Sustainability frameworks have taken center stage in the design industry. But in the race to cut carbon emissions, are we leaving the human element behind?

Welcome to The Future is Circular, the podcast presented by the ECONYL® brand. This podcast explores key topics in the circular economy through the lens of design innovation and business strategy.

In this episode, we sit down with Ana Rita Martins, Sustainability Lead at MCM, who helps us decode the complex world of environmental and social certifications.

Listen to the full conversation!

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Today, sustainability is increasingly measured, verified, labelled, and reported. And yet, it is still widely misrepresented.

The world of ESG certifications resembles a crowded map of symbols, standards, and claims – all promising transparency, yet not always speaking the same language.

For consumers, this creates confusion about who to trust. For companies, it poses a different challenge: what results to share and how to present them.

In this episode, we are joined by Gian Luca Baldo from Life Cycle Engineering, who guides us through the sustainability certification maze – debunking concepts like life cycle assessment, carbon offsetting and carbon neutrality.

If sustainability certifications have ever left you with more doubts than clarity, this conversation is for you.

In a world where genuine impact is increasingly hard to distinguish from greenwashing, ESG ratings have become one of the clearest indicators of how seriously a company approaches sustainability. Behind every score lies a complex mix of data, documentation, and long-term commitment that often remains hidden from view.

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Giacomo Martino Belluzzo, Group ESG Specialist at Aquafil, who has recently led the company to a Platinum EcoVadis rating, among the global top performers.

Together, we will uncover what independent ESG ratings actually measure, why they matter for competitiveness, and how they help strengthen entire value chains − from climate action to supplier due diligence.