The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a United Kingdom-based, nonprofit charity that is active in multiple continents around the world and focuses on accelerating the implementation of an environmentalist “circular economy” to combat climate change and reduce material waste. ¹

It receives money from other foundations, and its “core philanthropic partners” include the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, the People’s Postcode Lottery, and the global environmentalist foundation MAVA. ²

The foundation also created the Circular Economy 100 (CE100), a network of businesses including Apple, Avery Dennison, the Coca-Cola Company, HP, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Target Corporation, and Teleplan, committed to its environmentalist ideology. ³

Founding

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a nonprofit charity based in the United Kingdom formed in 2010 by retired English sailboat racer Ellen MacArthur. The foundation works around the world in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America and has a United States affiliated foundation. MacArthur created the foundation “to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.” ⁴

The concept of a circular economy is founded on components, products, and raw materials’ having the ability to lose as little value as possible over time; in other words, products and components will be reused to their maximum extant, and raw materials will be used as little as possible and recycled as much as possible. A circular economy is also reliant on renewable energy. ⁵

Funding

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation receives funding from multiple sources including private foundations, and its global partners include organizations such as Google, Renault, Philips, and BlackRock. ⁶

Because the foundation is based in the United Kingdom, limited information on its income and expenditure is available. The foundation released an abridged accounts report in 2017. According to the report, in 2017 the Ellen MacArthur Foundation received £5,190,881 (approximately $6.74 million as of January 2020) in unrestricted funds, and £3,503,354 (approximately $4.5 million) in restricted funds, for a total of £8,694,235 (approximately $11.3 million). The report also states that the foundation received a total income of £9,814,283 ($12.7 million) in 2016. ⁷

The foundation’s expenditures amounted to £8,239,482 (approximately $10.7 million) in 2017, and £5,770,949 (approximately $7.5 million) in 2016. ⁸

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation receives money from other foundations such as the C&A Foundation, which focuses on creating a more environmentalist-friendly fashion industry. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation received €475,000 (approximately $530,000 as of January 2020) over one and a half years from C&A to create an action plan towards a “circular fibers economy,” and another €260,000 (approximately $290,000) over one year to help make the fashion industry into a “circular textiles economy,” through its “Make Fashion Circular” initiative. ⁹

The foundation was also awarded £1,000,000 (approximately $1.3 million as of January 2020) from the United Kingdom’s People’s Postcode Lottery to support the “Make Fashion Circular” initiative. ¹⁰

The global environmentalist foundation MAVA, which is a “core philanthropic partner,” contributed 1,000,000–1,500,000 Swiss Francs (approximately $1.03-$1.55 million as of January 2020) to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation over the course of 36 months. ¹¹

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation also lists other “core philanthropic partners” that include the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation created by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy Schmidt, and the People’s Postcode Lottery. ¹²

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation USA, the foundation’s United States affiliate, reported total revenues of $470,690 in 2016, $276,500 in 2017,¹³ and $962,765 in 2018. ¹⁴

Climate Change

One of the main concerns listed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation that can allegedly be helped by a circular economy, is climate change. According to the foundation’s website, “renewable energy is not enough,” and there needs to be a “fundamental shift in the global approach to tackling climate change.” ¹⁵ The foundation also claims that switching to renewable energy can only cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55%, because 45% of emissions come from the ways products are used and produced. ¹⁶

With the support of Wendy Schmidt, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation awarded $1,000,000 to “five recyclable and compostable packaging solutions” that were developed to decrease waste into the ocean. ¹⁷

The environmental company Veolia partnered with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation as part of its Food Initiative, which seeks to create circular economy solutions in order to “reduce CO2 emissions by 4.3 billion tonnes per year,” and to “improve health and soils by preserving 15 million hectares of arable land per year.” ¹⁸ According to the foundation, the Food Initiative will assist in “tackling the climate crisis, restoring biodiversity, and improving human health.” ¹⁹ The global food giant Nestle also joined the Food Initiative. ²⁰

Another partner of the foundation is the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), which claims to connect 90 of the world’s greatest cities, representing 650+ million people and one-quarter of the global economy. The partnership between the foundation and C40 aims to accelerate a circular economy that will provide “radical, innovative and transformational solutions,” and will “deliver on the ambition of the Paris Agreement and prevent catastrophic climate change.” ²¹

Aligned Organizations

The CE100 network is a group of businesses that have joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in committing to a circular economy.

Global partners of the CE100 network include Unilever, SCJohnson, DS Smith, Phillips, and Danone. ²²

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, partnered with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and created the BGF Circular Economy Fund in 2019. The fund, which was provided $20,000,000 in initial seed money by BlackRock, will invest in companies that set their own circular economy targets and provide solutions to accelerate the implementation of a circular economy. ²³ The global head of thematic and sector investing at BlackRock had been working on creating a fund focused on recycling and sustainable batteries, but the focus changed to the circular economy on the theory that it presents more opportunity to invest on trends like climate change, resource scarcity, and urbanization. ²⁴

Google, another global partner, co-released a report with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation which focused on ways artificial intelligence can accelerate a circular economy. The report suggests artificial intelligence can exploit “real-time and historical data from products and users.” ²⁵

Members of the CE100 network include Apple, Avery Dennison, the Coca-Cola Company, HP, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Target Corporation, and Teleplan. ²⁶

Other affiliated organizations include the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, which focuses on teaching young cancer patients and survivors to sail,²⁷ and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Trading Limited, a child company of the foundation. ²⁸

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