Circular Business Model Deep Dive at ESG Summit

Katyln O’Riordan (CEO & Co-Founder of Kinset), Richard Brennan (CEO, Evolve Automotive), Michelle Lee

(Head of Innovation & Sustainability), and Valentina Tarasco (Circularity Assessment & Metrics Lead CIRCULÉIRE/IMR) at the ESG Autumn Summit 2025.

A big thank you to CIRCULÉIRE members Kinset, Evolve Automotive and General Paints Group for sharing their circular stories with Valentina Tarasco IMR Metrics & Assessment Lead at the ESG Summit on the 20th of November.

Katie O’Riordan CEO of Kinset, a green tech circular start-up, highlighted the fact that most products lack accessible data, making reuse and recycling nearly impossible. In fashion, 64% of textiles end up as waste, and only 1% is recycled. Furniture faces similar issues, with 10 million tons discarded annually due to poor repairability. Beauty packaging accounts for 72% of sector waste, while paint and chemicals create challenges when product details are lost. Digital Product Passports (DPPs) can transform circularity by reducing compliance admin by 70%, enabling transparency, and meeting upcoming EU regulations requiring DPPs for garments by 2028. With accurate data, businesses can unlock reuse, recycling, and new value streams across industries.

Richard Brennan, CEO of Evolve Circular Automotive, shared his journey of transforming Ireland’s automotive sector through circular practices where data quality and availability are critical enablers of circularity.  Starting as a regional business, he scaled nationally to Evolve by merging with GTE Recovery, creating a model that manages vehicles from end-of-life to reuse. Their approach includes recovery, repair, redistribution, and resale, prioritizing green parts to reduce carbon impact. Despite challenges, partnerships with both Allianz and Axa and the Garda fleet have driven adoption. With legislation abroad and growing demand for sustainability, Evolve champions collaboration, data-driven traceability, and innovative solutions like a feasibility study for use of second-life EV batteries as energy storage solutions.

Evolve’s green parts strategy focuses on creating a circular automotive ecosystem by reusing high-quality components from end-of-life vehicles instead of relying on new parts. Vehicles are dismantled responsibly, and reusable parts are harvested, graded, and quality-checked. Green parts are supplied to body shops and repair centers, reducing costs and carbon emissions. Data-driven systems track parts from donor vehicles to ensure transparency and compliance.  The impact is clear. Reusing parts avoids emissions from manufacturing and global shipping of new components.  It anticipates EU directives promoting green parts before new parts. Evolve’s focus on partnerships has allowed them grow and their digital focus not only serves customers’ carbon data but their own stock optimisation.

Michelle Lee, Head of Innovation & Sustainability at General Paint Group (GPG) referred to GPG’s ESG strategy being guided by the B Corp framework. Certification in 2024 was not a revenue-driven exercise but rather adopted as a blueprint for impact, aligning with pillars of workers, environment, customers, community, and governance. For GPG circularity drives innovation through sustainable formulations, recyclable packaging, waste reduction, and design for longevity. Collaboration with suppliers and networks like CIRCULÉIRE accelerates progress. For GPG, cultural change was key.  ESG projects now shape the company’s goals, training, and daily operations, fostering innovation and resilience helping them deliver their mission to create products that benefit people, planet, and communities.

It was great to have such diverse circular businesses represented at this very well received Deep Dive Session. Thank you all again!

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