What employment opportunities does the circular economy afford, and what skills and re-training should be prioritized?

The launching of 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 jobs that leverage new skill sets. Workers across the supply and value chain will need relevant expertise and mindsets to adapt to this new approach to business. But what is a circular job? What opportunities exist in the circular job market, and what skills does this market require? 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 the circular jobs market.

How can the transition to a circular economy support the preservation of biodiversity?

With more than one million species under threat of extinction, the natural world is facing threats from every direction. Among numerous, staggering repercussions loss of biological diversity represents a significant business risk as over half of global GDP depends on natural resources and services. Can a circular economy help mitigate risk and reverse this trend? While circular principles will not solve this problem alone, they do have the power to alleviate pressure on biological sources while regenerating living systems. What role does the circular economy play in preserving biodiversity, and what strategies can your company employ to protect the natural world? Join this session to hear from experts and practitioners tackling this question. 

How can your company implement reusable packaging solutions across your supply chain, and what does it take to scale them beyond a pilot?

Recent business model innovations have seen a resurgence of reusable packaging services. Yet these operations often struggle to move beyond a pilot and into a scaled solution. There are dozens of  relationships and tools to reconsider: partnering with retailers, consumers and logistics providers, engaging consumers, calculating a life cycle assessment, redesigning packaging for different products and digitizing tracking systems, just to name a few. What are the challenges of launching and scaling reusable packaging systems? Join this session to learn from practitioners providing and scaling reusable packaging solutions across the value chain.

What are the health implications of plastics on both people and the planet?

Plastics are one of the most pervasive materials on the planet, finding their way into remote ecosystems, air and waterways and even our food and bodies. It is estimated that the average person consumes 2,000 microplastics in a week, roughly the weight of one credit card. Beyond this, from fossil fuel extraction to chemical refinement, the environmental impact of plastic production is often felt most directly by marginalized communities. And yet the impact of plastics on human health — both through indirect environmental exposure and direct exposure in the manufacturing of plastics — are relatively unknown. With toxic chemicals embedded in their structure and released in their production, some plastics have been linked to neurological, reproductive and developmental issues, among other health risks. Join this session to understand the impact of plastics both in the environment and in our bodies, as well as the role your company can play in waste reduction, toxic chemical elimination and advancing safe, circular materials.

Connect with like-minded participants in this interactive virtual discussion around a hard question or hot topic within the circular economy. Select your topic of interest to join a group discussion led by a moderator. The group will then be split into breakouts — allowing for deeper conversation around the topic you care about most. Bring your own challenges, questions and ideas to these interactive discussions. Cameras on!

What are the strategic incentives for reselling your products, and how can your company reap the financial and sustainability benefits?

With the promise of reducing carbon emissions and waste, and a market valued at $20 billion in the apparel industry alone, it’s no wonder why resale is having a moment. Just this year, multiple resale platforms received eye-popping investments and IPO’d with valuations in the billions as brands and service providers recognized the value in the sale of used, worn or simply returned products.  Yet despite clear economic and environmental opportunity, the launch of resale pilots and platforms are still few and far between. From reverse logistics, quality control, customer expectations and revenue cannibalization concerns, companies must overcome a multitude of considerations and complexities to successfully take advantage of the resale game. Join this session to understand the business case or resale.

What does a regenerative, just food system look like, and what will it take to bring it to scale from farm to factory to fork, and back?

How does the Basel Convention govern the international trade of materials, and what would it take to enable more circular systems through this agreement?

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste was originally established to prevent wealthy countries from dumping hazardous waste into the environments and economies of lower-income nations. Originally signed in1989, this global regulatory framework limited the transportation of hazardous materials, including a variety of waste streams such as chemicals and electronics. As recycling efforts ramp up, the global trade of recycled and recyclable materials has also increased, leading to increased inequality and eventually a Basel amendment in 2019 to better regulate the plastics trade.

The implications of the Basel Convention are complex, considering the importance of transboundary goods movement to enable recycling, refurbishment and remanufacturing, the continued economic and environmental inequality playing out, as well as the notable absence by the U.S., to name a few. Join this session to explore the implications of the Basel convention on the global “waste” trade and what it means for companies, materials markets, human health and environmental protection.

What does it take to successfully implement a rental business model, and how does this service shift your company’s relationship with your customers?

While the concept of renting is anything but new, recent years have seen an expansion of products traditionally bought and kept by consumers now available for rent. From formal wear to scooters to furniture, renting products promotes access over ownership, providing consumers with a theoretically easier and cheaper alternative to purchasing something outright. In return, rental models allow companies to extend their customer relationship from a one-off sale to a long-term service — often while increasing product utilization and decreasing waste.

This paradigm shift requires businesses to evolve in numerous ways, shifting internal operations and financial models alongside external value propositions, engagement strategies and sales tactics. Join this session to understand the benefits, challenges and best-practices for building a successful rental business model.

How can your company think holistically and prioritize reduction and elimination when setting packaging goals?

Compostable, recyclable, renewable, reusable or made from recycled content. From fashion to F&B to CPG and beyond, diverse sectors have announced 2025 packaging goals with these commitments front and center. Now comes the hard part. Many of these commitments 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?

Join this breakout to hear from brands on how they’ve navigated trade-offs, generated buy-in, developed new partnerships and made progress towards 2025 packaging goals

How can you effectively communicate circular initiatives, engaging consumers and internal stakeholders without confusing or alienating them?

In order to effectively implement a circular economy strategy or initiative, it is imperative to secure buy-in both internally and externally. Yet companies often struggle to translate circular ambitions into effective communications that inform and engage employees, customers, investors and other stakeholders. This session will explore how companies can leverage the power of narrative to educate and inspire, ensuring circular principles are understood and embraced by all.

Connect with like-minded participants in this interactive virtual discussion around a hard question or hot topic within the circular economy. Select your topic of interest to join a group discussion led by a moderator. The group will then be split into breakouts — allowing for deeper conversation around the topic you care about most. Bring your own challenges, questions and ideas to these interactive discussions. Cameras on!

Connect with like-minded participants in this interactive virtual discussion around a hard question or hot topic within the circular economy. Select your topic of interest to join a group discussion led by a moderator. The group will then be split into breakouts — allowing for deeper conversation around the topic you care about most. Bring your own challenges, questions and ideas to these interactive discussions. Cameras on!

What role should advanced or chemical recycling play in the future of materials management, and what are its benefits and limitations?

Chemical recycling, also known as advanced recycling, has been heralded as a promising, innovative technology that holds the key to recapturing value and transforming the “broken” recycling system into a perfectly circular one. Chemical recycling has also been scrutinized as expensive, environmentally misleading and not viable, with few examples of pilots achieving scale and most losing value as examples of downcycling. The reality is somewhere in between. If no silver bullet solution exists for waste and recycling, what role should this nascent process play in material management today and in the future? What applications have proven successful for chemical recycling, and where is there still room for growth and advancement? This session will explore the state of the chemical recycling market, highlighting the potential and limitations of this oft-debated technology. 

How can biomimicry help your company design more efficient, sustainable and circular products?

A perfectly circular system — one without waste, non-renewable inputs or inefficiencies — already exists in nature. Of course, it’s not that simple for humans. With capital flows on top of material flows, industry on top of ecosystems, our system isn’t quite as perfectly designed. But why start a design from scratch when you can learn from the 3.8 billion years of evolution that has taken place on Earth? Biomimicry, the practice of looking to nature for inspired ideas, can speed up the circular design process by borrowing from the elegance and efficiency of nature to solve complex human problems. Join this session to learn about the practice of biomimetic design, and how it can help unlock more sustainable outcomes.

What are the benefits and limitations of plastic credits, and what will it take to scale, track and standardize a market for plastics offsets?

In an effort to reduce plastic footprints and improve public perception, some companies are turning to plastic credits and offsets, a system akin to carbon credits that funds the collection of plastics from the environment in exchange for the claim of plastic neutrality. From verifying and tracking plastics credits, to on-the-ground projects and partnerships with nonprofits and informal waste collectors, several organizations are leading the charge for a plastic credit ecosystem, yet skepticism remains high. Without an industry-wide standard for plastic credits, can this nascent system prove reliable? When purchased by plastic producers and polluters, do crediting schemes equate to greenwashing and enable unchecked primary production? Will credit purchases delay critical action in the reduction and recovery of plastics before they reach the environment? Join this panel to explore plastic credits as we distinguish a true market from marketing.

What is the state of the Right to Repair movement, and what will its impacts be on your company and industry at large?

The right to repair movement, which advocates for the basic right to access  design schematics and repair manuals, along with more repairable design and broader availability of components and parts, offers a timely rebuttal to planned obsolescence and the complexity of fixing products in the 21st century. While more companies are embracing product life extension for apparel and furniture, the implications for the electronics industry are more significant and polarizing. Citing concerns about sharing intellectual property, many companies are resistant to repair legislation despite the significant environmental benefits of keeping products in use for longer. And with legislation currently proposed in over 25 states, 2021 could be a game changing year for repair. 

What is the current state of the right to repair movement? What bills are currently proposed, and what are their scope? How are companies engaging with the repair movement, and what can your organization do to advance this work? Join this session to answer these questions as we explore the right to repair movement.

What are some of the most groundbreaking innovations in materials? 

The linear economy has relied upon a slew of wasteful, non-renewable and often toxic materials that are often incompatible with a circular system. Enter: a new class of innovators designing and developing new materials designed with function, next life and planetary boundaries in mind. From textiles made from food waste to biodegradable plastic alternatives, these companies are leveraging new technologies and unique, renewable or abundant resources to reduce waste and a reliance on toxic chemicals. Come learn about the materials of the future and be inspired by this showcase of material innovations.   

What are the different types of bioplastics? What are their benefits, drawbacks, appropriate applications and role in a sustainable materials management future?

In the scramble to swap single-use plastics for sustainable alternatives, some companies are turning to bioplastic as a seemingly ideal replacement. These plant-based alternatives promise the same functionality of petroleum-based plastics without a reliance on nonrenewable resources. Yet with nonexistent standards, limited regulation and a variety of biomass sources, bioplastics can lead to an increase in unsustainable farming practices like deforestation, monoculture agriculture and the use of petroleum-based fertilizers — not to mention confusion about end-of-life materials management and incompatibility with both organics and plastics recycling systems. Are bioplastics a net positive or negative in a sustainable packaging strategy? What does it take to sustainably source feedstocks for bioplastics? How, where and under what conditions can they be recycled or composted? In what context does it make sense to use bioplastics? This session will provide an overview of the family of bioplastics and their fit in the world of sustainable packaging — the good, the bad and the ugly.

Connect with like-minded participants in this interactive virtual discussion around a hard question or hot topic within the circular economy. Select your topic of interest to join a group discussion led by a moderator. The group will then be split into breakouts — allowing for deeper conversation around the topic you care about most. Bring your own challenges, questions and ideas to these interactive discussions. Cameras on!