About

Who are we?

Circular Innovation Lab is a Danish think tank, based out of Copenhagen, on a mission to accelerate the global transition to a circular economy. We collaborate with national governments, UN agencies, and international organisations to create circular economy solutions that drive the transition to a circular economy forward.

We work closely with these stakeholders to help them gain a deeper understanding of the potential of a circular economy transition. Together, we develop solutions that assist them in adopting circular principles and actions. We support them in the entire process from the ideation, research, and analysis phase up to implementation and monitoring.

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Our Mission

Our mission is to shed light on circular economy practices that replace today's linear business model practices to create long-lasting positive impact on our society and environment. We enable global stakeholders to join forces in developing and implementing circular solutions.

A circular economy is an opportunity to boost today's economies and create new jobs and business practices, all with a focus on preserving our environment and diversity by reducing waste and harmful environmental emissions.

CEO

Apoorva Arya

Apoorva Arya is an environmental economist, driven by making a positive impact in the world through the circular economy. Apoorva has over 10 years of work experience within circular economy, environmental policy, and finance. In the organisation, she is primarily responsible for leading the institutional engagement and the organisation's policy arm. Apart from her deep expertise in circular economy and policy work, she has also conducted several knowledge building and technical capacity workshops and briefing sessions on circular economy in Europe, Asia and Africa. Apoorva has also been nominated a Coordinating Lead Author of the Circularity Transformation Pathways chapter of the Seventh Edition of the Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7), UNEP's independent expert-led assessment of the environment and flagship report.

COO

Arpit Bhutani

Arpit Bhutani is a circular economy professional with a track record in stakeholder mobilization in the fields of plastic packaging and textiles. Arpit has a solid track record in circular economy issues covering practical industry solutions and policy work in wide geographical locations, ranging from South East Asia, Costa Rica, India, and North Africa. He is also a TEDx speaker on circular economy, Huffington post contributor and book author on sustainability standards (2021, Peter Lang Publishing, New York).

Both Apoorva and Arpit got involved with the circular economy during their work on the India National Roadmap with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, New Plastics Economy and Circular Fibers Initiative. Following that, they jointly co-founded the Circular Innovation Lab in Denmark to carry forward their consulting work in the field of circular economy. In a short timespan, Circular Innovation Lab has forged synergies with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), United Nations, Chatham House, WRAP, Global Environment Facility, Kenya Private Sector Alliance, Government of Myanmar, Government of Angola and other international organizations.

Strategic Partnerships Lead - Nordics

Kim Hjerrild

Kim Hjerrild is a political scientist and business economist by education. Kim began working within Circular Economy in 2014 while being chief city planner in Faxe, Denmark. From 2018 to 2023 Kim was leading the team for Circular Economy in a Danish Cluster organisation, during which time he also became a managing partner of Nordic Circular Hotspot. He has led some of the largest programs on Circular Economy in Denmark, heading the development of tools and methods for screening for circular business opportunities and implementing circular economy in SMEs.