nornnorn at UK Royal Academy of Engineering’s Frontiers Symposium 2025
On August 4–6 in Bangkok, nornnorn Founder & CEO Nophol Techaphangam joined 60 early- to mid-career circular economy academics, industry professionals, NGO leaders, and policymakers from around the world at the UK Royal Academy of Engineering’s Frontiers Symposium 2025.
The 2.5-day symposium explored The Business Case for Circular Economy through three sub-themes:
Digital solutions and creative design – using technology, design, and digital tools to prevent and convert waste.
Inclusive systems and policy development – creating frameworks and policies for a just, effective circular economy.
Waste valorisation and financing strategies – building the business case for waste and financing waste valorisation initiatives.
Digital Solutions and Creative Design Sub-theme
As one of three co-chairs of the first sub-theme, Nophol presented nornnorn’s work and facilitated interactive activities and discussions on how advanced technologies, digital tools, and creative design can be leveraged not only to convert waste but also to prevent it at its source. The goal was to inspire upstream circular product and service design—where waste is intentionally designed out of the system. Examples covered in the session ranged from nornnorn’s “product-as-a-service + end-of-life recycling” business model to waste management platforms to waste banks, all underscoring how innovations and technologies can strengthen circular business models.
Nophol co-chaired the first sub-theme with:
Miho Hayashi, Programme Manager, Sustainable Consumption and Production, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan
Mary Ngechu, Founder & Patron, TakaTaka ni Mali, Kenya
Global Collaboration for a Circular Economy
Hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering in partnership with Thailand’s Programme Management Unit for Competitiveness (PMU-C), Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO), the symposium is a part of the Frontiers programme that connects and empowers passionate researchers, innovators, and practitioners from across the globe to collaborate on solutions to complex global challenges—fostering engagement, network-building, and diverse partnerships.