So I’m Jos and I’m working on research in circular economy and automotive sector. And I would like to know your point of view. If you accept, I’m going to record our conversation, transcribe it and put the transcription with a pseudonym, not your real name, of course, in a repository of text documents that will be used for the research. If you do this and you change your mind later and no longer want to participate, get in touch with us and we will immediately remove your interview from the repository. I’m leaving you an information sheet with contact information, so please give me your name and if you agree
my name is Hein Schellekens. And I do agree.
Thank you very much. Can you define a circular economy in your own words?
In my own words. A circular economy is not just an economy, but a society which. Which tries to close loops in terms of resources, not only natural resources, but also all the other resources that are needed to to keep an economy running and to keep a society running.
How did you become interested in the circular economy, ideas and practices?
Um, it’s a long story, but I basically I’m worried about the future, so I, um, I think we need circular economy is not, not the only solution, but it’s one of the solutions in the package of solutions we need to, to make sure our children and grandchildren basically still have a future. Yeah.
In your opinion, can a circular economy be implemented in individual sectors or industries?
No, no. I think that’s I mean, I’m provoking in a certain sense it can. But I think you need collaborations. You need you need to work between industries, between different sectors. Otherwise you cannot. Let’s take the building industry. If you want to make a sustainable building industry, you need the sustainable production of steel, which requires hydrogen. Then you need to use the IT industry to make sure that you monitor where steel is used and where it can be reused. So you need all kinds of industries to work together.
In your opinion, do you think the circular economy already exists in the car industry?
No, not at all.
Why?
Um. Why? Well, I think there’s plenty of evidence for why. It’s why it’s not. But if you just look at the amount of resources that are used, the amount of resources that are, um, newly used. So first in first production, if you compare that to to what can be used from, from recycled ing, um, I think it’s clear that it’s, that it’s not working yet.
Yeah. What do you think? How could the car industry play a role for circular economy?
Well, just like any other sector in any any stakeholder, it can be, uh, um, it can play a huge role. Um, by, by setting an example, by setting a benchmark for other industries, for example, to, um, to reduce their, their, their green impact. Yeah.
Do you own a car?
No.
Never did?
No…
Did you use car sharing or rental cars, for example?
Sometimes. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.