Accelerating the Circular Economy
As the leading convening of professionals building the circular economy, Circularity 23 offers thought-provoking keynotes, actionable breakouts, a solutions-oriented expo and unparalleled networking opportunities. Join the growing community of visionaries and practitioners to move beyond incremental action, catalyze systems change and accelerate the circular economy.
Past Speakers
Jane Abernethy
As the Sustainability Officer, Jane develops the strategic vision for sustainability at Humanscale. With agreement from the executive team, Humanscale has taken on the ambitious goal of having a Net Positive impact. Jane works to implement this vision by guiding the R&D effort to create the most sustainable products possible; and by working with the manufacturing facilities to instill sustainability as a fundamental way of operating. She draws on the design thinking, problem solving, creativity, and knowledge of manufacturing from a decade of experience as an Industrial Designer. Under her leadership, Humanscale has been recognized as the first manufacturer to achieve the complete Living Product Challenge, and is a founding member of the Net Positive Project and the NextWave Plastics Coalition.
Michael Kobori
Michael Kobori has spent his career working to build a more just and sustainable world. As Chief Sustainability Officer at Starbucks Coffee Company, he is responsible for leading Starbucks to become resource positive and activating sustainability with the company’s 350,000 partners and millions of customers worldwide. He also serves as an independent Director of Bunge Ltd., one of the world’s largest agricultural companies, which connects farmers to consumers to deliver more sustainable food, feed, and fuel to the world.
Previously, Michael served as Vice-President at Levi Strauss & Co. where he helped build the company into a sustainability leader in the apparel sector. Michael is deeply committed to industry collaboration on sustainability, having served on a number of boards and advisory commissions, including the U.S. Cotton Board, Better Cotton Initiative, Sustainable Apparel Coalition, ILO Better Work Programme, and Levi Strauss Foundation Board. During his long career in sustainability, Michael also served as Vice-President at BSR and spent nearly a decade at The Asia Foundation, where he supported human rights and economic development in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam. Michael has taught corporate sustainability at the Haas Business School, University of California at Berkeley. He is the Executive Producer of Utopia Theatre Project, an artist-led social justice theater company.
Michael received his Masters’ Degree in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley, where he also received his undergraduate education in Asian Studies and Psychology. He spent a year at International Christian University in Tokyo and studied sustainable finance at Oxford University.
Sessions
Longer Tables: How to Achieve Diverse Representation, Authentically
Corporate Collective Action in the Age of Urgency
Molun Zhang
Molun Zhang leads the Open Innovation efforts of The Coca-Cola Company. With her Founders First mentality, she offers start-ups that are relevant to The Coca-Cola Company various ways to collaborate through experimenting together. Prior to this role, Molun managed product development across EMEA and South Pacific regions. She earned her Bachelor and Master’s degree in biosciences and food engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven.
Ashish Gadnis
Ashish Gadnis is the Co-founder / CEO of BanQu, which was recently named to the TIME Magazine 2019 Innovations List.
BanQu is the first ever blockchain-based Supply Chain & Economic Passport platform that enables transparency, traceability and sustainability for farmers (especially women), workers, waste pickers living in extreme poverty. BanQu has also become the leading platform for ensuring COVID-19 supplies are reaching to the most vulnerable nations and communities in the MENA region.
BanQu is being used in 40+ countries across half million beneficiaries today.
Prior to his current engagements, Mr. Gadnis was the founder and CEO of multiple technology startups, the last one of which was acquired by a $1.5 billion global consulting firm in 2012.
Over the past 25 years Ashish has been recognized for his private / public sector contributions with awards such as – MIT Innovate for Refugees (Syrian refugees) award, Young Global Leader (World Economic Forum), Minority Business Leader (Twin Cities Business), 40 under 40 (Business Journal), Change-Makers Innovator Award (Coding Schools in Refugee Camps in East Africa) and Battery Ventures Innovation Award – Democratic Republic of Congo (for Asili: a mobile / cloud-based business focused on reducing infant child mortality, improving maternal health and increasing livelihood in conflict zones).
Ashish has a Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering from Bombay University, MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Carlson School and Executive Education in Global Leadership and Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School.
Svanika Balasubramanian
Hailing from Oman and India, Svanika Balasubramanian is the Co-Founder & CEO of rePurpose Global, the world’s leading Plastic Action Platform dedicated to making environmental action accessible to people and companies around the world. Her platform accomplishes this by empowering anybody to go Plastic Neutral today by financing innovators on the frontlines of fighting the plastic waste crisis.rePurpose Global is creating environmental impact for people across 26 countries and 200+ purposeful brands, ranging from up-and-coming SMEs to global Fortune 500s. On behalf of their global coalition, rePurpose now recovers over 14 million pounds of plastic waste every year, and in doing so, positively impacts 9,500+ marginalized waste workers across Asia, Africa, and South America. Svanika is a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree, World Economic Forum SDG Champion, One Young World Lead2030 Champion, Halcyon Fellow, and graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a frequent commentator on social entrepreneurship and sustainability with appearances on diverse platforms including the Nobel Prize Summit, United Nations, World Economic Forum, Sustainable Brands, and SOCAP. Svanika is fueled by two passions: pushing ahead the charge for our future circular economy and finding new ways to integrate podcasts into her day.
Bridget Croke
Bridget Croke leads external affairs including investor partnerships, industry partnerships, communications and special projects at Closed Loop Partners. Bridget has been been working on sustainability, circular economy and turning waste into value for 20 years through organizations including Fair Food Project of Philadelphia, Recyclebank and Purpose before Closed Loop Partners.
Dave Ford
Dave is the founder of [OPLN] Ocean Plastics Leadership Network. The OPLN, made up of 130+ organizations, is an activist-to-industry network dedicated to solving the ocean plastics crisis. The OPLN launched the Global Plastics Treaty Dialogues series with WWF and Greenpeace in March 2020, an ongoing multi-stakeholder series engineered to build capacity and understanding around a Global Plastics Treaty, with global, regional, and country level tracts. Participants include over 400 organizations from 40 countries across the vast plastic stakeholder spectrum.
Sessions
Understanding the Global Treaty on Plastic
Keiran Smith
Asha Agrawal
Asha is a venture investor, startup operator and corporate lawyer with a deep professional and personal commitment to environmental sustainability, diversity & inclusion, and scaling businesses to save our planet. She started her career as a corporate lawyer for hedge funds and venture capital funds before transitioning into a principal investing role at Westly Group, a sustainability focused venture capital firm. From there, she added on operating experience at two sustainability startups, first Planet Labs (NYSE: PL, IPO 2021) and then Scoop. In 2021, she transitioned back to venture investing, joining Patagonia to lead Tin Shed Ventures, their venture capital and corporate development arm.
Danielle Nkojo
As Sustainability Lead, Product and Circularity at Ralph Lauren, Danielle directs the implementation of the company’s circularity strategy, including circular product development, creating circular experiences, and assessing innovations for circularity potential. Danielle has worked with other major corporations where she managed the transition to more sustainable materials and processes. Danielle has also worked inside municipal and federal government agencies for over a decade with roles in sustainable materials management, waste diversion, and land remediation for local governments including Sustainable DC, and the US EPA.
Danielle holds a Juris Doctor from Vermont Law School with a focus in Environmental Law, a BA in Economics from Pace University and is a certified TRUETM Zero Waste Advisor.
Circularity 23 Health & Safety Policies
GreenBiz Group, producers of Circularity 23, recognize the need to provide attendees with the safest experience possible. Based on the latest CDC recommendations and informed by the American Public Health Association we’ve developed the following health and safety policy:
All in person Circularity 23 attendees are required to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination or proof of negative Covid-19 test prior to arriving at the event. We will provide additional information in the upcoming weeks on how to upload your proof of vaccination or negative test results soon.
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At The Recycling Partnership, we are solving for circularity. We mobilize people, data, and solutions across the value chain to unlock the environmental and economic benefits of recycling and a circular economy. We work on the ground with thousands of communities to transform underperforming recycling programs; we partner with companies to achieve packing circularity, increase access to recycled materials, and meet sustainability commitments; and we work with government to develop policy solutions to address the systemic needs of our residential recycling system and advance a circular economy. Since 2014, we have diverted 500 million pounds of new recyclables from landfills, saved 968 million gallons of water, avoided more than 500,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases, and driven significant reductions in targeted contamination rates. Learn more at recyclingpartnership.org
Sponsored Tracks
Cisco
Seattle Public Utilities
Tetra Pak
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 111,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €78.6 billion in 2021. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S.
Climate change and sustainability continue to rise on the agendas of governments and organizations around the world with rapidly evolving drivers and expectations. Businesses face regulatory requirements and the need to meet stakeholder expectations as well as respond to the opportunities presented for revenue generation and cost reduction. This means a fundamental and complex transformation for many organizations and the embedding of climate change and sustainability into core business activities to achieve short-term objectives and create long-term shareholder value. EY’s global, multidisciplinary teams combine core experience in assurance, tax, transactions and advisory with climate change and sustainability skills and deep industry knowledge.
Sponsored Sessions
Sponsored: Delivering and Measuring Social Impact in a Climate-Focused World
rePurpose Global is the world's leading Plastic Action Platform dedicated to reducing waste, reviving lives, and restoring nature's balance. Through its pioneering ecosystem of solutions that span across advisory, action, and advocacy, the organization helps people and companies calculate, reduce, and offset their plastic footprint, while empowering grassroots innovators on the cutting edge of solving for the planet's future. On behalf of its global coalition, the organization eliminates millions of pounds of plastic waste from nature every year, and in doing so, positively impacts the lives of 10,000+ marginalized waste workers and community members worldwide. Visit https://www.business.repurpose.global/ to join the movement.
Rubicon (NYSE: RBT) is a digital marketplace for waste and recycling, and provider of innovative software-based products to businesses and governments worldwide. Creating a new industry standard by using technology to drive environmental innovation, the company helps turn businesses into more sustainable enterprises, and neighborhoods into greener and smarter places to live and work. Rubicon’s mission is to end waste. It helps its partners find economic value in their waste streams and confidently execute on their sustainability goals. Learn more at Rubicon.com.
Minneapolis-based Target serves guests at nearly 1,900 stores and at Target.com. Building on our heritage as a responsible business, we’re constantly putting the needs of people, communities and the planet at the heart of how we work today, to help build a better tomorrow. We are committed to addressing the environmental impacts of our business within our operations and across our value chain because we believe operating a sustainable business and using resources responsibly responsibility will allow us to serve our guests for generations to come. And we are working toward a future where everyone, regardless of their race or background, has equal access to opportunities and in which everyone feels welcome, valued and respected. For more information, visit www.target.com/corporateresponsibility.
WestRock partners with our customers to provide differentiated, sustainable paper and packaging solutions that help them win in the marketplace. WestRock’s team members support customers around the world from locations spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Learn more at
Anthesis is the sustainability activator. Proud to be a B Corp, we seek to make a significant contribution to a world which is more resilient and productive. We do this by working with cities, companies, and other organisations to drive sustainable performance. We develop financially driven sustainability strategies, underpinned by technical expertise and delivered by innovative collaborative teams across the world.
The company combines the reach of big professional services groups with the deep expertise of boutiques. Anthesis has clients across all industry sectors and from innovative start-ups to corporate multinationals such as Reckitt, Cisco, Tesco, Nestlé, and Target. The company brings together 1,100+ experts operating in 40 countries around the world and has offices in Andorra, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Middle East, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the US.
Aqua ChemPacs is the industry leader in manufacturing and contract packaging of quart size water-soluble liquid chemical packs. You can have your brand on this new technology! Simply add eco-friendly ChemPacs to quarts and buckets, add water and you are ready to clean! No cutting or tearing. The entire ChemPac dissolves easily in water. Over the last year alone, we have prevented 36 million bottles, the equivalent of 6,804,000 pounds of plastic, from reaching landfills. Aqua ChemPacs has recently begun operating out of our new, state of the art facility. Advanced high-tech production, packaging, new computer systems and custom software are in place. We are trusted by major brands and Fortune 500 companies. Aqua ChemPacs will help you solve your sustainability objectives and help you differentiate yourself on retail shelves and to your clients.
Aucto provides solutions that empower organizations to manage and streamline their asset recovery efforts. AuctoARS is a circular supply chain software that enables companies to identify surplus assets across the business, automate approvals, and choose to redeploy internally and/or resell externally on the public marketplace. The marketplace connects sellers directly to global buyers who are looking to source quality equipment, machinery, and materials. Headquartered in San Francisco and Toronto, the platform is being used in over 70 countries to help organizations achieve sustainability goals, meet compliance mandates, all while maximizing asset value.
Davies is Proud to be America’s Office Furniture Solution Provider. For over 70 years, Davies has been at the forefront of the sustainability movement with our sustainable recycling programs and remanufacturing of grade A Office Furniture Systems from industry leaders like Steelcase, Haworth, Herman Miller, Knoll, etc... into fully customized, "like-new" condition at a fraction of the price of our competitors. We put an emphasis on delivering value and closing material loops because we believe in innovation, creation and waste reduction. Visit our Booth to learn how we can get you into the office of your dreams.
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit and assurance, tax and legal, consulting, financial advisory, and risk advisory services to nearly 90% of the Fortune Global 500® and thousands of private companies. Our professionals deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in capital markets, enable clients to transform and thrive, and lead the way toward a stronger economy, a more equitable society, and a sustainable world. Building on its 175-plus year history, Deloitte spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte’s 415,000 people worldwide make an impact that matters at www.deloitte.com and learn more about our sustainability, climate, and equity offerings by visiting www.deloitte.com/us/sustainable-future.
Sonoco
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation works to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. We develop and promote the idea of a circular economy, and work with business, academia, policymakers, and institutions to mobilise systems solutions at scale, globally.
Upstream® was founded in 2003 as a public-interest, non-profit organization by a group of Zero Waste activists in the US and Canada. While working together in the 1990s, these leaders felt too many environmental groups were only focused on “downstream” or “end of pipe” solutions like recycling and composting. But they knew we can’t recycle or compost our way to a sustainable future. We have to work “upstream” to redesign the systems generating all the waste in the first place.
So we’ve been hard at work for nearly 20 years - ideating, co-creating and accelerating real-world practical solutions to plastic pollution and today’s throw-away culture. We're building a movement to "make throw-away go away" through business, policy and cultural innovation.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association is the US trade association for leading retailers. RILA partners with leading retailers to meet the challenges of a dynamic economy. Through collaboration and thought leadership, we advance ideas that foster free markets, competition, economic growth, and sustainability.
The U.S. Plastics Pact is a solutions-driven consortium founded by The Recycling Partnership and the World Wildlife Fund, launched as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact network, connects diverse public-private stakeholders across the plastics value chain to rethink the way we design, use, and reuse plastics, to create a path forward to realize a circular economy for plastic in the United States.
In line with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s vision of a circular economy for plastics, which unites more than 850+ organizations, the U.S. Plastics Pact brings together businesses, not-for-profit organizations, research institutions, government agencies and other stakeholders to work toward scalable solutions tailored to the unique needs and challenges within the U.S. landscape, through vital knowledge sharing and coordinated action.
Pyxera Global leverages the unique strengths of corporations, governments, social sector organizations, educational institutions, and individuals to enhance the abilities of people and communities to solve complex problems and attain mutually beneficial goals. With a quarter century of experience in more than 90 countries, the Pyxera Global team is passionate and dedicated to navigating challenges and pinpointing purposeful global engagement opportunities for our clients and partners.
Metabolic advises governments, businesses, and NGOs on how to adapt to a fast-changing global context, while creating disruptive solutions that can dramatically shift how the economy functions. We crunch data, provide strategies and tools, build pilots, and create new ventures that develop scalable solutions to critical problems. Core to achieving our mission is the transition to an economy that is regenerative and ‘circular’ by design.
BSR™ is a sustainable business network and consultancy focused on creating a world in which all people can thrive on a healthy planet. With offices in Asia, Europe, and North America, BSR™ provides its 300+ member companies with insight, advice, and collaborative initiatives to help them see a changing world more clearly, create long-term value, and scale impact.
The purpose of the Biomimicry Institute is to naturalize biomimicry in the culture by promoting the transfer of ideas, designs, and strategies from biology to sustainable systems design. We accomplish this by tackling one massive sustainability problem at a time through our Youth Design Challenge and providing learners of all ages with AskNature as a tool to begin the solution process. We support researchers, scientists, and entrepreneurs in bringing their nature-inspired designs to market through the Biomimicry Launchpadprogram and Ray of Hope Prize®, and we anticipate dozens of new biomimetic innovations will result, creating a healthier world for all. In our latest endeavor, we launched Design for Decomposition as part of a broader Systems Change initiative where we are taking the research learned through industry analysis and working with collaborators to test the most viable decomposition technologies that are commercially viable but have yet to scale, and pilot technologies that convert wasted clothes and textiles into biocompatible raw materials.
The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute is dedicated to powering innovation for the circular economy through products that have a positive impact on people and planet.
Through the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Products Program, the Institute sets the global standard for products that are safe, circular and made responsibly. Cradle to Cradle Certified® is used by future-focused designers, brands, retailers and manufacturers across the value chain to innovate and optimize materials and products according to the world’s most advanced science-based measures for material health, product circularity, renewable energy and climate, water and soil stewardship, and social fairness.
Verra was founded in 2007 by environmental and business leaders who saw the need for greater quality assurance in voluntary carbon markets. We now manage the world’s leading voluntary carbon markets program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, as well as a suite of other programs, incubate new ideas to generate meaningful environmental and social value at scale, and advance the use of these programs worldwide.
At Clean Energy Ventures we’re beating back climate change through energy innovation. We fund disruptive, capital-light technologies and business model innovations that can reshape how we produce and consume energy. Each startup we invest in has the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions between our investment and 2050.
Since 2005, our leadership team has invested in over 40 climate tech startups alongside our angel-investor partners at the Clean Energy Venture Group, prominent venture capital firms, leading OEMs, global materials companies, oil majors, and more.
Beyond funding, we provide hands-on guidance through dedicated leadership coaching, strategic marketing, IP development and active board participation. Our collection of 19 Venture Partners guide our startups and enhance our value with their deep technical and operating experience.
gener8tor is a nationally-ranked venture capital firm and accelerator that brings together startup founders, investors, corporations, job seekers, universities, musicians and artists. The gener8tor platform includes more than 75 programs spanning startup accelerators, corporate programming, speaker series, conferences, skills accelerators and fellowships. gener8tor believes that everyone deserves opportunities, regardless of race, place or gender. And that is what we consider our mission.
Founded by RMI and New Energy Nexus, Third Derivative (D3) is accelerating the rate of climate innovation through our inclusive ecosystem approach, which rapidly finds, funds, and scales climate tech globally. We launched in December 2020 with 46 companies, the largest cohort of climate tech companies in the world.
By uniting and aligning committed investors, large corporates, and market and policy experts with the world’s most promising climate tech startups, D3bridges finance and resource gaps to increase speed to market. Our flexible and highly curated accelerator program enables startups to focus on their unique needs and opportunities.
Today D3’s collaborative ecosystem includes $4T market cap of corporate partners, $8B AUM of investor partners (across five continents), and over 100 startups addressing climate challenges across all major emissions sectors. Together, we are moving markets to achieve a brighter, more equitable climate future.
The Circulars Accelerator is advancing the global transition to a more circular economy, connecting organizations prioritizing circular innovation, with disruptors seeking to scale circular solutions. The accelerator plays a pivotal role in catalyzing circular innovation across the globe.
Led by Accenture in partnership with Anglo American, Ecolab and AWS and hosted digitally on the World Economic Forum’s platform for SDG innovation, Uplink.
Closed Loop Partners is a New York-based investment firm comprised of venture capital, growth equity, private equity, project-based finance and an innovation center focused on building the circular economy. The firm has built an ecosystem that connects entrepreneurs, industry experts, global consumer goods companies, retailers, financial institutions and municipalities.
Greentown Labs aims to be a supportive, collaborative, and inspiring community for early-stage entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. In light of that mission, we don’t take any equity in our member companies. Instead, members pay monthly fees based on their lab and office space. We bring in revenue from other sources, including partnerships and grants, to keep membership fees low for our startups.