Let's turn Great Sustainable Product Ideas into Business Reality - Vanya Boneva (Essity)

About WAYS

WAYS explores real-world experiences at the intersection of
ecodesign, circular economy, product sustainability, digital
transformation and regulatory readiness (including ESPR, the
Digital Product Passport and product data governance).
Who this episode is for

Relevant for product designers, product managers,
sustainability professionals, marketing and communication teams,
innovation leaders, manufacturers, and anyone interested in
bringing sustainable product innovation successfully to market.
About the guest: Vanya Boneva

Vanya Boneva is Sustainability Lead (Central & East
Europe) and Regional Marketing Manager HHT at Essity
(essity.com). Combining sustainability with commercial marketing,
she works at the interface where sustainable product innovation
becomes customer value. Her work on Essity’s award-winning
Coreless technology demonstrates how sustainability,
product development and marketing can come together to create
innovations that benefit consumers, retailers, businesses and the
environment alike.
About the host: Wolfgang Steiner

Wolfgang Steiner has spent many years working at the intersection
of product innovation and design, digital & data, and
sustainability. He is the Founder of Ecoviator,
helping companies navigate the Twin Transformation towards
sustainable product businesses through digitalisation—including
preparation for the Digital Product Passport.


https://www.linkedin.com/in/wolfgangsteiner/


https://www.ecoviator.com
Summary

In this episode, Wolfgang speaks with Vanya Boneva about what it
really takes to transform a sustainable idea into a successful
product innovation. Using the story behind Essity’s award-winning
Coreless technology, they explore why sustainability alone
is rarely enough. Instead, lasting innovation emerges when
sustainability, marketing, product development and commercial
teams work towards a common goal. A conversation about
stakeholder alignment, credible sustainability communication,
customer value—and why some of the most impactful innovations
begin by questioning assumptions we’ve taken for granted for
decades. 

Soundbites

• “Marketing and sustainability should not work in
parallel—they should design together.”


• “The best innovations don’t always add something new.
Sometimes they remove what we’ve always assumed was
necessary.”


• “Sustainable innovation succeeds when customer value,
business value and environmental value reinforce one
another.” 


WAYS_Intro and Outro to Vanya Boneva_final script.pdf
Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Vanya’s journey


04:15 Sustainability meets marketing


10:30 The story behind Coreless


20:05 Designing products retailers embrace


29:40 Communicating sustainability credibly


37:10 Aligning stakeholders across the organisation


45:25 Why less can become more


52:10 Looking ahead: the future of sustainable product innovation


Content Type: Interview


Primary Goal: Education
Music Credits

“Lullaby | Hip-Hop Instrumental” by kontraamusic


Source: Freesound.org


Licensed under Creative Commons CC0