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The Environmental Transformation Podcast with Sean GradyAuthor: Sean Grady
The Environmental Transformation Podcast explores the future of Sustainability, EHS, the Circular Economy, and Environmental Innovation. Host Sean Grady interviews industry leaders and changemakers about emerging technologies, digital transformation, and the trends reshaping the environmental sector. Stay informed, lead the change, and join the ET Nation on every major platform as we dive into the conversations driving real environmental impact. Language: en Genres: Earth Sciences, Science Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Circular Indiana's: Battery Recycling EPR and Construction Waste Intiatives with President Pamela Francis
Episode 137
Tuesday, 22 September, 2026
Indiana's circular economy starts before the recycling bin, with buildings designed for deconstruction and manufacturers recovering their materials.Circular Indiana board president Pam Francis, vice president of Schott Design, and board member Ken Miller talk with The Environmental Transformation podcast host Sean Grady about keeping products and materials in use longer. They explain the organization's shift from the Indiana Recycling Coalition, the upfront costs of changing business practices and the challenge of keeping recovered materials close to Indiana manufacturers.The conversation covers AI-powered waste sorting, digital product passports and extended producer responsibility, or EPR. Francis and Miller discuss their focus on batteries, the fire risks that shape that work and the questions surrounding producer-funded collection, consumer costs and convenient drop-off locations.Francis describes practical changes in commercial interiors, including carpet recycling, furniture reuse and designing spaces that can adapt without sending usable materials to a landfill. Examples include Shaw Industries' carpet take-back model and Sortera's use of AI to separate aluminum alloys, along with discarded tires turned into road barriers and unsold food recovered for animal feed.The guests also preview the 2026 Circular by Design: Innovation Meets Action conference, scheduled for Oct. 5 at The Heritage Group's Indianapolis venue, The Center, with speakers including Heidi Sanborn and Kent Holm.Conference registration and membership: circularin.orgPodcast, newsletter and updates: seankgrady.com#CircularEconomy #BatteryRecycling #SustainableDesignCHAPTERS:0:00 Welcome and Guest Introductions2:00 Moving Beyond Traditional Recycling6:00 Measuring Circular Economy Progress8:00 Circular by Design Conference Preview11:00 The Business Barriers to Circularity14:00 AI Sorting and Recycling Infrastructure17:00 Recovering Recyclables From Mixed Waste20:00 Circular Indiana's Battery EPR Plan23:00 Building an EPR Stakeholder Coalition25:00 Battery Fires and Recycling Safety27:00 Sponsor Break30:00 Indiana's Manufacturing Supply Chains34:00 Tires and Food Waste as Raw Materials36:00 Heidi Sanborn and EPR Experience39:00 Kent Holm and Battery Collection Models43:00 Oil Containers and Hazardous Waste45:00 Designing Out Construction Waste49:00 Reusing Carpet, Furniture and Doors51:00 Shaw's Carpet Take-Back Model53:00 Building Deconstruction in Boulder56:00 Waste Industry Partnerships58:00 Sortera and AI Aluminum Sorting1:01:00 Battery EPR and Long-Term Goals1:04:00 Keeping Resources in Use1:07:00 Closing and Conference Reminder
