Building sustainable solutions for used textiles trade

Hilde van Duijn believes that to drive the transition to a global circular economy at the speed and scale necessary, transnational cooperation and public-private partnerships across global value chains are essential. At Circle Economy, she leads the work throughout global value chains, with the aim of empowering manufacturers, buyers and end-of-use processors to adopt circular practices.

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Josefien van de Ven is an environmental scientist at heart. Moving through different roles and organisations, varying from government positions to management consultancy and finance, she has always been focused on adding more sustainability to our way of life. Circularity is a key factor in achieving this. In her newest position her focus is on helping to create a common story on the circular economy and adding sustainability that will resonate both internationally and nationally in the changing world we find ourselves in.

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Omar Hameed has worked for Pakistan’s Mission to the European Union since 2016. He joined the civil service of Pakistan in 1995 and has diverse experience within the public and development sectors. He has worked in the prime minister’s secretariat, ministries of commerce, foreign affairs and capital administration, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, UNDP, UNIDO and Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority. Hameed has completed multiple courses on international trade and is a certified master trainer in trade negotiations from the World Trade Institute at Berne. He holds a master’s in international economic law from Warwick University.

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In his position, Oliver Boachie is coordinating Ghana’s transition to the circular economy and facilitating collaboration among stakeholders within government, academia and the private sector, to develop policies for sustainable management of the environment. He is Ghana’s National Focal Point for the Inter-governmental Negotiation Committee (INC) of the Global Treaty on Plastics Pollution, and he is co-author of the proposal for a Global Plastics Pollution Fee (GPPF) as a means of implementation provision in the current draft of the Global Plastics Treaty.

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Nanno Mulder’s main areas of research are on the Latin America and the Caribbean region’s participation in global value chains in general and services in particular. This includes digital trade and ecommerce and sustainable trade, with a focus on the internationalisation of SMEs, gender equality and the circular economy. He has worked at the OECD and CEPII. He holds a master’s and a PhD from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

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Naresh Tyagi is a seasoned and dynamic leader with rich experience ranging from apparel, textile and retail industries. With his expertise in heading business units, he boosts teams to develop innovative and strategic initiatives across functions. Through his deep interest in promoting environmental and social causes, he has carved a niche in diverse fields such as sustainability, safety and corporate social responsibility. Tyagi is an active member, co-chair and chair on various prominent global and national industry platforms, including the Cotton 2040, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), Science Base Target initiative (SBTi), and is part of the steering committees at GIZ, ICCE, CAIF and CII.

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Elisa Tonda works for the industry and economy division of UNEP. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the field of environmental management, business sustainability, resource efficiency, sustainable consumption and production, the circular economy and sustainable development. She began her career in the private sector as an environmental expert and then held several positions in UN organisations.

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