First. So I’m Jos and I’m working on circular 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 you do this 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 information sheet with contact information. So the first question, your first name and if you agree.
Yeah. My first name is Mathias and I agree to that. Yes. Yeah.
Thank you very much. So the first question, can you define the circular economy in your own words?
Oh yeah. I mean, in circular economy for me is when you are using something that is really already produced and you are renovating or reusing it. For me, circular economy is not when you are shredding something and use the material. So that’s my definition of a circular economy.
do you participate in the circular economy in yourself in any aspect of your life?
Well, I’m trying my best, but I mean, that’s obviously like like, well, I do a lot of flying, so that’s not so circular. But, but like I said in my speech before, the the company that we are running is certainly very circular. So so I’m really proud of that. I’m trying to do my best to the rest of the environment. I mean, we are obviously keen to to save the world, but I think I’m kind of a normal person, to be honest.
How did you become interested in circular economy ideas and practices?
Yeah, I got involved by coincident in in a company that was in this business 12 years ago. And and like everything else in life, you stumble on things. And when we realize the potential of of what we are really doing, that’s when me and Johan started the company How to sort of three years ago.
In your opinion, can a circular economy be implemented in individual sectors or individual industries?
Yeah, I think they certainly can. I mean, and if you look at Europe today, I think we are in a momentum where everyone is trying their their absolutely best to do that. And one major thing that we see now that happened last year is that the car manufacturers has opened their eyes in a very, very big way, trying to really reuse everything they can find. And that is impressive.
In your opinion, does the circular economy already exists in the car industry?
Yes, certainly it certainly does. And then they are just just getting better and better. I mean, the discussion now is how to construct a car in the way you can deassemble it in a good way. So, yes, certainly they are really good.
Do you currently own a car?
Yes, I own a lot of cars. I love cars. So, yes, I have a couple of cars.
Are there electric or hybrid or conventional?
I think I have both electrical and conventional and hybrid. If you look at the full family, I have two daughters and I have their cars also.
So when is the one adjective that comes in mind when you think about electronics in a car?
Well, in our in our world, again, I got that question earlier. It’s interesting because we see that we can reuse the electronics in the cars. It’s one major topic with the car manufacturers because, you know, today it’s actually hard to find components. It’s hard to find the metals that you need to produce it. So we are already now talking about taking the parts and basically put it back into production if we get it. So so we are going to reuse a lot more from the cars, even with the electronic parts.
Do you think that cars they which include electronic components, are easier or harder to adapt to the circular economy principles?
I think it’s for us it’s basically the same again, with the cooperationship we have with the the only problem we have with this is that you need some technology and you need some some lock up mechanisms. So you need to cooperate with the car manufacturers to be able to utilize it. But apart from that, it’s no different from us, from from other things that we’re taking off the car.