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Business Model Innovation

Sponsored by: 
SC Johnson - Track Page

All sessions listed below are in Pacific Time (PT).  View the Schedule summary here.

Tuesday, August 25th, 2020
8:00am to 8:10am
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Welcome to Circularity 20!

Plenary

What will it take to accelerate the circular economy?

Welcome to Circularity 20. The opening will set the stage for the virtual event, offer an overview of the program and ground attendees in what circularity means today. 

Speakers

  • Lauren Phipps

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8:10am to 8:30am
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Circularity in this Moment

Plenary

What is the state of the circular economy today, how can we encourage stakeholders to adopt its principles, and what systemic shifts should we prioritize to advance this model’s future?

Speakers

  • Ellen MacArthur
  • Joel Makower

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8:40am to 8:50am
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Why Plastic Waste is a C- Suite Issue

Plenary

Why is plastic waste a c-suite issue, and how can corporate leaders have a positive impact on plastic waste reduction, while potentially benefiting their businesses? 

Plastic waste reduction is not only an environmental issue.  It is an economic one. Indeed, every C-suite officer has a reason to care about plastic waste reduction, and can benefit by trying to address the problem.  Even companies who are not a traditional part of the plastic value chain can play an important role. Last year, Morgan Stanley made a firm-wide commitment, the Morgan Stanley Plastic Waste Resolution, to facilitate the prevention, reduction, and removal of 50 million metric tons of plastic waste from rivers, oceans, landfills, and landscapes by 2030.  Across other industries, and all around the C-suite table, business leaders can play an important part in building a more sustainable plastics economy that can deliver benefits for sustainability, for brand and for profits.

Speakers

  • Audrey Choi

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8:50am to 8:55am
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Special Announcement

Plenary

Stay Tuned! 

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10:00am to 10:25am
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Foundations of the Circular Economy

Breakout

What are the basic building blocks of the circular economy, and how can they help drive opportunity and innovation across roles and sectors?

This breakout will provide the basics of the circular economy, from theory to action, from guiding principles to case studies spanning products, business models and system-level innovations. Much of the work in the circular economy to date has centered on deep analysis of the broader economic opportunity. This session will help translate the theory into practical opportunities for colleagues working in various functions within an organization and value chain.

 

Speakers

  • Joe Murphy
  • Michelle Tulac

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Scaling Circular Fashion in North America, Part 1

Breakout

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.

 

Speakers

  • Debbie Shakespeare
  • Cory Skuldt
  • Beth Esponnette
  • Beth Rattner

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10:30am to 10:55am
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Scaling Circular Fashion in North America, Part 2

Breakout

What will it take to transition the fashion industry toward circularity at scale?

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.

Building off the aspirational ‘future of circular fashion’ explored in part one, part two of this two-part session will focus on redesigning the apparel industry of today, unlocking untapped value and scaling circular fashion in the North American market.

 

Speakers

  • Samantha Sims
  • Cory Skuldt
  • Alice Hartley

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Right to Repair: The State of a Movement

Breakout

What is the state of the right to repair movement, and how should companies consider and align with its mission? 

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the ventilator shortage that came with it, has shone a light on the U.S.’s critical need for rapid repair of existing medical products. Yet much like consumer products across the board, ventilator manufacturers and providers have installed numerous roadblocks to the repair and maintenance of their wares.  

The right to repair movement, which advocates for access to design schematics and repair manuals, along with more repairable design and broader availability of components and parts, offers a timely rebuttal to the complexity of repairing products in the 21st century. With legislation proposed in over 20 states, this movement was gaining traction before the corona virus struck, revealing the criticality of its mission. What is the current state of the right to repair movement? How should corporations be thinking about its implications? What is their role in advancing this work? Join this session to answer these questions as we explore the right to repair movement.

 

Speakers

  • Kyle Wiens
  • Kipp Bradford
  • Dawn Danby

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11:30am to 11:55am
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Shifting Your Business Model: How to Resale

Breakout

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.

Speakers

  • Gwen Cunningham
  • Cynthia Power

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12:00pm to 12:25pm
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Shifting Your Business Model: How to Rental

Breakout

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.

 

Speakers

  • Hélène Smits
  • Gustav Hedström
  • Amy Kang

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Wednesday, August 26th, 2020
8:05am to 8:20am
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Ocean Pollution to Solution: Perspectives from a Young Leader

Plenary

Stay tuned! 

Speakers

  • John Davies
  • Swietenia Puspa Lestari

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8:30am to 8:55am
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Developing a Comprehensive CE Strategy

Breakout

How can companies establish an organizational circular economy strategy that’s owned and embraced by key internal stakeholders?

The impacts of circular initiatives can ripple throughout a business and its supply chain, creating opportunity and disruption in its wake. But no matter how visionary or comprehensive, a circular economy strategy will translate into real-world impact only if it breaks through silos and takes hold across an organization. Hear from leaders who not only have established comprehensive circular economy strategies, but also effectively implemented them across their organization.

This session will explore the structure of different circular economy strategies — including core focus areas, KPIs, ownership and impacts on compensation — as well as actionable tactics to engage colleagues, assure alignment and create cross-functional initiatives without derailing existing operations.

 

Speakers

  • Xavier Houot
  • Natasha Scotnicki
  • John Davies

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9:00am to 9:25am
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Data-Driven Decisions: Uncovering Circular Insights

Breakout

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. 

Speakers

  • Jarkko Havas
  • Nikki Kapp
  • Ulrika Nordvall Bardh
  • Ben Canaguier

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10:05am to 10:15am
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Unlocking a Circular Carbon Economy

Plenary

Stay tuned!

Speakers

  • Marcius Extavour

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10:35am to 10:55am
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Accelerate at Circularity 20: Fast-Pitch Competition

Plenary

Speakers

  • Shana Rappaport
  • Taj Eldridge
  • Monique Mills

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11:30am to 11:55am
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A Roadmap for Best-of-Class Circular Partnerships

Breakout

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.

 

Speakers

  • John Holm
  • Vivien Luk
  • Katrina Shum

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From Product to Practice: Circular Innovation from the Ground Up

Breakout

How can companies leverage one circular product initiative into an organization-wide, circular transformation?

Rethinking your company’s strategy, business model and supply chain for a circular economy — all while continuing to fulfill current and evolving market and customer demands — can be a daunting task. Rather than tackling circularity at scale, some companies are finding early success in starting small. Join this breakout panel to hear from leading companies about their journeys in optimizing a single product, and how it helped launch enterprise-wide changes in business strategy. This breakout will present practical case studies on how implementing and innovating for circular products can transform business practices — from supplier engagement to materials innovation, process improvement, resource optimization and global business strategy.

Speakers

  • Christina Raab
  • Kellie Ballew
  • Kip Cleverley

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Thursday, August 27th, 2020
8:05am to 8:25am
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The Human Dimension of Waste Collection

Plenary

Stay tuned! 

Speakers

  • Keiran Smith
  • Vivien Luk
  • Bharati Chaturvedi

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8:30am to 8:55am
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Reusable Packaging: Scaling Past a Pandemic

Breakout

How can companies shift to reusable packaging models while dissuading concerns for safety and contamination?

Since the day of the milkman, companies have launched untold schemes to skip recycling for its less energy- and material-intensive cousin: reuse. While using packaging over and over again is no new concept, recent business model innovations have seen a resurgence of reuse-inspired services. But as health and safety concerns take center stage, the future of reuse has been called into question.

This panel will introduce the multitude of ways retailers and brands are enacting reuse models, including systems for refill, returnable packaging or optimising the supply-chain with reusable transport packaging. We will discuss what opportunities reuse can afford, including brand loyalty, optimized operations, and reduced costs, while exploring how brands can address contamination concerns head on. Join the sesssion for a deep dive into the opportunities and obstacles to bringing resuse to scale today.

 

Speakers

  • John Hocevar
  • Tom Szaky
  • Holly Kaufman
  • Bridget Croke

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Tools of the Trade: Circular Standards, Metrics and Measurements

Breakout

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.

Speakers

  • Christina Raab
  • Jarkko Havas
  • Alyson Genovese
  • Carolien Van Brunschot
  • Suz Okie

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9:00am to 9:25am
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Financing Circularity

Breakout

What new strategies are enabling companies and sectors to finance circularity at scale?

The circular economy offers significant value and new growth opportunities. In the plastic value chain alone, research shows that compared with business-as-usual, a circular economy has the potential to reduce the annual volume of plastics entering our oceans by 80 percent, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent, generate savings of $200 billion per year, and create 700,000 additional jobs by 2040. The circular economy can create value in similar ways across other sectors of the economy. As we look for ways to recover from the economic shock of the pandemic, the circular economy presents a pathway to build back better. Through the capital markets, investors can help build a more resilient economy that addresses global challenges, creates jobs, and benefits society.

 

Speakers

  • Audrey Choi
  • Rob Opsomer

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10:00am to 10:25am
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Leveraging Design for Circular Momentum

Breakout

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.

 

 

Speakers

  • Joe Iles
  • Zoe Bezpalko

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11:30am to 11:35am
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Opening

Plenary

Speakers

  • Lauren Phipps

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11:35am to 11:50am
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A Conversation about Chemical Recycling

Plenary

Stay tuned! 

Speakers

  • Mark Costa
  • Joel Makower

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11:50am to 12:00pm
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Network Effect: From Neurocircuits to Circular Economies

Plenary

Structuring circular economies like a neural network enables our transition from linear use, lowers risk through collective action and unlocks low-hanging circular wins. Hear from neuroscientist turned circular economy start-up founder Garry Cooper, whose company, Rheaply, is generating millions in savings for partnered organizations by scaling corporate reuse and facilitating circular materials flows.

Speakers

  • Garry Cooper

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12:00pm to 12:25pm
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How to Design for the Future

Plenary

How do we design for the future amid the disruptive present? 

Speakers

  • Tim Brown
  • Lauren Phipps

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