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 to transcription with a pseudonym, not your real name, in a repository of text documents that will be used for the research. If you do that and you change your mind 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 tell me your first name and if you agree.
Andreas I agree.
Thank you, Andreas. So the first question, can you define a circular economy in your own words?
No.
Do you know what is circular economy?
Yes.
Please explain.
Yeah, well, my business is quite different. I mean, we. We manufacture containers for the storage of electric vehicles and also lithium batteries. And there is actually not a circular economy in my containers, but perhaps for the product stored in the container.
But how would you explain somebody? What is circular economy?
Circular economy means for me that a product should or a material from a product should be have a lifetime, should be recycled and be reused or used for new products.
Do you participate in a circular economy yourself in any aspect of your life?
Yes, in many ways, yeah. So quite a lot of stuff I buy is recycled somewhere or collected somewhere, perhaps reused, I don’t know. So. So in this case I do a little bit.
How did you become interested in the circular economy, ideas and practice?
I’m not really interested in the circular economy life cycle because I believe this is a normal life cycle of the life. It’s not something we have invented in the last ten years. This was already done 1000, 2000 years ago. So many products have been reused or used a second time. So that’s nothing new for me. It’s just lifetime.
In your opinion, can a circular economy be implemented in individual sectors or individual industries?
Yes, it could, but I believe it’s quite difficult. (Why?) Circular economy is also an aspect which is, I would say made by by people or the people has to be aware of what they use, what they do and what can be reused, or they should also be open to reuse or resell it. For example, it’s for the most people I believe they do not really think about it.
Do you think the circular economy already exists in the car industry?
Yes. (Explain.) Yeah, there are spare parts used, for example. So from an old car you you take out the good parts and you resell them, reuse them in new cars or in a I would say repair of cars. So there is a circular economy made. And also when you look at the materials steel, for example, uh, let, let lead acid batteries, this is a reused many times the lead. So there is a circular economy in it. Perhaps it’s more on, I would say material flow than on or it’s made more material flow than on on lifestyle. But nowadays, when you talk about circular economy, it’s more lifestyle.
So do you currently own a car?
Yes