Circular economy company gained ideas from resident pilots

RD Physics Oy, a company originally from Otaniemi, Espoo, aims to offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to purchasing a new loudspeaker and become a pioneer in producing 3D-printed electronic products. The founder of the company, Kim-Niklas Antin, D.Sc. (Eng.), is interested in sustainable development and impact entrepreneurship. In impact entrepreneurship, the company’s activities promote objectives that benefit society and vice versa. The idea guiding the company’s operations is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 12 on responsible consumption and production.

The company’s cooperation with the City of Espoo began with a call for tenders to test new emission-free products and services that help conserve natural resources or promote biodiversity. A pilot project organised with the city included two loudspeaker workshops for city residents to build themselves loudspeakers from recycled materials.

The interest towards the speaker workshops was so great that not everyone who wanted to could participate. “I was surprised by how interested people were in the source of the components and the story behind them,” Antin says. The loudspeaker components have been sourced from a Nihtisilta-based recycling centre. Still, the company hopes to network with operators that could provide recycled electronics in larger batches and a steadier stream.

The jointly organised workshops enabled the company to test the interest of consumers in its products and business idea. The marketing survey included in the registration form also enabled the company to collect consumer data to develop its operations.

“In my opinion, the green transition requires strong cooperation between public operators and companies. The city can be an enabler of change,” Antin says. Cooperation with the city allowed the company to comprehensively test a new business idea.

Currently, Antin is temporarily working on an export promotion project in Sweden. The project aims to provide the company access to the global market through networking.

Building a carbon-neutral society requires bold thinking and new approaches. Espoo has the ability to take up this challenge. Join us in developing future solutions in Kera, Otaniemi and Kiviruukki! The Implementation Pathway for Environments that Accelerate Sustainable Growth KETO project boosts cooperation between businesses, schools and research organisations, and creates concrete development environments that promote the green transition and digitalisation. The project is run by the City of Espoo, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Aalto University and Omnia, together with several business partners. Project is funded by European Union’s REACT-EU ERDF and is part of the European Union’s response to the covid-19 pandemic.