What could a circular fashion industry look like in 2050? 

The need for urgent action is clear: While the lifespan of individual garments dwindles, the environmental footprint of the apparel industry continues to grow. But where there’s inefficiency, there’s often opportunity. From renewable and recycled inputs to new business models such as repair, rental and recommerce to end of life management and more — like enabling technologies, policies and partnerships — the apparel industry is ripe for a makeover.

Join part one of this two-part session to hear what the circular fashion industry of 2050 has in store. Experts and innovators will share their aspirations for the future of manufacturing, traceability, and fabric innovation.

How are four new companies using biomimicry to design more efficient, sustainable and circular products, disrupting some of the world’s biggest industries?

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 have 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.

In this session, learn how four new companies are embracing biomimicry to disrupt some of the world’s biggest industries including fashion, sanitation and construction. These startups will share a snapshot of their work, showing how nature-inspired design led them to create inherently more sustainable and circular products. By the end of this session, designers and non-designers alike will be Asking Nature how to accelerate the design process for circular products.

How can your company implement a resale business model?

The resale of used, worn or simply returned consumer products, also known as recommerce, holds tremendous promise for the retail industry. Beyond diverting substantial landfill waste, resale represents a rapidly growing revenue opportunity with a market valued at $20 billion in the apparel industry alone. But despite clear environmental benefits and new financial opportunities, only a handful of companies are implementing secondary sales models. From reverse logistics, quality control, customer expectations and revenue cannibalization concerns, companies must overcome a multitude of considerations and complexities. Join this breakout to learn how organizations at the forefront of the recommerce industry are tackling these challenges, and what it took them to build an effective, lucrative resale business model.

How can your company implement a rental business model?

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, rental products promote access over ownership, providing consumers with an often easier and cheaper alternative to purchasing something outright. In return, rental models allow companies to extend their customer relationship from one-off products to long term service.

This paradigm shift requires businesses to evolve in numerous ways, shifting internal operations and financial models alongside external value propositions, communications strategies and sales tactics. In this session, attendees will hear from companies at the forefront of the new and improved rental industry as they discuss the benefits, challenges and best-practices for building a successful rental business model.

How should diverse corporate stakeholders —such as brands and packaging producers — help shape the U.S. policy landscape around plastics, recycling and solid waste management?

This two part policy session, organized in collaboration with the The Recycling Partnership, will focus on the role that brand and packaging producers can play in forging a stronger policy environment in the U.S. to create more circular outcomes.

The steady growth of public attention around plastics and packaging has led to a revitalized policy focus in the U.S. on recycling and solid waste management in 2020. Historically, brands and packaging producers have played an antagonistic role in the U.S. packaging policy landscape. However, the emergence of a circular economy opportunity and the urgency of science-based action are creating the conditions for value chain engagement and collective participation in the policymaking process.

How can your company harness the power of data to inform your circular transition?

The prevalence of data and our ability to draw insights from it is increasingly embedded in decision making. In terms of circular economy transition, data insights are essential to implement successful circular economy strategies. In this session, we are going to introduce a broader concept on data and measurement in circular economy, and bring that to life through real world company examples. 

How can companies navigate internal and external roadblocks in order to unlock circular advancement?

Fueled by consumer activism and investor demand, the transition from a linear to a circular economy is disrupting how the private sector conventionally positions its sustainability agenda. Traditionally siloed in a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR), the infusion of circular economy into sustainability has provided companies a platform to unlock financial value and demonstrate ROI, while appealing to a broad range of diverse stakeholders. For many companies however, the rapid shift to a circular platform is causing tension in how a company prioritizes, partners and communicates sustainability and circular economy initiatives both internally and externally.

To ensure that companies are aligned on their sustainability, shared value and philanthropic initiatives, this session will help attendees to:

• Understand how to identify and overcome internal barriers that prohibit progress on circular economy goals.
• Unlock insights into the internal silos around sustainability/corporate responsibility that exist in the corporate space that stifle innovation, grow distrust and potentially can cause financial harm to the company.
• Learn best practices on integrating circular economy initiatives into the corporate ecosystem to drive internal alignment, innovation and external partnerships.
• Uncover internal corporate value chain biases (Finance, Sustainability, CSR and Corporate Foundation)
• Capture key insights on successful corporate and nonprofit circular partnerships.

What opportunities exist to incorporate bio-based materials into products and packaging, how can they be sustainably sourced, and what benefits or challenges do these materials afford?

From fish scales in electronics to  fabrics made from milk protein, the utilization of bio materials can often seem like a page out science fiction. Whether futuristic or highly practical, new uses of biological materials are garnering attention as a new and exciting approach to circular products. Can the use of these materials offer a sustainable pathway forward? How can bio-based materials be effectively and sustainably scaled, and when should your company take advantage of them? This session will explore these questions.

What standards, metrics and tools exist to measure circularity, and which is best for your company?

To progress circularity, it is critical to transition from theoretical intentions to tactical, number-based goals. This session will explore the emerging landscape of metrics, standards and tools currently measuring institutional circularity. We will cover how to use these tools in practice, discussing effective applications and ideal business fit.

Who are the emerging leaders in reusable packaging?

In less than a year, reuse models have become one of the hottest topics in the world of packaging. The growing interest comes from the recognition that reuse models offer the potential to unlock significant business benefits whilst allowing the delivery of products to users safely (with sanitation practices fit for a post-pandemic world) without a reliance on disposable packaging. Globally, replacing just 20 percent of single-use plastic packaging with reusable alternatives is conservatively estimated to be an opportunity worth at least $10 billion. 

This session will introduce three different reuse business models that have made it beyond the pilot stage, and reveal some of their plans to bring such solutions to scale.

How can you advance circularity within your team and throughout your company by championing designers and their process?

Design decisions have ripple effects throughout a product's lifecycle and beyond, affecting production, use and end of life management. In this way, designers and creators hold tremendous influence on material flows throughout the supply chain, determining whether materials end up as waste and pollution, or remain in the economy providing value.

As the idea of a circular economy becomes increasingly mainstream, how can we support people making decisions that shape materials, products and business models? Where are these professionals found within your business? What role do they play, and how can you empower them in the context of your circular economy ambition?

This breakout session will be led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, alongside practitioners and thought-leaders at the frontier of circular design.

How can companies extend the useful life of IT assets and more effectively manage e-waste at the end of life?

The material value of the electronic waste discarded globally each year adds up to $62.5 billion — more than the GDP of most countries — according to the United Nations. With complex, incongruous regulations across the globe, managing the end of life for technologies such as PCs, tablets, smartphones, data center servers, storage and networking gear is a complex affair. This breakout will explore how to embrace a more circular approach to IT hardware and e-waste management. Whether your company is decommissioning a data center, upgrading its PCs or managing other gadgets that have reached the end of their usable life, learn how to unlock value from those systems; navigate complex policies surrounding collection, data protection and intellectual property; and maximize asset life cycles through refurbishment, deployment and recycling of old gear.