I believe the circular economy will increasingly move upstream, shifting from waste management to waste prevention through smarter, circular design.
As businesses face growing pressure to address environmental concerns, the principles of circular innovation have become increasingly vital. By focusing on zero waste and efficiency, companies can not only reduce their ecological footprint but also unlock new opportunities for growth, resilience, and profitability. How can businesses successfully incorporate these strategies to shape a sustainable future? In this interview series, we are talking with industry leaders, sustainability experts, innovators, and entrepreneurs about “Circular Innovation: The Role of Zero Waste and Efficiency in Shaping Future Businesses.”
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Elyse Winer.
Elyse Winer is Chief Marketing Officer for Gen Phoenix, a material innovator transforming waste leather into premium, circular materials with significantly reduced environmental impact. She joined the company in 2023 after serving as a Partner at venture capital fund Material Impact, where she helped tech companies build enduring brands and commercial strategies. A Cornell University magna cum laude graduate and Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree in Marketing & Advertising, Elyse is passionate about proving that circularity, performance, and profitability can coexist at scale.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. How did you become involved in the circular economy and zero waste initiatives?
Ihave always had a passion for supporting brands that turn emerging innovations into game changing products. When I began advising Gen Phoenix, I saw the scale of leather waste globally and realized this wasn’t just an environmental problem, it was a supply chain problem. Circular innovation allows us to recover value that already exists in systems, and transform it into something premium and scalable. That combination of sustainability, fashion, and commercial impact made it the perfect fit.
Can you share your professional background and how it prepared you to innovate in this space?
My background is in marketing and commercialization, particularly helping breakthrough technologies find market traction. At Material Impact, I worked with tech companies to build enduring brands that resonated with customers. That experience taught me that innovation alone isn’t enough — new ideas must solve tangible needs and perform commercially. At Gen Phoenix, I apply that same lens to the world of circular materials.
What drives your commitment to promoting efficiency and zero waste in business?
What drives my commitment to promoting efficiency and zero waste in business is the belief that the way we design and manufacture products should reflect the world we want to live in. For too long, waste has been treated as an inevitable byproduct of progress, but I see it as a signal that something in the system isn’t working as well as it could.
At Gen Phoenix, we’ve built our business around the idea that waste can be reimagined as a resource. When you start from that mindset, efficiency and circularity aren’t just sustainability goals, they become drivers of innovation, better products, and smarter economics. Turning discarded leather into beautiful, high-performance materials proves that we don’t have to choose between performance, aesthetics, and environmental responsibility.
What motivates me most is the opportunity to help industries rethink long-standing assumptions. When businesses realize that reducing waste can also create value, unlock new design possibilities, and strengthen their brand, it becomes clear that zero waste isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the future of how successful companies will operate.
How does your organization incorporate the principles of the circular economy into its business model?
Circularity is the center of our business model. Gen Phoenix takes leather waste bound for landfill and breaks it down to the fiber level, then rebuilds it into premium materials that meet the performance standards of luxury, fashion and transportation brands with up to 80% lower carbon footprint than traditional leather.
But the real differentiator is how we work. We co-develop alongside our partners from R&D through to commercialization. Our deep, collaborative partnerships ensure the materials integrate seamlessly into existing manufacturing systems at scale and deliver on durability, aesthetics, and cost expectations while making a meaningful impact on the planet.
Can you provide an example of how zero waste practices have improved your business operations or profitability?
Since 2007, Gen Phoenix has been transforming leather waste into new, long-lasting materials, diverting more than 10,000 tonnes from landfill in the process. From the beginning, our manufacturing model has been intentionally designed around a zero-waste philosophy, ensuring that valuable resources are continually recovered and reused rather than discarded.
One example of how this improves our operations is our closed-loop approach to manufacturing. We have achieved zero waste to landfill since 2016, and our in-house water treatment facility allows us to recycle water used in production and return it back into the manufacturing process. In addition, our facility runs on 100% renewable electricity, reducing both environmental impact and long-term operational costs.
By conserving and regenerating key resources, from our raw material inputs to water and energy, we’ve built a highly efficient production that minimizes waste, reduces costs, and strengthens supply resilience. This circular approach not only supports our environmental mission but also contributes directly to the efficiency and profitability of our business.
What role does innovation play in advancing zero waste initiatives, and how do you foster that innovation within your company?
Innovation is what makes circularity viable at scale. Traditional supply chains were built for linear throughput, not regeneration. Advancing zero waste requires rethinking material engineering, manufacturing flows, and partnership models. We foster innovation by inviting brands into our process early — opening up our facilities, sharing data, and co-engineering solutions specific to each partner’s needs. Innovation isn’t just about a new idea, it’s about bringing together experts across the supply chain to co-develop solutions that no one party could solve for on its own. That level of collaboration sparks new solutions, builds trust and accelerates long term adoption.
What are the key challenges to implementing circular economy principles in mainstream business models, and how do you address them?
The biggest challenge is integration into legacy systems as most processes weren’t originally built to accommodate next-generation materials. Emerging sustainability regulations in some regions like the UK are increasing pressure to report, trace, and validate claims. These are aimed to support progress, but can be complex and overwhelming to brands, especially when circular innovations operate in fragmented frameworks rather than within holistic systems. We focus on a turnkey material solution that integrates within existing workflows to alleviate this friction. Circular solutions succeed when they simplify operations and align with existing supply chains.
How do you see circular economy and zero waste practices evolving in the future, and what role do you want your organization to play?
I believe the circular economy will increasingly move upstream, shifting from waste management to waste prevention through smarter, circular design. In the future, products and materials will be developed with circularity embedded from the beginning, ensuring resources remain in use rather than being discarded. More specifically in the fashion industry, we’re seeing macro-economic trends impact consumer behavior, as people are straying from fast and disposable fashion towards more durable materials for items they can get the most use out of. We are calling this shift, “wearmaxxing” — prioritizing longevity and cost-per-wear over trend cycles. The brands that are looking at this consumer behavior and engineering materials to age beautifully and perform over time will define the next era of luxury. As consumers reward longevity, it creates the commercial incentive brands need to redesign supply chains around circularity rather than disposability.
At Gen Phoenix, we aim to play a leading role in that transition by demonstrating that circular materials can meet the highest standards of performance, aesthetics, and scale. By transforming leather waste into premium materials used by global brands, we are helping prove that circularity can drive both environmental impact and commercial success.
What are your “5 Things A Business Needs In Order To Successfully Adopt Zero Waste And Circular Economy Principles”? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
1. Long-Term Executive Alignment & Investment
Investing in circularity must be a strategic leadership stance, not a one-off collaboration or marketing initiative. We’ve seen this firsthand through our partnership with Tapestry. What began as innovation exploration evolved into a multi-year supply agreement and equity investment. That level of commitment sends a signal that circular materials aren’t experimental, they’re core to long-term growth.
2. Co-Development Across the Value Chain
Transformation doesn’t happen through sourcing, but a fully hands-on approach from product development through launch. With Dr. Martens, our teams worked side-by-side to test our Genix Nappa reclaimed leather under the same durability standards as Dr. Martens’ traditional leather. That integration is why our collaboration with Dr. Martens has successfully extended across five consecutive seasons.
3. A Clear Performance and ROI Case
Circular materials must outperform incumbent solutions to thrive and forge long term partnerships. In aviation, a leading North American airline adopted our recycled leather seat covers and extended their lifecycle from three to six years, generating significant operational savings for the brand. That’s circularity making a clear business case by strengthening operations and reducing costs.
4. Consumer-Relevant Product Strategy
Circularity only scales if the benefits and creativity are desirable for the consumer. Through our partnership with Coachtopia, collections featuring our regenerated leather sold out, proving that sustainability, desirability and cultural relevance can coexist. When circular materials meet aesthetic and quality expectations, demand follows.
5. Scalable Production Infrastructure
Impact only matters if it can be repeated for years to come. Many next-generation projects struggle to move beyond pilot programs because they can’t reach commercial volume. After 15 years of perfecting a manufacturing process capable of supplying more than 250 airlines and over 6 million square meters of material, we had proved the performance and infrastructure needed to expand into fashion and footwear.
Who or what has been the biggest inspiration in your pursuit of creating a more sustainable, circular business model?
I’m inspired by leaders who understand that circularity only works when it’s built into the foundation of a brand, not layered on as a campaign. Watching Coachtopia design waste reduction into its DNA reinforced that sustainability and desirability are not opposites. When materials recovered from waste can power collections that sell out, it proves that circular systems can compete and win in the market.
I also admire brands that approach sustainability with honesty. The “responsible, not perfect” mindset we’ve seen from companies like Ganni resonates because it invites consumers into progress rather than preaching perfection.
The common thread is that sustainability becomes transformative when it moves from messaging to system-wide action, and when waste is repositioned not as a liability, but as a source of innovation and value.
If you could implement one big change across industries to accelerate the adoption of the circular economy, what would it be and why?
I would shift the industry from transactional, one-off sourcing to long-term innovation partnerships. Moving from sustainable capsule collections to long-term innovation partnerships would unlock faster integration, shared investment, and real systems change.
How can our readers further follow your work or your company online?
Visit genphoenix.com and follow Gen Phoenix on LinkedIn for updates on partnerships and circular innovation.
Thank you for sharing these insights!
