills, we need new Regenerative growing techniques and new bio-inputs with scale for agriculture. Critically, these investments must reach small farmers and vast rural communities, not just like that I just mentioned before.
[00:18:55.200] - Guilherme Suertegaray
Finally, the fifth element, it's about collaboration. We are talking about value chains that are spread all over the globe. It's clear that we need some international collaboration on this, some progressive harmonization of definition, standards, certification across markets is needed. We could also align trade policies, climate, biodiversity objective, because all those transnational mechanisms are critical for value chains that are so fragmented all over the globe.
[00:19:38.320] - Finn
So there's a lot to do. It feels like now is a critical moment to get on and start implementing some of these changes. Gui mentioned there, again, what you said earlier, Beto, around the fragmented landscape and the need for certification. When you hear these recommendations, how do they land for you? What are you hearing from businesses? What can we do to make sure that Regenerative production can scale further?
[00:20:00.300] - Beto Bina
I really like it that Gui mentioned the last one, which is collaboration. The image that I want to maybe create in people that are hearing us is that the new type of agriculture that we need is a diversified agriculture, where we have different species working together and providing all these ecosystem services: water, biodiversity, sequestering carbon, scenic beauty.
[00:20:23.880] - Beto Bina
At the same time, on the demand side, we need to have an ecosystem of organizations that are working together. Those are the best supply chains that I've seen. When you have a private company engaged, we have a public sector engaged, providing tools or maybe logistics, when you have an NGO supporting communities or supporting with technical assistance, so you have a combination of many players together to develop this Regenerative supply chain.
[00:20:54.980] - Beto Bina
Even like different industries, when you have a smallholder farmer, let's give an example, they are producing different crops together. They could sell cotton to a fashion company, but they could sell another raw material for a cosmetic brand or any type of food income for a food company. As I said, they could have different companies collaborating together and buying from the same type of community that have this diversity of crops.
[00:21:23.780] - Beto Bina
All these need to be incentivized. This is really new, right? In comparison, the conventional agriculture has been the same model for over 100 years. Right now, we need to set and have this in place to be able to push and start these new Regenerative supply chains.
[00:21:40.420] - Finn
Gui, we're going to round off the conversation now and leave it on a nice motivational note. Where are the bright spots? Where's the progress happening that can give us hope that this set of recommendations can really be implemented and not just end up on the shelf?
[00:21:56.180] - Guilherme Suertegaray
I'm very much positive, actually. The building blocks exist. We are talking a ecosystem of many Circular economy strategies. We have more than 100 countries with Circular economy roadmaps in place. There is a growing interest on bioeconomy, sustainable agriculture. The challenge is just connect these dots. The first step is to work among the Latin America and Caribbean Coalition for Circular Economy. We are working in a working group of this group. We're also working along the Global Bioeconomy Challenge to create this spirit in a multilateral level. The COP17 is a key moment for that, actually. This report is part of making that connection explicit so that when countries arrive to COP17, they have a concrete economic and policy case to make alongside the environmental one.
[00:23:03.820] - Finn
I'm glad you mentioned COP17 there. It's a perfect ending note as we move from this second episode in our Biodiversity series towards the third episode. Beto, I'm going to give you one last question there. What needs to happen next for you? What can businesses do tomorrow to make sure that they can start to make progress? I know you mentioned collaborative. Is there anything else that you would recommend?
[00:23:25.620] - Beto Bina
Finn, I think my biggest provocation to companies and people that are listening to this and wants to start to work with Regeneration is that everything is still being built. Everything that we're building right now, it's building from scratch. If you want to jump in and help us, just understand that we are all in this journey together, and it's a learning journey that we need to collaborate in order to get this new Regenerative supply chains.
[00:23:51.140] - Finn
It feels like there's huge potential, specifically in the region with their pioneering policy work over in Latin America. Guys, thank you very much for joining me. Really appreciate your time. We've obviously spoken about the report today. We encourage everyone to go and read that. We'll leave all of the case study examples we mentioned in the show notes, too, so people can check out some of that cool innovation. I'll see you next time. Yeah, thank you.
[00:24:13.900] - Finn
With COP17 on the horizon, shifting to a Circular bioeconomy is a massive opportunity for biodiversity, climate, and economic growth. But the policy frameworks need to catch up, and this report is a step towards making that happen. As always, thank you for watching this episode, and do keep an eye out for the next episode of our Biodiversity Series. For now, if you enjoyed this episode, then please leave us a review, and don't forget to like and subscribe. We'll see you next time.