“The shift to a circular economy requires innovative business models that either replace existing ones or seize new opportunities.” -Ellen Macarthur Foundation
The Great Lakes Circular Materials Roundtable Series facilitates opportunities to solve specific materials challenges from Great Lakes businesses that can lead to development of a more circular economy in the region. Past events in the series have been centered on specific materials like e-waste, glass, film plastics, and textiles; and recycling applications to reduce the product all the way back to its basic materials, reprocess those materials, and use them to make new products, components or materials.
We’ve also heard from and featured examples of successful businesses and business operations created from the reuse of these materials - applications and business practices where a material or product is reused multiple times and redistributed to new users in its original form with little enhancement or change. (See examples in pallets and electronic waste event recaps.)
Building on those examples, we’ll be diving deeper into reuse as a business model and a business practice at the Great Lakes Circular Materials Roundtable: Reuse on May 25, 2021. This event will catalyze local entrepreneurship in the reuse space and identify opportunities where reuse can help businesses meet financial, operational and environmental goals and needs.
Speakers selected from the Materials Marketplace network will present on established and emerging reuse opportunities for businesses in the Great Lakes Region. Attendees will then join speakers and regional program sponsors in breakout sessions to explore collaborative opportunities for materials reuse.
If you’re a player in the reuse space or are implementing reuse strategies in your business, this event is for you!
The Great Lakes Circular Materials Roundtable: Reuse
Tuesday, May 25, 2020 | 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM ET
via Zoom
10:20 to 10:30am (login early!): Join via Zoom Conferencing early to test your connection and meet other attendees.
10:30 to 11:10am: Event organizers and program sponsors will welcome guests. Speakers from the Materials Marketplace network will provide a brief overview of the material challenge and outline some promising applications and use cases. Use the Zoom chat box to ask questions for a brief Q&A session following the presentations.
11:10 to 12:10pm: Building on the morning presentations, attendees will be divided into breakout groups for facilitated discussion. Groups will brainstorm solutions and recommend professional connections.
12:10 to 12:30pm: Outcomes from the breakout session discussions will be shared and captured as actionable next steps.