387 | Making Circularity Possible Today with Adam Baruchowitz
What if the real key to making circularity actually possible wasn’t in high-tech factories or new materials, but in reimagining how communities and industries handle everyday clothing waste—and turning local passion into scalable impact?
Bio: Adam Baruchowitz, Chief Recycling Officer at Return to Vendor, is a pioneer in textile recycling. He began collecting and recycling clothing as a personal project and has now recycled over 35 million lbs. of clothing and textiles. He began his career as a day trader, building and managing a team of 15 people. In 2001, he co-founded HEEB Magazine, one of the highest circulated Jewish culture magazines in the world. Adam has 15 years of experience creating collection hubs for municipalities, apartment buildings, organizations and fashion brands.
This episode is sponsored by the coaching company of the host, Paul Zelizer. Consider a Strategy Session if you can use support growing your impact business.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Transcript of Making Circularity Possible Today with Adam Baruchowitz
NOTE: While it’s not perfect, we offer this transcript and the below summaries by Castmagic for those who are hearing impaired or who don’t find listening to a podcast enjoyable or possible.
Click here for full transcript.
Key Takeaways in Making Circularity Possible Today with Adam Baruchowitz
1. Grassroots Beginnings Can Drive Transformative Impact:
Adam Baruchowicz built his pioneering textile recycling business from humble beginnings, leveraging personal experiences, community efforts, and problem-solving to create high-impact solutions for both charity and environmental sustainability.
"And little did I know, also go down the path of environmental justice...what started as an idea grew into a little bit of a grassroots, hey, convince my building manager...and we got to like 10, 15 buildings. And it was kind of like cool little project because we had an outlet for everything we collected."
2. Circularity Goes Beyond Recycling—It’s About Systematic Change:
The shift from simply recycling to true circularity involves designing products for end-of-life, aligning business incentives, and fostering collaborative solutions that link brands, recyclers, and innovators to close the loop in materials use.
"Design with end of life in mind and take responsibility at end of life to reconstitute it. I think that brands should be involved in that chain. And you know, I think it's a simple sort of elegant way to approach putting products into market and maximizing value."
3. Aligning Profit and Sustainability is Possible—And Necessary for Scale:
For-profit structures, scientific innovation, and an obsession with the economics of waste can create scalable, sustainable businesses that outperform traditional models and drive real industry transformation.
"Frankly, being the entrepreneur that I am...you know, the option might have been to go down the nonprofit path...And also I thought there was a business here...so like, I didn't want to be limited...I've just been obsessed with trying to find ways to find the economics around this waste to value."