A circular economy transforms goods nearing the end of their useful life into resources for reuse. It aids climate action in three ways. It complements decarbonization measures, it supports the sustainable scaling of the clean energy transition, and it enhances adaptation to a changing climate. The value creation opportunity is US$4.1 trillion, according to one estimate. Our guest, Ellen Martin from Circulate Capital, is greatly involved in investing in this space. In the podcast, she first provides some background on the circular economy in general and plastic circularity in particular, and how it ties in with climate action. She also describes the investable market as well as government policy and regulation. From the perspective of private equity, we then dive into the business and investment opportunities in the Asia region, including a discussion on the types of investors as well as some examples of Circulate Capital’s investments.
(Link to The Circulate Initiative's report referred to by Ellen: Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker)
Ellen Martin is Circulate Capital’s Chief Impact Officer. In her role, Ellen is responsible for driving impact and insights for the firm and managing ESG through the investment process. As a member of Circulate's leadership and investment teams, Ellen is focused on ensuring the firm's collective strategies, assets, and relationships deliver impact as it grows. She is also a senior advisor to Circulate Capital's mission-aligned non-profit, The Circulate Initiative. Prior to that, Ellen was Vice President for Impact and Strategic Initiatives at Closed Loop Partners where she led impact, research, and portfolio management for Closed Loop’s Infrastructure Fund. During her tenure, the Fund deployed $50M with $200M co-invested in projects in North America, resulting in avoidance of 2 million tons of GHG emissions in the first three years. Before she discovered her passion for the circular economy, Ellen was a strategy consultant at FSG, the social impact consulting firm, where she worked with Fortune 500 companies, philanthropic foundations, development banks, and nonprofit organizations to develop, implement and evaluate impact strategies. She is a regular speaker and contributor on the topic of investing in the circular economy.
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