Circular Economy Podcast 167 HaPPE Earth: circular, compostable PPE systems
Lisa and Mary O’Riordan are co-founders of HaPPE Earth, a circular business providing compostable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) with an end-to-end waste management system that creates a nutrient rich fertiliser using this PPE, combined with the client’s food waste. The HaPPE Earth solution is ideal for a range of sectors including healthcare, food processing and other manufacturing industries.
HaPPE Earth is replacing a highly problematic product made from single-use plastic, and helping to bust big myths around plastics and hygiene, which were strengthened during the pandemic.
I met HaPPE Earth’s co-founders when I did some work for last year’s CIRCULÉIRE Circular Ventures Accelerator, funded by the Irish Government. HaPPE Earth was one of the supported ventures, and I’ve been super-impressed by how Lisa and Mary have used their systems-thinking, technical and entrepreneurial skills to win their first clients and set out bold ambitions for their business and the value it creates for people, planet and local economies.
We’ll hear about their detailed criteria for the choice of raw materials, the systems they’ve created to make sure this circular solution is super-easy for clients, and how all the different users and decision makers are reacting to compostable PPE.
Mary and Lisa tell us more about their career backgrounds and what led them to start HaPPE Earth, how they’ve overcome those misperceptions about the benefits of plastic, and how they plan to develop local supply chains to avoid PPE posing a major risk to resilience, as it did across many countries during the pandemic. And we hear about some of the shocking, unethical practices that encourage unnecessary consumption of plastic PPE.
International speaker, author and strategic advisor, Catherine Weetman helps people discover why circular, regenerative and fair solutions are better for people, planet – and prosperity.
Catherine’s award-winning book: A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business includes lots of practical examples and tips on getting started.
Stay in touch for free insights and updates…
Read on for more on our guest and links to the people, organisations and other resources we mention.
Don’t forget, you can subscribe to the podcast series on iTunes, Google Podcasts, PlayerFM, Spotify, TuneIn, or search for “circular economy” in your favourite podcast app. Stay in touch to get free insights and updates, direct to your inbox…
You can also use our interactive, searchable podcast index to find episodes by sector, by region or by circular strategy. Plus, there is now a regular Circular Economy Podcast newsletter, so you get the latest episode show notes and links delivered to your inbox on Sunday morning, each fortnight. The newsletter includes a link to the episode page on our website, with an audio player. You can subscribe by clicking this link to update your preferences.
Links we mention in the episode:
- Happe Earth Website https://happeearth.com/
- Happe Earth on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/happe-earth/
- Lisa O’Riordan on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-o-riordan-52887343
- Mary O’Riordan on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-o-riordan-736ba276
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/happeearth/
Books, people and organisations we mentioned.
- CIRCULÉIRE industry-led ventures accelerator https://www.circuleire.ie/
- Seth Godin, This is Strategy: Make Better Plans (2024) Authors Equity, USA https://www.sethgodin.com/
- The Donella Meadows Project, a project of the Academy for Systems Change, Leverage points: the places to intervene in a system. Available from: donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/
- Episode 160 Catherine Weetman: systems and system value rethinkglobal.info/160-systems-and-system-value/
- Plastics and human health: $1.5trn annual cost revealed in new study, Institute for Sustainability Studies (August 12, 2025) https://instituteofsustainabilitystudies.com/insights/news-analysis/plastics-and-human-health-1-5trn-annual-cost-revealed-in-new-study/
Guest bios
Lisa O’Riordan is co-founder of HaPPE Earth. She has extensive experience in planning, budgeting, and managing logistics for large-scale events, overseeing everything from supplier negotiations and build operations to compliance and delivery. Previously, Lisa founded LivebyLove, a luxury lingerie and swimwear brand selling across Europe, where she gained expertise in design, branding, and international sales. Lessons from that venture continue to inform HaPPE’s approach to risk management and growth.
Dr Mary O’Riordan is co-founder of HaPPE Earth. She has been 18 years in clinical medical practice, the last 8 of those involved with Public Health Medicine, specialising in Emergency Response for Highly Emerging, Infectious Threats. She has been the International Health Regulations (IHR) and ECDC Irish Focal Point representative for emerging infectious threats. Mary has in-depth knowledge of inter-sectoral collaboration when dealing with complex, societal issues related to infectious diseases. She is highly interested in bringing practical, sustainable and circular solutions to address the single use plastic problem in healthcare and similar industries.
Please let us know what you think of the podcast – and we’d love it if you could leave us a review on iTunes, or wherever you find your podcasts. Or send us an email…