Evolution towards the circular economic model according to Chris Van de Voorde of JUUNOO

How do you see the market evolving? Are there any other players in the market offering demountable inner walls?

Chris "I think the market is still going to evolve towards the circular economy model. Only the economically profitable materials will get scaled up. In the coming years, the wheat will be separated from the chaff.

You are going to see huge numbers of small-scale projects but the real circular economy is going to scale up. People will then no longer call it 'circular economy' but will just find it logical to reason that way. For example, if the lease on your car expires after five years, you're not just going to throw it away either. You don't have to make an investment to sell it and therefore the car gets a second life. It would be absurd to throw away a Lego brick. The cost of reuse is so low against the value of the product that it wouldn't be smart to throw it away.

I think economic thinking is the most important thing in the circular economy. It revolves around the ideological principle that the product could be reused. If you want to create sustainability, you have to make it scalable and consequently it has to be economically viable. Meanwhile, we are scaling up ourselves, offering walls in Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States ...."

Can you apply this to all products?

Chris: "Yes, circular economy is no more than calculating how much it costs to start reusing the product and what its residual value is. If the two are balanced and you can make more money from it than it costs, then you can reuse it. This is just business sense and is separate from any other formula out there for circular economy."

Redesign from scratch

Isn't it remarkable that not so many companies are implementing the circular economy model yet?

Chris: "That requires a total redesign of your design. Our construction speed is very high. As a result, the cost of disassembly is low. Renewable products retain their residual value. The structure of our inner walls is easily adjustable in height and length, so you can quickly reuse them in other rooms. Our skin is replaceable and can therefore be quickly adapted again. That increases the residual value of a product but so that requires a redesign from scratch for most manufacturers."

Are there any other players in the market offering demountable interior walls?

Chris: "There are plenty of players offering demountable partitions in the office world, but they are not adjustable in height and length like our partitions. With other providers' demountable walls, the seams are very visually visible, and not so nice to reuse. That is why 80 per cent of these walls still end up in the container. JUUNOO's walls are seamless."

"We need to celebrate entrepreneurship and change."

JUUNOO recently opened an office in New York, how does it feel to cross the ocean and address a new market? And what has been the success of your rapid growth?

Chris: "It's really nice to take this step. Flanders actually has a huge problem. The Fleming says 'Just do normal. Is that even feasible and affordable?' This attitude ensures that the impact of entrepreneurs is brought down. As a result, they keep their heads under the sand and don't stand out. Someone who sticks their neck out is blocked off. This culture is disastrous because within this and eight years, the entire economy must be transformed from a disposable/emissions society to a fully sustainable one.

If we remain stagnant and do not start celebrating and supporting the entrepreneurs and daredevils we will not get there. This is a big cultural problem in this country. Entrepreneurs who want to create impact are moving away from Belgium. We need to celebrate entrepreneurship and change."

Have you been asked to expand to the United States (US)?

Chris: "We did a market study. We tested 200 global cities against different paramaters and from that came a top three. Then we found that the US is 20 years behind in technology. The tech gap there is huge and competition is much more expensive. These factors plus the culture going along made us want to expand to America."

Are you getting support from Vlaio?

Chris: "We got support from Flanders Investment and Trade. For the rest, capital has been raised from investors."

Do you have any tips for start-ups?

Chris: "If you want to create impact, you have to get as big as possible as soon as possible. For this, there are two strategies: the first is the Flemish method: I'm going to sell a bit, with this profit I'm going to invest back into the company, you get a bit bigger, you pump some money back into your company ... this is the classic approach. It is hundreds of times slower than the second method, the 'Silicon Valley method'.

Facebook, Google and Tesla have taken the world by storm and completely changed it. They started to raise capital first, scale up, raise money again, pump it back into the company ... they are going to raise much more external capital and grow with it. Anyone who wants to create impact should be open to external capital. Another tip is to invest in sales, marketing and innovation."

Are you doing this all by yourself as CEO and founder of JUUNOO?

Chris: "Yes of course, that's not difficult, is it? You just have to work and do it. I spend two weeks in Belgium and two weeks in New York."

Have you won any awards?

Chris: "We have already won a few. Red Dot Design Award, Cradle to Cradle Silver, Deloitte Fast 50, the latter of which we have won 3 times, as the fastest growing company in Belgium and within the sustainability category we are the leader. Furthermore, we have won Solar Impulse and the Circubuild Award."

Do you make use of subsidies?

Chris: "In the beginning, we received some subsidies. Then we mainly used grants to develop projects and now it is mainly business model grants. We are a partner within the CMAF Circular Materials Different Funding project.. We were able to use this experiment as a case. Now that is being scaled up and we are actually going to work with a whole group of people around Masco, Material as a Service Company, an ESCO but with materials. We will then experiment with that and the next step is to start another additional company. These grants are very valuable.

Grants are good for bringing people together. That's how innovation is created. But you also need classic entrepreneurship to really turn that idea into a business. For me, that is the most important thing. It's not about subsidies or test projects. It's about business models, allowing you to scale up into global players. The next sustainable companies need to grow as fast as Facebook or Tesla... and they can feel free to come from Flanders or Belgium."

Don't companies then move away from Belgium if they grow like this?

Chris: "No, Belgium has the advantage of having very good staff, very well-educated people who want to work. Maybe we will bet 100 per cent on the United States. But Research and Development (R&D) will remain in Belgium."

Are you tickled by JUUNOO's story? Curious about the circular walls at 't Centrum and the other circular applications and materials? Then come visit 't Centrum and book a guided tour.

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