Founder & CEO of Closed Loop Partners, Ron Gonen on Investing in the Circular Economy, Why it's a Financial Competitive Advantage, Verifying Impact, Measuring Outcomes & Much More… (#012)

SRI360 | Socially Responsible Investing, ESG, Impact Investing, Sustainable Investing

Ron Gonen is the Founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners, a New York-based investment firm comprised of venture capital, growth equity, private equity, project-based finance, and an innovation center that’s focused on building the circular economy.
Ron spent his early childhood years in Israel, moving to Philadelphia around the age of five. He studied History and Economics at the University of Massachusetts and after graduating, joined Andersen Consulting as a trainee, then moved on to Deloitte Consulting. In 2004 he co-founded RecycleBank while studying for his MBA and then he went on to become New York City’s Deputy Commissioner of Sanitation, Recycling, and Sustainability, during the Bloomberg administration.
In 2013, Ron was named the city’s ‘Public Official of the Year’ by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earth Day New York. Throughout his career, he has earned numerous business and environmental awards, including recognition as ‘Champion of the Earth’ by the United Nations Environment Program and receiving a Medal of Excellence from Columbia University, where he earned his MBA and later served as an Adjunct Professor in its business School from 2010– 2018. In 2021, he received the Social Enterprise Center Award for Excellence in Teaching. A former member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Henry Catto Fellow at the Aspen Institute, he holds multiple recycling industry technology and business method patents.
In this episode, we learn more about the circular economy and why it has a clear competitive financial advantage. We hear about Closed Loop Partners’ investment strategy, as well as some real-life examples of circular economy investments they have made. Ron shares how he verifies impact and measures outcome, and we learn how Closed Loop Partners’ Innovation Center came about.
Show notes: https://sri360.com/podcast/ron-gonen
About the SRI 360° Podcast: The SRI 360° Podcast is focused exclusively on sustainable & responsible investing. In each episode, Scott Arnell interviews a world-class investor who is an accomplished practitioner from all asset classes. In my interviews, I cover everything from their early personal journeys—and what motivated and attracted them to commit their life energy to SRI—to insights on how they developed and executed their investment strategies and what challenges they face today. Each episode is a chance to go way below the surface with these impressive people and gain additional insights and useful lessons from professional investors.
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Chapters

1. Founder & CEO of Closed Loop Partners, Ron Gonen on Investing in the Circular Economy, Why it's a Financial Competitive Advantage, Verifying Impact, Measuring Outcomes & Much More… (#012) (00:00:00)

2. Ron describes his time at the University of Massachusetts and how he chose to train at Andersen Consulting, over a PhD in History/Economics (00:04:08)

3. How Ron came to co-found RecycleBank and what led to his departure from the company (00:06:17)

4. Ron tells us about his role working for the Bloomberg Administration, and how he describes himself as ‘the compromise candidate’ (00:09:37)

5. Ron was named New York City’s ‘Public Official of the Year’ (00:11:26)

6. How Ron came to found Closed Loop Partners (00:11:50)

7. Ron’s ‘Champion of the World’ distinction by the United Nations Environment Program (00:12:30)

8. Ron describes his journey into environmental and sustainable investing (00:12:53)

9. We hear more about Closed Loop Partners and their mission (00:15:05)

10. Ron explains the Circular Economy and how it differs from the traditional “linear economy” (00:17:05)

11. How Closed Loop Partners selects their investments and the non-financial screens used in the process (00:23:11)

12. Real-life examples of circular economy investments and how they were selected (00:26:37)

13. We hear what Impact means to Closed Loop Partners, how they verify it and the criteria used to measure outcome (00:28:23)

14. Closed Loop Partners’ typical investors and why they choose to invest with Closed Loop Partners (00:31:50)

15. We hear more about Closed Loop Partners’ ‘Innovation Centre’ and its growth (00:34:54)

16. Opposition to the circular economy and how the tide is turning (00:40:40)

17. Ron’s recently published book “Waste Free World” and what motivated him to write it (00:42:05)

18. Ron describes The Reusies™ awards and what they are all about (00:43:14)