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, in a repository of text documents that will be used for the research. If we 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 us your name and if you agree.
Tobias Stuck Yes, I agree. So can I give the answer in German as well? So no problem.
It’s better in English if possible. Is it better in English?
Yeah, probably. It’s more detailed in German, but yeah.
Okay. We try it in English and if not, we can do it also in German. Again, can you define a circular economy in your own words?
It’s about using existing resources as efficiently and as long as possible.
How did you become interested in the circular economy, ideas and practices?
So actually I do research in this field since since ten years. So actually I started with innovation research and then I moved to an eco innovation and stuff like this. And from there to to circular economy. So which is getting a bit, a bit broader concept of eco innovation actually. Oh, very good.
In your opinion, can a circular economy be implemented in individual sectors or industries?
Yes. I mean, circular economy is a perfect, perfect circular economy where all resources are used and reused. Probably not. But actually we should not start with a perfect circular economy. But we should start with certain steps and also efficiency and efficiency measures is the first step to to get circular. So and circular efficiency measures can be implemented everywhere. So also in single companies, for example, how.
Do you think the circular economy already exists in the car industry?
The economy exists nowhere actually. So I mean, the circular economy is a final stage where we don’t have waste at all. So it’s probably we will never see this perfect circular economy, but we definitely see the industry which are closer to this final stage and the industry where we have a larger gap.
And what do you think which role could play automotive industry in the circular economy?
I mean, the automotive industry has a huge impact in terms of global carbon footprint. So so it definitely has a big, big, big impact. So when when we get this industry to start early and to push to push the concept further, I think it has a huge impact.
Do you currently own a car?
Yes.
Which kind of car you have?
So it’s a Volkswagen camping car.
Oh. Old one?
No, not an old one. Yeah.