Advancing the Circular Economy: A Conversation with Lauren Rodriguez of Closed Loop Partners
- 07 MAY 2025
- |
- Climate Rising
Lauren Rodriguez, who leads partnerships at Circular Services, a Closed Loop Partners
company, joins host Mike Toffel to discuss building the infrastructure and investment
models needed to scale the circular economy. Lauren explains how Closed Loop Partners
supports the transition from a linear to a circular economy through capital management,
innovation initiatives, and operating companies like Circular Services. She shares
how their private equity, venture capital, and catalytic credit strategies are helping
scale recycling, reuse, and circular supply chains.Lauren also explores the critical
role of policy—especially extended producer responsibility(EPR) laws—in driving investment
and highlights emerging technologies like AI-powered waste stream analysis and autonomous
electronics disassembly that are accelerating progress. She closes with advice and
resources for students and professionals interested in careers at the intersection
of circular economy, investing, and innovation.
Lauren Rodriguez, who leads partnerships at Circular Services, a Closed Loop Partners
company, joins host Mike Toffel to discuss building the infrastructure and investment
models needed to scale the circular economy. Lauren explains how Closed Loop Partners
supports the transition from a linear to a circular economy through capital management,
innovation initiatives, and operating companies like Circular Services. She shares
how their private equity, venture capital, and catalytic credit strategies are helping
scale recycling, reuse, and circular supply chains.Lauren also explores the critical
role of policy—especially extended producer responsibility(EPR) laws—in driving investment
and highlights emerging technologies like AI-powered waste stream analysis and autonomous
electronics disassembly that are accelerating progress. She closes with advice and
resources for students and professionals interested in careers at the intersection
of circular economy, investing, and innovation.
Climate Change Is Messing up Our Home Insurance Prices. What Can States Do?
Re: Ishita Sen
- 08 Apr 2025
- |
- PBS
'Care in Every Drop': Ayala Corporation and Manila Water (A) and (B)
- APRIL 2025
- |
- Teaching Material
Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 324-038 and 324-039.
Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change
- 2025
- |
- Book Chapter
This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulation and how they came about. The first path involved certification and standards programs designed to facilitate the growth of green industries and the early stages of ESG investing. The second path, which developed from the 1970s, grew out of the interest of big business which sought an alternative route to governmental regulations they regarded as costly and as a threat to international trade. A key agent was the International Chamber of Commerce during the 1990s. The chapter argues that self-regulation proved an inadequate response to climate change, and resulted in confusing metrics, lack of transparency, and blatant greenwashing. Yet it is not apparent that government regulation was practical or would have produced better results. The governments of democracies as a whole prioritize generating wealth over the environment, because it translates into votes.
Blue Frontier: Disrupting Air Conditioning
- APRIL 2025
- |
- Teaching Material
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 325-088.
Arla Foods: Data-Driven Decarbonization (A) and (B) PowerPoint Supplement
- APRIL 2025
- |
- Teaching Material
Arla implemented a data based price incentive systems to measure, track, and influence climate friendly changes to reduce CO2 emissions across the world’s fourth largest dairy cooperative.
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