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Amazon Music Circular Indiana's: Battery Recycling EPR and Construction Waste Intiatives with President Pamela Francis
Key Takeaways
- Pamela Francis and Ken Miller explain how Circular Indiana shifted its mission from the Indiana Recycling Coalition to focus on keeping products and materials in use longer through circular economy strategies.
- The conversation highlights the urgent need for battery recycling Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs to mitigate severe fire risks and manage proper collection logistics.
- Advanced technologies like AI-powered waste sorting, such as Sortera's aluminum alloy separation, are transforming recycling infrastructure and improving material recovery rates.
- Sustainable design practices in commercial interiors, including furniture reuse and carpet take-back models like Shaw Industries', are proving that buildings can be designed for deconstruction rather than the landfill.
- The 2026 Circular by Design: Innovation Meets Action conference, scheduled for October 5 at The Center in Indianapolis, will feature industry leaders discussing actionable circular economy solutions.
Indiana's circular economy starts before the recycling bin, with buildings designed for deconstruction and manufacturers recovering their materials.
Circular Indiana board president Pam Francis, vice president of Schott Design, and board member Ken Miller talk with The Environmental Transformation podcast host Sean Grady about keeping products and materials in use longer. They explain the organization's shift from the Indiana Recycling Coalition, the upfront costs of changing business practices and the challenge of keeping recovered materials close to Indiana manufacturers.
The conversation covers AI-powered waste sorting, digital product passports and extended producer responsibility, or EPR. Francis and Miller discuss their focus on batteries, the fire risks that shape that work and the questions surrounding producer-funded collection, consumer costs and convenient drop-off locations.
Francis describes practical changes in commercial interiors, including carpet recycling, furniture reuse and designing spaces that can adapt without sending usable materials to a landfill. Examples include Shaw Industries' carpet take-back model and Sortera's use of AI to separate aluminum alloys, along with discarded tires turned into road barriers and unsold food recovered for animal feed.
The guests also preview the 2026 Circular by Design: Innovation Meets Action conference, scheduled for Oct. 5 at The Heritage Group's Indianapolis venue, The Center, with speakers including Heidi Sanborn and Kent Holm.
Conference registration and membership: circularin.org
Podcast, newsletter and updates: seankgrady.com
#CircularEconomy #BatteryRecycling #SustainableDesign
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Welcome and Guest Introductions
2:00 Moving Beyond Traditional Recycling
6:00 Measuring Circular Economy Progress
8:00 Circular by Design Conference Preview
11:00 The Business Barriers to Circularity
14:00 AI Sorting and Recycling Infrastructure
17:00 Recovering Recyclables From Mixed Waste
20:00 Circular Indiana's Battery EPR Plan
23:00 Building an EPR Stakeholder Coalition
25:00 Battery Fires and Recycling Safety
27:00 Sponsor Break
30:00 Indiana's Manufacturing Supply Chains
34:00 Tires and Food Waste as Raw Materials
36:00 Heidi Sanborn and EPR Experience
39:00 Kent Holm and Battery Collection Models
43:00 Oil Containers and Hazardous Waste
45:00 Designing Out Construction Waste
49:00 Reusing Carpet, Furniture and Doors
51:00 Shaw's Carpet Take-Back Model
53:00 Building Deconstruction in Boulder
56:00 Waste Industry Partnerships
58:00 Sortera and AI Aluminum Sorting
1:01:00 Battery EPR and Long-Term Goals
1:04:00 Keeping Resources in Use
1:07:00 Closing and Conference Reminder
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Circular Indiana and how has it evolved?
Circular Indiana evolved from the Indiana Recycling Coalition to focus more broadly on the circular economy, emphasizing keeping products and materials in use longer through sustainable design and manufacturing practices.
Why is battery recycling Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) important?
Battery recycling EPR is crucial for addressing severe fire risks in waste facilities, establishing producer-funded collection frameworks, and ensuring convenient drop-off locations for consumers.
How are AI and digital technologies impacting recycling?
AI-powered waste sorting technologies, such as Sortera, enable the precise separation of mixed materials like aluminum alloys, significantly improving recycling infrastructure and material purity.
What are some practical examples of circular design in commercial spaces?
Practical circular design examples include carpet take-back models like those from Shaw Industries, office furniture reuse, and designing commercial interiors to adapt without sending usable materials to landfills.
Vice President, Schott Design
Pamela Francis is the Vice President of Schott Design, a leading Commercial Design Firm in Indianapolis known for sustainable and circular design innovation, working to significantly reduce carbon emissions and waste in the built environment, specifically through interiors. Ms. Francis is currently serving as Board President for Circular Indiana and as a member of the Purdue Indianapolis Interior Architecture Advisory Board.
Circular Indiana Board Member
Ken Miller has 35 years of research and sustainability leadership experience in the polymer and petrochemical industry with GE Plastics and Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation. Upon retirement in 2014, Ken continued to work in sustainability as a consultant and trainer. This included working with the circular economy pioneer, William McDonough, to implement the” Innovation in Circular Economy” facility at the World Economic Forum. Ken is currently a board member of Circular Indiana, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in Indiana through circular economy principles.
Ken has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio and a doctorate in chemistry from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. Indiana is home to his extended family and Ken, with his wife Debi, resides in Zionsville, IN.
