Alumni

Jenni was a postdoctoral researcher in the Group for Sustainability and Technology (SusTec) at the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics at ETH Zurich. She joined the group in August 2024.Jenni’s research interests revolve around strategic development towards a sustainable circular economy and net zero through the management of business models, innovations, supply chains, and ecosystems. In exploring such topics, her methodological expertise is in qualitative case studies.

Jenni holds a double Doctor of Science with honors in Business and Technology from Tampere University (Finland) and Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Her earlier study background is from combined studies of Industrial Engineering and Management as well as Business Administration at Tampere University.

During her studies, Jenni worked in CERN (Switzerland) with innovation ecosystem analysis and project management, and she completed an exchange in Université de Bordeaux (France). Beyond ambitious research work, Jenni keeps engaging actively in various teaching and business development activities, such as contributing to advisory boards of sustainable start-ups.

Denise Reike was a postdoctoral researcher in the Group for Sustainability and Technology (SusTec) and the Group for Circular Economy at the Department of Management, Technology and Economics of ETH Zurich. She joined the Group in April 2023, to conduct research on the transition to a sustainable circular economy.

Denise understands the circular economy transition as a collective process generated by the actions and interrelations of various individual actors, and aimed at designing circular value chains that attain reduced resource use and other environmental, economic and social benefits.

She was part of the external page INCREACE European Union Horizon project (external page Work Package 6 led by Catharina Bening) which was concerned with developing innovative circular economy solutions to increase the uptake of recycled plastics in value-added electronic products. In her research, Denise looked at the CE transition from a system’s perspective at various levels. She sought to contribute scientific knowledge on the development of value chain reconfiguration processes that mark the formative phase of the circular economy (meso-level). This includes research on required changes in the resource-base and the capabilities of individual value chain actors (micro-level). Together with David Pfeffer, she also studied how established market structures and (prospective) policies affect the viability of using plastic recyclates (macro-level) with the aim to provide advice on ways forward that lead to stable market demand and supply of high-quality plastic recyclates.    

Denise commenced her research on the circular economy in 2014. She wrote her PhD thesis on circular economy conceptualization and system-oriented measurement of circular economy processes as a means to investigate circular economy implementation and progress. Together with her co-authors Denise was awarded several prices for the impact of her work such as: external page RCR Most Cited paper Award 2021 (Corona, Shen, Reike, Rosales Carreón, Worrell), external page RCR Most Cited Paper Award 2020, external page RCR Most Downloaded paper Award 2020 (both: Reike, Vermeulen, Witjes, 2018); external page RCR 30th Anniversary Best Paper Award, RCR Most Cited Paper Award 2017 (Kirchherr, Reike, Hekkert, 2017). She has contributed to several reports on circular economy commisioned by the Dutch Government (e.g. on external page circular economy measurement and external page circular textiles).

She completed her PhD next to her employment as Junior Assistant Professor at the external page Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development (Utrecht University). In this role she coordinated and taught several course modules in the Master Sustainable Business and Innovation, in the Bachelor Science and Innovation Management, and in the Bachelor Global Sustainability Science (Track Coordinator ‘Business and Innovation’). Over the years, she contributed to eighteen different course modules; closest to her heart were those related to organizational change management, sustainable entrepreneurship, corporate sustainability implementation, sustainable innovation and transitions, technology related venturing, and technology assessment.

Denise holds a Bachelor of Arts in European Studies from the external page Maastricht University (2010), and a Master of Science in Environmental Management and Policy from external page Utrecht University. (2013). Her research focus gradually expanded from from policy, politics and governance to the study of sustainability in organizations. Her Master thesis spanned both fields, as she benchmarked corporate decision-making in Sustainable Supply Chain Governance. Denise completed an Honours Programme which resulted in the the Degree ‘Climate KIC Master of Innovation’ by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and Climate KIC (2013).

Since 2014, Denise works as volunteer at the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling - VBDO). She is the Chair of the Sector Committee ‘Food, Beverages, and Retail’ and a member of the Sector Committee ‘Technology and Electronics’.

Thesis: "Modelling the global perspective of plastic waste co-processing in the cement industry"

Thesis: "Interaction Between Digitalization and Circular Economy in the Swiss Building Sector"

Thesis: "Life-Cycle Costing Assessment of Solvent-Based Recycled ABS from WEEE for Application in High-Quality Electronic Devices"

Thesis: "The economic feasibility of recycled polypropylene (rPP) production via advanced recycling methods"