“The circular economy is ensuring that materials remain in the economy rather than expecting to consistently use new natural resources. It’s a recognition of the fact that natural resources are not infinite and that it is more environmentally effective to not draw them. ”
— Lucy Mortimer
When you think of the circular economy, it’s inevitable to also bring up the significant challenges in the transition to this model, such as high transition costs, logistical complexities, inconsistent regulatory support, and low business and consumer participation. Regardless of its complexities, there’s hope in impact venture capital.
To share how venture capital investing is playing a huge role in overcoming these barriers is today’s guest, Lucy Mortimer, a founding partner of Archipelago Eco Investors and Archipelago Ventures. She’s a visionary force who is paving the way towards a circular economy through funding innovative solutions and technologies that drive systemic change in the way we manage and use materials.
With a career spanning over two decades, Lucy has cultivated a rich expertise in climate finance, renewable energy, and ESG. Her early days as an emissions broker at CantorCO2e and her experience in founding Galapagos Environmental Consulting exposed her to innovations surrounding plastic waste, inspiring the birth of Archipelago Eco Investors in 2020.
Archipelago’s mission is to tackle the challenges in waste management at material recovery facilities (MRFs), particularly plastics and microplastics — a sector full of inefficiencies and a disappointingly low rate of material reuse. They do it by supporting tech startups focused on plastic waste, from seed to Series B, aiming to increase the amount of material that remains within the circular economy while reducing carbon emissions and environmental impact.
In this episode, Lucy shares real examples of how Archipelago is revolutionizing the circular economy, digging into exciting projects and ideas in enzymatic recycling, pre-fill products, and bio-based materials. She also highlights the firm’s three-way investment strategy: the Future of Plastics Fund, the Circular Plastics Accelerator, and the Oceans Plastic and Microplastic Accelerator.
Join the conversation to learn how visionary investors like Lucy are not just betting on technology but are actively funding the transition towards a circular economy.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- Connect with Lucy: LinkedIn
- Archipelago Ventures
- Grey Parrot AI
- Plastics Europe
SHOW NOTES:
[00:00] Episode introduction
[03:13] Meet Lucy Mortimer & her path into finance & sustainability
[30:25] An overview of Archipelago Eco Investors & Archipelago Ventures
[43:47] What the circular economy is and the economics of plastic recycling
[55:06] Lucy’s focus on AI-enabled separation technologies
[01:02:33] Archipelago Eco Investors’ theory of change
[01:09:29] Investment examples for Archipelago’s strategy & expected market returns
[01:21:01] Details on Archipelago’s investment process & measuring impact outcomes
[01:32:30] Impact washing & technology’s role in improving recycling’s profitability
[01:50:14] Rapid fire questions
MORE LUCY MORTIMER QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW:
“We spend a lot of time trying to understand a particular area of the circular economy and identify where we see real key barriers to circularity and a dearth of technology advancement. ”
— Lucy Mortimer
“There are so many different types of plastics and end users for those different types of plastics that you do need a whole range of different solutions that can unlock this. ”
— Lucy Mortimer
