Michael Rada is recognised on a global level as the father of ‘Industry 5.0’, a revolutionary approach to development built on industrial upcycling – the methodology of systematic waste prevention. His mission is clear: to transform the global economy from wasteful systems into efficient, people-centred industries.
With over 30 years of experience in business and industry, Rada, a leading environmental speaker, has sought to change the narrative on waste prevention, so that it delivers not only environmental benefits but also significant financial savings. In an interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Rada shared his insights on Industry 5.0, innovative upcycling methods, and how businesses can play a leading role in building a wasteless future.
Industry 5.0 has been described as the next great industrial shift. How does it fundamentally differ from Industry 4.0, and why do you believe it places people and sustainability at its core?
Industry 5.0 is not limited just to the industrial environment, but it’s a new global ecosystem based on the principles of systematic waste prevention. This is the biggest change.
The second biggest change is that it is the first industry-oriented solution which speaks about people, because none before – from one to four – ever cared about what the people will do.
For me, and for Industry 5.0, it is a core principle to find a solution for people to live meaningful lives, and meaningful lives count as meaningful work. So these are the biggest differences.
From your experience, what tangible benefits can businesses expect by adopting Industry 5.0 principles — not only financially, but also in terms of resilience, loyalty, and long-term environmental impact?
It means huge savings, starting with the reduction of generated waste. The waste is not managed but prevented, and this is something very different. We can speak here about millions of euros.
There is no need for capital investment, which is another very interesting part. It is important to say that the people in an Industry 5.0 environment become more loyal, so it even impacts the structure of the company itself.
Industry 5.0 always prevents five types of waste from happening: physical, social, urban, process, and wasting of time. Especially in process – many companies know lean, Six Sigma, and similar methodologies – we use those as one of the principles.
For example, some companies do not need to buy or rent new warehouses, because after implementation they realise they will fit in the original one. So there are a lot of benefits, plus the environmental ones.
You often speak about living in a ‘waste age’. What do you see as the biggest barriers preventing society and industry from transitioning to a truly wasteless future?
The setup of current society, industry, and the economy itself. We are living in times where the biggest volume of waste is generated because of profit for a few. And because this few represent the people who call themselves the leaders of the world, you can understand why my work is, for example, banned by the United Nations, banned by the European Commission – I am not allowed to speak at events organised by those. Greenpeace don’t speak with me.
But I will not call it an obstacle – I call it reality. I call them giants. And I don’t fear the giants, because I have learned that when humans start to grow, the giants start to shrink.
I am the example. I never used their money. For ten years, Industry 5.0 was built from scratch – from zero. No investors, no investment, no funding, no incentives. But delivering results. So I don’t see it as an obstacle.
Maybe it slows us down a little, but Industry 5.0 is the first industrial evolution. And evolution does not need to hurry – it will be here after all revolutions.
Upcycling plays a key role in reducing industrial waste. What are some of the most innovative approaches you’ve seen — and how can companies unlock value by reimagining existing resources rather than creating new ones?
We go back to the roots. If we speak about innovations, there has always been something similar in the past.
For example, we speak about 3D printing, but the very first houses were built with very similar technology – using your hands to make a round house or shelter out of mud.
Another example is heat compression: you take material, including plastic, heat it, press it into the form you need, and you can make bricks or many other things. This was there before.
We can also speak about origami. So I will not say there is something completely special. The only special thing is the way we do it, because we call all these ‘on the ground mines’ – things that already exist. You are part of the on-the-ground mine, me as well, our offices, our houses. We just need to use them the right way, instead of misusing them.
One interesting example that can be applied in every country: power towers. These towers carry wires, but have you ever thought they have just one function? There are billions of those towers around the globe. The highest one is just two metres lower than the Eiffel Tower.
Why not use them for something else? You can put a wind turbine inside – not the traditional one, but horizontal wind turbines. We calculated for one project that if we put in every 100 power towers just one 1.5 kilowatt turbine, we could generate as much power as six nuclear power stations, at less than half the price of one.
This is the way we work. So, I don’t speak about innovations, but about how to utilise things better.
This exclusive interview with Michael Rada was conducted by Jack Hayes of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
