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Program

The Circularity 19 Program is evolving and subject to change. Stay informed of changes by subscribing to our event updates.

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Standards & Metrics

Tuesday, June 18th, 2019
8:00am to 12:15pm
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Circularity Summit: Packaging and Brand Integrity (Invite-Only)

Summit
Minnesota Room

A growing number of consumer brands are exploring new packaging types, whether in response to direct pressures or in pursuit of new business models and revenue streams. But doing so is not without peril. First and foremost, companies must maintain their brand integrity and value proposition while they tweak or transform one of their principal assets: their branded packaging. In this half-day, invitation-only event, representatives from the plastics and packaging value chains, along with leading packaged goods companies, will explore the promise and pitfalls for brands seeking to transition packaging to circular materials and models.

Request an invite to the summit here. 

  • All-Access Pass Required
  • Invitation Only
  • Sign-up Required

Speakers

  • Joel Makower
  • Shana Rappaport

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8:30am to 12:15pm
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Foundations of the Circular Economy

Tutorial
St. Croix 1

This half-day tutorial, designed for attendees from all sectors and backgrounds and presented by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, will provide a foundational understanding of the circular economy — a model that fundamentally reimagines the traditional “take-make-waste” linear industrial model in favor of a system that designs out waste and pollution, decouples economic growth from natural resource consumption, increases resource productivity and regenerates natural systems.

The first part of the tutorial session will tour through our circular economy journey to date. From theory through to action, The Foundation team will start by explaining the guiding principles and then take participants through a series of case study examples which illustrate circular design spanning products, business models, and system level innovations.

To some, the circular economy concept can feel academic and detached from reality. The second part of the session will take a more in depth look at how we can 'sell in' and convince stakeholders to invest in circular economy initiatives. Much of the work concentrating on the circular economy to date has centred on deep analysis of the broader economic opportunity. Translating the theory into practical opportunities for colleagues working at the coal-face of operations, or executives faced with competing priorities, can present a critical challenge.

Fortunately, the circular economy is a big idea with many entry points. Significant work has already been completed by many diverse organisations of all sizes to demonstrate that the theoretical upside can be translated to real commercial opportunities today. Some of these organisations are already taking giant leaps towards circular economy models.

  • All-Access Pass Required

Speakers

  • James George
  • Joe Murphy

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Circular Packaging 101

Tutorial
Wayzata Bay

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition will traverse the most important considerations around recovering packaging, ensuring packaging is recoverable, and using recovered materials as inputs for new packaging in the Circular Packaging 101 workshop. With a keen emphasis on the business case for sustainable packaging and consumer perceptions around sustainable packaging, we'll discuss best-in-class examples of strategies to optimize packaging for different channels, designing a package to be successfully recycled or composted, and best practices for sourcing virgin and recycled materials. To put it all in context, we'll explore challenges and opportunities around recycling and composting infrastructure, as well as what happens when waste escapes collection and becomes ocean pollution. Throughout the workshop, we'll touch on corporate goals around each topic and look at both incremental and radical approaches to reaching them.

  • All-Access Pass Required

Speakers

  • Adam Gendell
  • Tristanne Davis

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The Amazing Race (to Circular Business Models): Insights from the Fashion Industry

Tutorial
St. Croix 2

There is race among apparel and footwear companies, with both new and established players vying to unlock the potential benefits of circular business models. The insights generated in the process can help inform broader innovation across many other industries in a transition to a circular economy.

Join this tutorial to learn how the fashion industry’s experience illustrates key elements in building a circular business model. Participants will be invited to take part in a fun, interactive competition to better understand the challenges and opportunities companies face when testing and scaling new models.

Facilitated by World Resources Institute (WRI) and QSA Partners, the session will review the innovations needed to overcome an “implementation gap” between talk and testing. WRI and QSA will share early insights on behalf of a group of organizations—supported by C&A Foundation’s Bridging the Gap initiative—working with fashion industry leaders to put circular economy ideas into action.

(No experience in the fashion industry necessary. Only shirts and shoes required.)

  • All-Access Pass Required

Speakers

  • Eliot Metzger
  • Austin Dickerson
  • Gerrard Fisher
  • Kristina Bull
  • Elizabeth Reichart

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8:30am to 10:00am
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Target Field Tour (Sign-up required)

Activity

Join us for a tour of Target Field! During your guided 90-minute tour of Target Field, you'll see areas of the ballpark many guests normally don't see. These spaces may include the Herb Carneal Press Box, clubhouse, dugout, suite level, Bat & Barrel, Delta SKY360 Club, Budweiser Roof Deck, and Thompson Reuters Champions Club. Guests will be exposed to the art work, displays of memorabilia, environmental and sustainability features of Target Field, as well as Twins history. Sign up for the tour here. 

  • All-Access Pass Required

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4:00pm to 5:00pm
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Safe & Circular: Integrating Material Health into Circularity

Breakout
Deer & Elk Room

Circular design doesn’t happen in hindsight: designers must integrate ideas around the circular economy from the inception of the product design process through to the end of a product’s useful life, ensuring true circularity for the materials, components and systems involved. Materials lie at the heart of this process: safe, circular materials choices form the foundation of successful circular design, but not all materials are safe enough or suitable for a circular economy.
Join this interactive session to explore ways to reframe the material health challenge as an opportunity for successful circular design, ensuring your work promotes a safe, circular economy.

Speakers

  • Marisa Guber
  • Jeffrey Hogue
  • Dan Schibel
  • Kellie Ballew

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Beware Unsustainable Circularity: A Push to Measure What Matters

Breakout
Excelsior Bay

The circular economy holds immense potential benefits. But the ends need as much attention as the means.

Presently, not all circular innovations are created to maximize the end benefits. Better metrics are needed to put circular business models in perspective and drive the types of investments that have the greatest positive impacts on society, the economy, and the environment.

Join this session to review opportunities to better align circularity with sustainability. Help create a post-conference statement on the big picture objectives and metrics that will help track the progress and benefits of a transition to circular economies.

Speakers

  • Eliot Metzger
  • Minal Mistry
  • Austin Dickerson

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Wednesday, June 19th, 2019
8:30am to 9:30am
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Getting to Zero Waste in Retail: Tools and Tactics

Breakout
St. Croix 2

Join Walmart, REI, Nordstrom and the Retail Compliance Center, an initiative of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), for an interactive discussion around the evolution of Zero Waste as a concept and how its principles are being applied in a retail context on the larger path towards circularity. The discussion will look beyond facility certification, for what is means to strive for Zero Waste for a physical product and packaging-based industry.

This session will also include a preview of the RILA Sustainability Leadership Advisor, a decision support platform under development from the RILA Retail Compliance Center that enables retail organizations to map and optimize their sustainability programs, such as waste management, and leverage industry data and customized guidance.

Speakers

  • Erin Hiatt
  • Tiffin Shewmake
  • Anna Vinogradova
  • Sue Long
  • Chelsey Evans

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2:45pm to 3:45pm
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Regulating Circularity: Unpacking the Policy Landscape

Breakout
St. Croix 1

When developed appropriately, policies can be a key tool to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. This hour-long breakout will unpack the current regulatory landscape, elevate some of the most (and least) effective policy enablers and discuss how to scale and replicate best practices. 

 

Speakers

  • Sarah Dearman
  • Brendan Edgerton
  • Mathy Stanislaus
  • Elijah Innes-Wimsatt

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4:15pm to 5:15pm
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Going Glocal: Balancing Regional Context and Global Footprints

Breakout
Excelsior Bay

How do brands and retailers balance regional context with national and international footprints? Recycling systems are inherently local, influenced heavily by city and state-level ordinances and regulations, the proximity of end markets, cost of waste and existing infrastructure. At the same time, supply chains and manufacturing are increasingly global. Standardization is a commonly suggested solution, but where along the value-chain does that make sense? Join the discussion to hear from global retailers and mission-based non-profit recyclers to explore the challenges and opportunities of regional circularity. 

Speakers

  • Dylan de Thomas
  • Lynn Hoffman
  • Kate Bailey
  • Matt Kopac

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Thursday, June 20th, 2019
8:30am to 9:30am
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The New Metrics of Product Circularity

Breakout
Minnesota Room

With the growing momentum for developing products for the circular economy, many companies are looking for demonstrate their commitment and leadership in developing products and practices that support the circular economy. Participate in this session to understand the landscape of product circularity certifications, and learn about the questions you should be asking at your company when embarking on circular product journey.

Speakers

  • Justin Bours
  • Bill Hoffman
  • Dhruv Raina
  • Marisa Guber

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