Welcome to Going Circular Pays Off! In this series, we explore inspiring business stories of leaders building a sustainable business through innovative circular business models.
Discover what it takes to scale a circular and greener business. We bring you real sustainable business stories about making organizations cleaner, more just, and future-proof. Learn how green entrepreneurship and circularity actively restore the world around us. At Innoboost, we prove that a strong circular business case drives real change. Tune in for actionable sustainable business practices! ✨
How Decathlon Proves Circular Models Drive New Customer Revenue
Smashing the Cannibalization Myth: How Decathlon Proves Circular Models Drive New Customer Revenue
If your leadership team is holding back on sustainability initiatives, it is likely because of one deep-seated fear: will our second-hand options eat into our new product sales?
But what if the data proves the exact opposite?
In this episode of Going Circular Pays Off, hosts Sandra Horlings and Marjolein Oyen sit down with Laurens Nolet, Circular Leader for Decathlon Netherlands, to look past the myths and show how that revenue was achieved.
This is exactly why you need to listen to this episode: Laurens shares the exact customer-centric strategy they used to turn the internal narrative around, dismantle the fear of cannibalization, and demonstrate that focusing on the consumer can make circularity a powerful commercial driver. Both in the boardroom and on the balance sheet.
🎧 3 Key Customer-Centric Breakthroughs From This Episode:
Data shows that skeptics are wrong: 90% of sales are incremental. Services like buyback and repair create high-value touchpoints, leading to customer acquisition, loyalty, and retention that outweigh any concerns about cannibalization effects.
Winning "Meters" through Customer Demand: Once commercial leaders saw that customers actively desired circular options, the Second Life range won dedicated linear meters in retail and priority in the online journey, backed by consistent visual merchandising across all stores.
Engaging the Entire Hierarchy via KPIs: A radical choice in performance management. Discover how Decathlon tied the monthly financial bonus of everyone to circular revenue targets. This strategy shows how integrating circular metrics into daily operations can be practically implemented, turning boardroom strategy into customer-focused, actionable results.
💡 The Takeaway
"When I realized that the customer unites us and that Circular is actually not about the planet, but more about the customer... we turned around the story. Through those customers, we can save the planet in a way that we can change shopping behavior and reduce our footprint."
— Laurens Nolet
Stop letting assumptions dictate your business model. Tune in to arm yourself with the data and arguments needed to shift your company from volume to value.
Listen now on your favorite podcast platform! 👉 Ready to bring a customer-first circular strategy to your business? Share this episode with your network and visit innoboost.com for practical tools to make circularity work for you.
Show notes
Discover more about how Decathlon (https://sustainability.decathlon.com/going-circular-transition-towards-a-circular-economy) keeps customers close with circular business models
Follow Laurens Nolet (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurens-nolet-79a4908/) on his journey going circular.
Visit Innoboost.com (www.innoboost.com) for more insights, research and tools on going circular. Drop us a note if you want to share your story via sandra.horlings@innoboost.com (sandra.horlings@innoboost.com)
Credits
This is a podcast by Innoboost | Creating Profit to be proud of
Hosts: Sandra Horlings & Marjolein Oyen
Production & Edit: Malou van der Starre
Sound: Joris van Grunsven, Studio Takt
31 Mar 2026
From Waste to Want - Going Circular Pays Off - episode 5
What happens when the evidence of recycling becomes the reason to buy?
In this episode, Rose VanHecke, sustainability director at Electrolux for Europe, APAC and MEA, shares how making new fridges from the recycled plastic of old ones helps close the resource loop. And it created a unique selling point.
The result? A distinctive greige color that couldn't be hidden. So instead of hiding it, Electrolux leaned in. When consumers understood where that color came from, something remarkable happened: they didn't just accept it. They wanted it.
Listen to the story of how transparency about materials turned a constraint into a competitive edge, a new industry benchmark, and how closing the loop on fridges became proof that going circular pays off. Literally.
Do you also want to make going circular work and worthwhile? This series explores real-life stories from business leaders who are making the business cleaner, greener, more just and more future-proof. Building resilient value chains, launching new business models with a compelling value proposition at the heart. At Innoboost, we see that a strong business case drives real change in many sectors. Creating profit to be proud of.
Show notes
Discover more about how Electrolux (https://www.electroluxgroup.com/en/worlds-first-fridge-with-70-recycled-plastic-inner-liners-is-ours-34846/) sets a new industry benchmark for the use of recycled plastics.
Follow Rose Vanhecke (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rose-vanhecke-568a0820/) on her journey going circular.
Visit innoboost.com (www.innoboost.nl) for more insights, research and tools on going circular. Drop us a note if you want to share your story via sandra.horlings@innoboost.com
Credits
This is a podcast by Innoboost | Creating Profit to be proud of
Hosts: Sandra Horlings & Christiaan Kraaijenhagen
Production & Edit: Malou van der Starre
Sound: Joris van Grunsven, Studio Takt
9 Feb 2026
How Manutan turns Circular Business Models into Growth - Going Circular Pays Off - episode 4
How Manutan turns Circular Business Models into growth
What if sustainability also drove revenue? In this episode, Mark Lina, business developer circular economy from Manutan, a leader in office and warehouse supplies, shares how exploring circular business models isn't just good for the planet, but a game-changer for sales.
Discover:
✅ How circular strategies attract new customers and boost projects per client
✅ Real-world examples of reusable, repairable, and recycled office solutions
✅ Key lessons learned, from pilot projects to scaling impact
✅ Why circularity is becoming a competitive edge in B2B markets
A must-listen for procurement leaders, sustainability managers, and entrepreneurs who want to prove that going circular pays off. Literally. Hit play and rethink your business model!
Do you also want to make going circular work and worthwhile? This series explores real-life stories from business leaders who are making their business cleaner, greener, more just and more future-proof. What does that mean? It's about reducing harm and actively restoring and improving the world around us. And the best part? It pays off. At Innoboost, we see that a strong business case drives real change in many sectors. Creating profit to be proud of.
Shownotes
Discover more (https://www.manutan.com/en/homepage/our-mission/circular-economy) about circular services at Manutan
Follow Mark Lina (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklina?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3B0NMNQ1TkRZay0fYEBbEMUA%3D%3D)on his journey Going Circular
Visit innoboost.com (www.innoboost.com) for more insights, research and tools. Drop us a note if you want to share your story via sandra.horlings@innoboost.com
Credits
This is a podcast by Innoboost | Creating profit to be proud of
Hosts: Sandra Horlings & Jayden Panetta
Production & Edit: Malou van der Starre
Sound: Studio Takt - Joris van Grunsven
29 Aug 2025
Going Circular Pays Off with Patrick Lerou from Philips Healthcare & Innoboost
Patrick Lerou from Philips Healthcare discusses how large installed systems create new value for other customers, demonstrating the financial and environmental benefits of circularity in this interview with Sandra Horlings and Christiaan Kraaijenhagen.
15 Jul 2025
Going Circular Pays Off with Marieke Nispeling from FrieslandCampina % Innoboost
Marieke Nispeling, Sustainability Lead Asia at FrieslandCampina, details FrieslandCampina's circular journey in South East Asia, discussing packaging collection, recycling, and waste management, in an interview with Sandra Horlings and Marjolein Oyen.
12 Mar 2025
Going Circular Pays Off with Simon Rombouts from Chainable & Innoboost
Is there a profitable business case for going circular? Simon Rombouts from Chainable enthusiastically shares his insights on offering a Kitchen-as-a-Service. Next to designing the kitchen to minimize resource use and waste, the key to success, he believes, is creating his own material bank and keeping resources in the loop at the price he paid for them 5-10 years ago. Next to that, he shares that standardization is key to circularity. That is why Chainable launched on the B2B market, where standardization is easier than in the hyperindividualized B2C market.
That's not all: Chainable plant trees for every kitchen they install, and they work with people who usually find it harder to fit in the labour market, thus creating long-lasting environmental and social impact, next to business success.
Listen and learn how this approach challenges leading kitchen manufacturers to become more sustainable.
Do you also want to future-proof your business? This series explores real stories of business leaders making their businesses cleaner, greener, more just, and more future-proof. What does that mean? It's about reducing harm and actively restoring and improving the world around us. And the best part? It works. At Innoboost, we see that a strong business case drives real change in many sectors.
Show notes
Look at www.chainable.nl (www.chainable.nl) to learn more about their 88% circular kitchen.
Look at www.innoboost.com (www.innoboost.com) for more insights, research, and tools going circular. Drop us a note if you want to share your story via info@innoboost.com.
Credits
This is a podcast by Innoboost | Creating profit to be proud of.
Hosts: Sandra Horlings and Christiaan Kraaijenhagen.
Production & Edit: Malou van der Starre.
Sound: Joris van Grunsven, Studio Takt.
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