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 to transcribe it and put the transcription with the pseudonym, not with your real name 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 information sheet with contact information. If you agree, then tell me please your first name and that you agree.
Yes. This is Norbert. I agree.
Thank you very much, Norbert. So the first question, can you define a circular economy in your own words?
So circular economy in the end is how can we how can we bring a product? Maybe I’m taking this, this, this product. So we’re using glass bottle for our toothpaste tabs. And this this is a is a multi-use glass bottle. Yeah. So and this is very important for us to actually go away from single use plastic to multi use glass bottles. And for that we are using then if this is open, this is empty, then people are starting to use the refill bags and refill them. And these are kind of like biodegradable paper bags which are then yeah, filling up the glass bottles and that’s why you have then the possibility to, to use this glass bottle 20, 30, 40 times wherever. Yeah. Until it’s broken or whatever. Yeah. And because the reason for this is there are 20 billion toothpaste tubes, plastic tubes around the world every year, and only 10% of them are getting reduced. If we’re starting to use more these glass bottles, we are drastically removing this amount of plastic tubes.
Do you participate in a circular economy yourself in any aspect of your private life?
Yes, constantly. In the end, I’m trying to integrate this into the daily life. Yeah. So from so water, for example. I never buy any kind of like plastic or glass bottles we have at home a filter water filter and refill our multi use. Yeah. Bottles. Okay.
Uh, how did you become interested in the circular economy ideas and practices?
Oh, well, it was always a kind of important topic for me. But over the years, over the past years, it started to become more, more real. And you need some time to change your routines. And once you’re starting to do that, more and more of your routines adapting to a better, better life standard, more healthy and more sustainable. That’s why it was kind of like a slower process. But now you’re coming into a into a point. The more you’re living greener or more sustainable, the more you try to try to actually adopt into this lifestyle as well.
In your opinion, can a circular economy be implemented in individual sectors or industries?
It has to, yeah. So it’s not it can be. It needs to be. Yeah. So but that’s that’s why we need, we need laws, we need support by the government and, and on the other side we, we need to produce products which actually convince people to easily use sustainable products and circular, which, which are supporting the circular economy. If if products and companies are not adapting to a specific lifestyle and making it easy, then it’s hard for the customer to to change.
So do you think the circular economy already exists in the car industry?
Yeah. Well, to to certain points surely. But by far not enough.
What do you think? What role do you think should it play in the car industry?
I mean, I think we we need to we need to go away in the car industry of producing or measuring in how many cars I produced. Because if you’re looking behind the curtain, the cars are just produced and then in the end officially in the market and then in the end, they’re not really used. Yeah. So that’s kind of like just to make the numbers of the, of the production high. Yeah. So that is something which probably needs to be regulated. And then on the other side, I mean we, there are enough cars out there. You don’t always need a new car, there’s enough old cars. Maybe we need to start to, to electrify them. It’s always a question of, of costs. Yeah. But in the end it’s car sharing. So we are very, very. Have a good, good situation in Berlin. We have a lot of carsharing and mobility sharing companies here, so you don’t actually need a car anymore. Yeah, and that’s the way.
So do you own a car? Actually
yeah, I still own a car. Yeah, but I’m using a lot because for the business. Yeah, we need to travel a lot, but actually, we’re using a lot of car sharing opportunities as well. And. Yeah, but it’s just a question of time until we’re skipping the car. The own car as well.
What kind of car is it? A new one or old one?
It’s a Lincoln Co. So it’s. It’s a car sharing model. Yeah. Subscription model. So you can you rent the car month by month? Yeah. And if you don’t need it, for example, in summer you give it away and then in autumn you get it back. Okay. It’s a hybrid.
When is the one adjective that comes to mind when you think about electronics in the car? What is the first thought?
Smog. Yeah. It’s smart. It feels smoggy. Yeah, because you have a lot of electrician around you. And if you’re sensitive, you feel it. Yeah.