Skip to main content
Circularity 22 Home

Main menu

  • Home
  • ProgramToggle submenu for Program
    • Schedule
  • Virtual Event
  • Networking App
  • Speakers
  • Special ProgramsToggle submenu for Special Programs
    • Accelerate
    • Big Little Talks
    • Emerging Leaders
    • Sustainability Programs
  • AboutToggle submenu for About
    • Health & Safety
    • Sponsor
    • Subscribe
    • Travel
    • Who Attends
  • Register

Program

MAY 17 - 19, 2022 | ATLANTA, INTERCONTINENTAL BUCKHEAD

ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN TIME (EST). PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

  • Tuesday
  • Wednesday
  • Thursday
Filter by Track: 

Business Innovation & Strategy

Sponsored by: 
Keurig Dr Pepper - Track Page
Tuesday, May 17th, 2022
9:00am to 12:00pm
More Details

Tools of the Trade: How to Measure and Standardize Circularity

Tutorial
Trippe II & III

What is the landscape of standards, metrics and tools measuring the transition to a circular economy, and how can your organization leverage them in practice?

To advance a more circular strategy, system or economy, it is time to move beyond theoretical, anecdotal success towards data-driven decisions and outcomes. Yet the landscape of metrics, standards and tools measuring circularity is nascent and evolving. What tools exist to measure circular outcomes, and which will best serve your strategy? What are the intended applications for these tools, and how can your organization leverage them in practice? 

This half-day tutorial will explore the leading technologies and tools measuring circular success. A fireside chat will explore the humble — yet critical — life-cycle assessment, followed by deep-dive use cases and instructive explorations for the leading tools measuring circularity: Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard, World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Circular Transition Indicators and The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circulytics. 

 

  • All-Access Pass Required

Speakers

  • Danielle Nkojo
  • Christina Raab
  • Kellie Ballew
  • Dylan Siegler
  • Casey Rowland
  • Ilma Stankeviciute
  • Bill Sisson
  • Taylor Price
  • Suzanne Kuiper
  • Jim Hartzfeld

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Scaling Circular Fashion

Tutorial
Hope I & II

What are the leading trends and innovations in the world of circular fashion, and what will it take to bring these strategies to scale?

It’s no secret that the fashion industry has an environmental problem: The global fashion industry accounts for 10 percent of global carbon emissions, 20 percent of wastewater and relies on 98 million tons of non-renewable resources each year. And this is to say nothing of the dwindling life cycle of clothing and the resulting waste of more than 10 million tons of textile waste each year in U.S. landfills alone. The need for urgent action is clear. 

Fashion is ripe for a redesign, and applying circular principles to every phase of a garment’s lifespan has the power to revitalize and reimagine the industry as we know it. Revised design principles and new business models — like resale, rental, and repair — can extend product life and redefine ownership. Technological breakthroughs can enable new textiles made from recycled materials and biological sources. Redesigned recycling systems, manufacturing processes and supply chain flows can reduce inefficiencies and prioritize sustainable solutions. 

This half-day tutorial will follow a garment’s trajectory from sourcing and design to the business model within which it’s sold to its end of life management, uncovering leading circular solutions along the way. Bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders from across the apparel value chain, together we’ll explore what it will take to redesign the apparel industry of today. 

 

  • All-Access Pass Required

Speakers

  • Irys Kornbluth
  • Karla Magruder
  • Kabira Stokes
  • Kristy Caylor
  • Jeannie Renne-Malone
  • Suz Okie
  • Matteo Magnani
  • Asha Agrawal
  • Kim Gallagher
  • Axelle Schmit
  • Deonna Anderson

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

The Race to 2025: Achieving Plastics & Packaging Goals

Tutorial
Venetian I & II

What will it take to move beyond packaging commitments to meaningful action?

Compostable, recyclable, renewable, reusable or made from recycled content. From fashion to food and beverage to consumer packaged goods and beyond, diverse sectors have announced 2025 packaging goals with these commitments front and center. Now comes the hard part. Many of these goals require significant internal action, not to mention functioning external circular systems, like reliable sources of recycled content or composting and recycling infrastructure at scale. What will it take to accomplish your company’s goals?

This half-day tutorial will feature brands that are leading the charge towards 2025 — along with the solutions they’re leveraging. Together we’ll dive deep into the plastics value chain, explore the importance and use cases for various tools — including a tutorial on the Plastics IQ tool and a dialogue on plastic offsets — all while creating opportunities for meaningful networking across industries and value chains. 

 

  • All-Access Pass Required

Speakers

  • Sinclair Vincent
  • Matt Kopac
  • Emily Tipaldo
  • Julie Zaniewski
  • Danielle Jezienicki
  • Svanika Balasubramanian
  • Charlie Schwarze
  • Robert Flores
  • Katherine Huded
  • Joe Riconosciuto

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Ready, Set, Circularity: Setting Strategy and Kick-Starting Organizational Readiness

Tutorial
Venetian V & VI

How can you build an effective, comprehensive organizational strategy, and what it will take to upskill your workforce to achieve it?

The benefits of circularity can ripple throughout a business and its supply chain, creating opportunity and disruption in its wake. But no matter how visionary, a circular economy strategy will only translate into real-world impact if it breaks through silos and takes hold across an organization and its ecosystem. 

In this half-day tutorial, we’ll hear from leaders that have established comprehensive circular economy strategies that touch on diverse departments — from design to supply chain management to marketing. Together we’ll map your organization's ecosystem, uncovering partners and collaborators across your organization, supply and value chain that can help you in your journey towards an effective circular transition.  

 

  • All-Access Pass Required

Speakers

  • Uvini Lokuge
  • Natalia Vasquez
  • Nicole Ray
  • Ken Voeller
  • Katie Schindall
  • John Davies
  • Jeffrey Hogue
  • Maggie Howekamp
  • Eric King

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
4:00pm to 5:00pm
More Details

Bending Behaviors: How to Effectively Engage Consumers

Breakout
Venetian V & VI

How can companies shift consumer behaviors to advance circular outcomes?

What do recycling, reusable packaging and rentals all have in common? They rely on consumer behavior to succeed. From renting a dress to successfully using a blue bin, the consumer plays an active role in returning materials and ensuring circular outcomes.  But when a consumer is unfamiliar or unwilling to participate, circular initiatives and business models can fail. How can you encourage your consumer to change their behavior and ensure circular success? Join this panel to learn from practitioners who are studying and provoking consumer behavior change. 

 

Speakers

  • Jennifer Patrick
  • Satyakam Sharma
  • Suzanne Shelton
  • Steve Schmida

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Sponsored: A System Perspective on End-of-Life Challenges and Wins

Breakout
Venetian IV Room

Calling all life-cycle analysis experts to share their perspective on the end-of-Life progress in their industry. This workshop promises to be a lively discussion of controversies and challenges as well as key wins across multiple industries centered on the end-of-life phase of the circular economy. As the world’s largest supplier of aluminum sheet to the automotive industry, Novelis will lead the discussion with an insider view of how OEMs achieve their sustainability goals.

Jamie Zinser, vice president of global automotive sales and marketing at Novelis, and Suzanne Lindsay-Walker, vice president of sustainability for Novelis, along with industry experts, will create a spirited debate calling on session attendees to share their insights. Join us to hear from circular trailblazers and to share your perspective about the industry collaborations needed to make significant change in sustainability.

This session is sponsored by Novelis. Sponsored sessions are sponsor-created and hosted breakouts, created independently by the sponsor without input from GreenBiz. Please note that attendee contact information will be shared with the sponsoring company.

Speakers

  • Suzanne Lindsay-Walker
  • Jamie Zinser
  • George Luckey

Sponsors

Novelis

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
Wednesday, May 18th, 2022
9:00am to 10:00am
More Details

Sponsored: Stoking the Fire: Engaging Consumers in Circularity

Breakout
Venetian III Room

Where are consumers when it comes to circularity, and what will it take to engage them more effectively? In this session, SC Johnson is pleased to have Chris Coulter, CEO of GlobeScan present the latest global consumer insights from the Healthy & Sustainable Living research program. Uncovering findings from this 31-market consumer research study, Chris will explore opportunities for successful consumer engagement. Join this dynamic session to ask questions, share comments and to better understand how to activate and engage 8 billion consumers.

This session is sponsored by SC Johnson. Sponsored sessions are sponsor-created and hosted breakouts, created independently by the sponsor without input from GreenBiz. Please note that attendee contact information will be shared with the sponsoring company.

Speakers

  • Chris Coulter

Sponsors

SC Johnson

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Addressing Scope 3 Emissions with Circularity

Breakout
Venetian I & II

How can cities reduce Scope 3 emissions? And how can circular strategies help?

A small but growing body of evidence shows that circular economy approaches, including reuse and composting, can help cities reduce Scope 3 emissions. You’ll hear from a forward-thinking NGO that has quantified these benefits and a sustainability leader who is putting these ideas into action in one of America’s major cities.

 

Speakers

  • Jim Giles
  • Ashima Sukhdev
  • Matt Prindiville

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

How to: Resale — Recommerce Solutions Showcase

Breakout
Venetian V & VI

What are the leading platform solutions for apparel resale, and how can they help you launch a resale business model?  

Growing 25 times faster than the retail market and projected to be double the size of fast fashion by 2030, resale, also known as recommerce, has stolen headlines and hearts throughout the last year. The resale of worn or returned consumer products holds tremendous promise for the apparel industry, diverting substantial landfill waste and representing a rapidly growing revenue opportunity with a market valued at $20 billion. But with platforms cropping up left and right and eye-popping valuations stealing headlines each month, it’s hard to keep up with the buzz. In this session, the industry’s preeminent resale solutions will showcase their platform and services. Come with questions and curiosity as we dive into the landscape of recommerce solutions. 

 

Speakers

  • Peter Whitcomb
  • Nicole Bassett
  • Nina Ahuja
  • Suz Okie
  • Karin Dillie
  • Ann Starodaj

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

You Are What You Teach: How to Upskill Your Organization for Circularity

Breakout
Hope I & II

How can you educate and upskill your workforce on the complexity of circularity, and what will it take to enable their success as your organization pursues a more circular future? 

Launching circular strategies — from piloting new business models to sourcing recycled materials to designing and taking back products with a new life in mind — requires new positions, mindsets and skills. Workers across your organization — and throughout the supply and value chain — will need relevant expertise and mindsets to adapt to this new approach to business. But what does it take to effectively explain the circular economy to your colleagues and teammates? What knowledge base does your work force need to pursue a circular strategy? What will a just, equitable transition look like and how can your company upskill both your workers and those your company relies on? Join this session to dive into what it will take to upskill your organization for circularity. 

Speakers

  • Katie Schindall
  • John Davies
  • Trent Gross
  • Ilma Stankeviciute

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
1:30pm to 2:30pm
More Details

Sponsored: A Collaborative Approach to Increase Recycling Access and Rates

Breakout
Venetian III

Confusion and chaos often define today’s recycling infrastructure. But a collaborative approach across the value chain—from ensuring a product can be recycled and educating consumers to proper sorting support and identifying end-use markets—can make a difference.

 Join this session to learn how stakeholders in the food and beverage carton industry came together and increased recycling access rates by nearly 240 percent since 2009. In this discussion, you’ll hear how nuts and bolts solutions were identified and how stakeholders worked together to remove recycling barriers, build consumer knowledge, change consumer habits, and more.

This session is sponsored by Tetra Pak. Sponsored sessions are sponsor-created and hosted breakouts, created independently by the sponsor without input from GreenBiz. Please note that attendee contact information will be shared with the sponsoring company.

Speakers

  • Jordan Fengel
  • Lena Zodda
  • Mark Bond
  • Sherry Yarkosky

Sponsors

Tetra Pak

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Sponsored: Advancing a Circular Economy for Plastics: Policy and Value Chain Collaboration

Breakout
Venetian IV Room

The plastics industry is making changes for a better tomorrow. America’s plastic makers have set goals to reuse, recycle or recover 100 percent of plastic packaging by 2040. To accomplish this, we're investing in mechanical and advanced recycling technologies, creating products that are made to be remade and collaborating across the entire plastics value chain to build a circular economy. But we can’t do it alone. Recently, we announced "5 Actions for Sustainable Change" that the U.S. Congress can take to help accelerate a circular economy for plastics. Come learn from leaders across the value chain who are already using advanced recycling technologies to change the way plastics are made, recycled and remade, and what policies are required to help recycle and reuse more plastic.

This session is sponsored by American Chemistry Council Plastic Division. Sponsored sessions are sponsor-created and hosted breakouts, created independently by the sponsor without input from GreenBiz. Please note that attendee contact information will be shared with the sponsoring company.

Speakers

  • Joshua Baca
  • Diane Marret
  • Eric Hartz
  • Rachel Goldstein
  • John Avolio

Sponsors

American Chemistry Council | Plastic Division

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Designing a Circular Supply Chain with Green Chemistry

Breakout
Trippe I

What will it take to prioritize green chemistry in your supply chain?

To build an effective circular economy, designing out toxicity is imperative. Safe chemistry in will equate to safe chemistry out, and optimizing materials to enable infinite recyclability is key.

When purchasing materials, most brands and manufacturers prioritize function, aesthetics, processability and cost. Alongside those key considerations, how can organizations improve the hazard profile and circularity of the materials they purchase? And what will it take to add “made with green chemistry” to the priority list? This panel will explore how leaders in a number of sectors are learning about, reporting on and improving the chemistry of their materials — with a goal of human and environmental safety, and transparency.

Speakers

  • William Paddock
  • Amy Musanti
  • Mia Davis
  • Jon Smieja

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Funding Options for Circular Economy Startups

Breakout
Trippe II & III

What will it take to advance circular innovation and collaboration, and what funding mechanisms exist to advance the circular economy transition? 

The future may be circular, but how do we get there? The answer: innovation and collaboration across the ecosystem — and it’s time to reconsider the role of startups in the broader circular ecosystem. This panel will highlight the power that can be unlocked by connecting global organizations that are seeking circular innovation with disruptors seeking to scale their solutions. You will hear from companies creating new mechanisms to fund innovation, and from representatives of cross-industry partnerships that are collaboratively funding cutting-edge circular economy solutions. Learn about the challenges and opportunities related to financing the transition to the circular economy, and the role you can play in funding or scaling circular economy startups.

 

Speakers

  • April Crow
  • Steve Bradley
  • Sherrie Totoki

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
3:00pm to 4:00pm
More Details

Building a Net-Positive, Regenerative Business

Breakout
Trippe I

How can diverse stakeholders move beyond designing out waste and keeping products in play, to regenerating local economies and natural systems?

The promise of a circular economy includes so much more than just designing out waste and keeping molecules in play. The opportunity, and necessity, is to improve the health of every single system that we touch — from product design and manufacturing to how we engage suppliers across a value chain. What’s the opportunity for your organization to regenerate the natural systems upon which your business depends? How can we learn from nature’s ingenious design to increase value across all forms of capital? What does it take to move beyond regenerative sourcing to a truly regenerative business model? Join this session to ground regenerative principles in practice.

Speakers

  • Antoinette Klatzky
  • Amy Hall

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

How to: Repair — Enabling Product Life Extension

Breakout
Hope I & II

What does it take to ensure repairability and enable your customers to extend the product life of your products? 

We’ve all been there: a tablet that won’t charge, a smartphone with a cracked screen, a laptop with a faulty key. For the well used objects, broken parts are inevitable but the disposal of the product doesn't have to be. 

Consider electronic waste: Clocking in at 50 million tons and valued at $57 billion annually, it is the largest growing waste stream on the planet. But what if electronics were designed for disassembly, modularity and replacement parts? What if robust repair ecosystems were available? To reverse growing waste trends and extend the life not just of products, but the carbon embedded within them, repair must be the norm. Join this session as we explore what design considerations should be prioritized when creating more repairable products, and what it takes to support and enable your customers as they extend the life of their products. 

 

Speakers

  • Kyle Wiens
  • Eunji Park
  • Page Motes
  • Paul Walker
  • Sarah Golden

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Leveraging E-Waste for Rare Earth and Precious Metals Recovery

Breakout
Trippe II & III
What is the state of recycling and recovering rare earth and precious metals from electronics waste, and how must this technology evolve for future supply chain resilience? 

Rare earth elements and precious metals are an essential component of modern life, critical to the electronics we rely on and to the batteries, panels and technology required for the renewable energy transition. But with limited or difficult-to-access supply, it will be essential to leverage the bounty of resources already embedded in our devices today to ensure supply chain resilience for the future. This session will discuss the technologies for recycling and recovering rare earth and other precious metals. It will explore what’s capable today, as well as the business models, infrastructure, policy and other systems needed to advance these critical solutions for the future.

Speakers

  • Heather Clancy
  • Mike Werner
  • Ikenna Nlebedim
  • Megan O'Connor

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
4:30pm to 5:30pm
More Details

How Digital Product Passports Can Facilitate a More Circular Future

Breakout
Hope I & II

What are digital product passports, what data should they include and how can they facilitate a more circular future? 

The European Union recently announced a requirement for all regulated products to contain a digital product passport. What are the global data requirements for these passports, and how can they act in service of a more circular economy? In this session, Capital Equipment Coalition North America members will discuss their collaboration on data requirements and a unified digital product passport. Together we’ll explore how this tool could facilitate circularity, what data can and should be measured and the responsibilities of each player across the value chain.

 

Speakers

  • Ellie Moss
  • Paul Clark
  • Erica Ward
  • Ben Whiteman

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Equity in a New Economy: Ensuring Access and Inclusion

Breakout
Trippe II & III

How can circular systems and services enable inclusion and what does it take to design them with all communities in mind?

Speakers

  • José Manuel Moller
  • Kristin Kagetsu
  • Deonna Anderson
  • Chris Zwicke

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

ESG, meet CE: The Role of Finance in the Circular Economy

Breakout
Venetian I & II

What role can finance play in achieving ESG goals while accelerating the circular transition? 

Capital is a key enabler of the circular economy, encouraging innovation and enabling transformative companies to bring their solutions to scale. As more circular economy-focused investors join the space, each comes with unique financing objectives, skills and approaches. In this session, Closed Loop Partners will convene representatives from across the capital stack and share experience from uniting diverse groups of investors –– including institutional investors and strategic corporate investors –– to scale circular supply chains and meet diverse financial and impact commitments, including ESG goals.

 

Speakers

  • Bridget Croke
  • Suzanne Klatt
  • Alessandra Pistoia
  • John Caturano

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
Thursday, May 19th, 2022
9:00am to 10:00am
More Details

Building a Blueprint for the Circular Electronics Industry

Breakout
Hope III

What aligned vision for circularity can be built across the electronics value chain, and what will it take to make that vision a reality?

There is no such thing as a circular product. It is the circular ecosystem — allowing a product to be collected at end of life, recovered through recycling, repair and remanufacturing and circulated back into the economy — that determines a product's circularity. In order for an industry to transition to this ecosystem, we first need to agree on what that looks like.

The electronics industry needs a circular north star, a collectively established strategic vision for the future of circular electronics. That’s why the Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP) — consisting of more than 25 companies and essential players across the electronics value chain — is set to publish a Blueprint for Circular Electronics Industry. As a foundational narrative, it will enable essential follow-up projects from supporting standard development to capacity building to advocacy and trade facilitation. Through an open dialogue with diverse industry leaders and topic experts, this session will offer a sneak peek into the latest insights of CEP’s blueprint and discuss the next steps and priorities to make this vision a reality by 2030.

 

Speakers

  • Fahmida Bangert
  • David Hirschler
  • Bill Sisson
  • Katie Schindall
  • Page Motes

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Nailing the Narrative: Embedding Circularity Into Your ESG and Communication Strategies

Breakout
Trippe I

What does it take to effectively communicate your circular strategy? 

We need to ensure that circularity is understood and embraced by all. While the circular economy has become integral to many corporate sustainability strategies, companies often struggle to translate this into stories that inform and inspire employees, customers, investors, and other stakeholders. To unlock the circular economy’s full potential, effective communication is key. 

Following a tumultuous year —  from the health risks of COVID-19 to shipping delays, supply chain shortages, and more — global brands have begun to prioritize circularity in their ESG strategies. This session will explore how companies have continued to embrace circularity in an uncertain world, and how leading brands leverage the power of narrative to engage stakeholders on their circular ambitions, products, and service offerings. 

 

Speakers

  • Mike Hower
  • Ali Mize
  • Chelsey Evans
  • Cash East

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
10:30am to 11:30am
More Details

Justice-Centered Strategies: Regenerating Communities Through Economic Inclusion

Breakout
Hope III

What does it take to launch community enterprises that prioritize those most harmed by the linear economy, and how can you meet your sustainability goals with justice-centered strategies?

Communities most harmed by the linear economy’s wastefulness must be central in the design and implementation of a new, circular and just economy. In pursuit of that ideal, Microsoft partnered with the Just Transition PowerForce — an advisory committee of U.S.-based environmental and climate justice organizations — to align zero-waste strategies and circular initiatives with community regeneration.  

This session will unveil key learnings and outcomes from the partnership, including an established framework for measuring and evaluating environmental justice and opportunities to advance justice-centered strategies while meeting sustainability goals. Together we’ll explore an Atlanta-based pilot project geared towards co-creating and incubating community-led and -owned zero waste enterprises, designed to bring more Black-owned suppliers and partners into its business ecosystem.

 

Speakers

  • Danielle Decatur
  • Felicia Davis
  • Michelle Wiseman
  • Carol Hunter

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo
More Details

Businesses Modeling Nature: Transforming Manufacturing with Industrial Symbiosis

Breakout
Trippe I

What is the state of industrial ecology and the transformation of carbon, and what will it take to evolve these practices towards a more circular economy?

Industrial ecology encompasses some big ideas. It is an approach that uses sophisticated tools to help us rethink how we make things today to preserve materials and energy. We'll look at examples of how to scale up collaborative solutions to support our journey from linear to circular.

Speakers

  • Marian Chertow
  • Freya Burton
  • Sarah Golden

Share

  • Twitter logo
  • Facebook logo
  • LinkedIn logo

Footer menu 1

  • Circularity 22
  • GreenFin 22
  • VERGE Electrify
  • VERGE 22
  • VERGE Net Zero
  • GreenBiz 23
  • Code of Conduct

Footer menu 2

  • All Events
  • Executive Network
  • GreenBiz.com

Footer menu 3

  • About GreenBiz Group
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • VERGE is a registered trademark of GreenBiz Group
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
This site (RSS)
GreenBiz
© 2022 GreenBiz Group Inc. GREENBIZ® and GREENBIZ.COM® are registered trademarks of GreenBiz Group Inc.