The Barrier Isn’t Tech. It’s Leadership.
What if the biggest barrier to a circular economy isn’t technology or funding, but the way we lead and collaborate with each other? In the first episode of the Resource Recycling Podcast, host Uriah Kiser talks with Cassie Gruber, a 20-plus-year circular economy strategist and Founder & CEO of Circular Bound and CALM Impact. Cassie started in a Buffalo e-waste shop inside an old Wonder Bread building, spent eight years leading Scope 3 and circular strategy at Jabil, and now builds tools to help leaders shift from linear habits to circular ones. Cassie argues that the industry already has technical solutions for recovery and reuse. Progress stalls because organizations stay siloed — and because more than 90% of how we behave is driven by the subconscious. Her answer is human-centered systems change: Circular Bound as the movement, and Surround as a free behavioral intelligence platform built around an eight-habit framework, human KPIs, and daily practice. In this episode: • Cassie’s start recovering components, leaching lead from CRT monitors, and extracting gold from inkjet cartridges • Why collaboration keeps stalling even when the technology exists • How Circular Bound and Surround.ai are built to make resiliency and emotional intelligence accessible • Where the industry still needs better collaboration: brands and ITADs, metals, plastics, chips, and data centers • What’s coming at the 2026 E-Scrap Conference in New Orleans, October 26–28, including the Sunday state-of-the-industry session and parade Cassie serves on the E-Scrap Conference steering committee and will speak at the 2026 event. She is also a co-author of The World’s Thought Leaders; her chapter is “Little But Fierce.” Guest Cassie Gruber, Founder & CEO, Circular Bound and CALM Impact https://www.circularbound.com https://www.calmimpact.com https://surround.ai https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassiemgruber Resources E-Scrap Conference 2026 (New Orleans, Oct. 26–28): https://escrapconference.com The World’s Thought Leaders: https://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Thought-Leaders-Motivated-Behind/dp/1763819833 Resource Recycling: https://resource-recycling.com The Resource Recycling Podcast is produced by Northern Virginia Local LLC for Resource Recycling. New episodes explore circular electronics, recycling systems, and the people building them.
