What did I learn from “Circularity 22”?
3 jam-packed days, 850+attendees and 150+ speakers. My first Circularity conference came to a ‘close’ yesterday (pun intended). I left Atlanta feeling heartened, challenged, inspired, and exhausted — despite refilling my double-bagged early grey tea 12 times a day.
I was eager to soak up the knowledge from the conference, so I took a deep breath and plunged into my 32-page notes on my plane back to St. Louis. Here are the two biggest takeaways (yes, you’re welcome). I hope these words will continue to shed light on our shared path forward and help us savor some of the most beautiful and insightful moments at Circularity 22.
1. Trash talk is business talk
As a refresher, the definition of Circular Economy (according to Ellen MacArthur Foundation) is eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerating nature. It is a broad term by nature. The GreenBiz team did a great job inviting speakers across private, public, and social sectors. I was thrilled to hear cross-disciplinary perspectives from researchers, designers, marketers, technologists, investors, founders, waste collectors, and advocates — just to name a few categories.
As a rising business leader in this space, I was particularly struck by one common thread across all these dialogues: to make the world truly circular, I need to become a “translator” of the circular economy language system. I need to show the materialistic impact of circularity on the bottom line.
After all, the bottom line is the bottom line — Freya Burton, Chief Sustainability Officer at LanzaTech)
For example, one study from Neiman Marcus shows that resell customers get into the store three times more than traditional customers and spend 30% more on average. When viewed through a business lens, circularity can and should translate into materialistic gains in revenue and profitability. Another example I loved was from Nina Ahuja at Trove. During her keynote, she shared three strategic drivers of Trove: sustainability, profitability, and data. As one of the fastest growing re-commerce platforms, Trove frames “re-commerce” as a sales channel (in addition to a sustainability strategy) which translates into a minimum of 35% profit margin for the brands.
Translating trash talk to business talk is not just about storytelling, but, more importantly, it is about putting numbers behind the circular economy claims. There is no standardized solution on quantifying circularity yet, but the need for aggregated data and contextualized metrics is becoming loud and clear. For example, The Recycling Partnership spent the past 8 years building the National Database to show the location-specific recyclability of materials and this tool will be critical in helping brands close the transparency and traceability gaps in meeting their recycling goals. Ellen MacArthur Foundation is spearheading a tool called Circulytics to measure the circular economy performance at a company level. I am also personally excited about the potential of embedding circularity metrics into investment frameworks such as ESG ratings.
2. Go fast and slow. Be bold and deliberate.
I felt inspired and rallied by speakers at the conference who called for bold changes, such as Ian Rosenberger, CEO at First Mile and Day Owl. He challenged us to think about the fundamental shifts that need to take place to meet the true circularity ambition. For instance, he said landfilling exists today as a business partially due to the incentives of tipping fees. As we think about how to divert materials away from landfills, we should also think about how to fundamentally shift away from the business of landfilling as a society. Similarly, Michael Kobori said in his keynote that the Next Cup challenge is an interesting experiment for Starbucks to learn and do better on single-use cups, but, ultimately, the future of better cup should be no cup. I really appreciate and respect the candor and courage of leaders like them who can challenge the status quo and reinforce the ambition.
On the other hand, change comes with pain and discomfort, such as financial costs, high risks, labor force shift, technological adoption, and unintended consequences. Therefore, change needs to happen with deliberation and thoughtfulness, not just speed. It is mission critical for CEOs to bring everyone along in the journey — including the board, shareholders, employees, and industry allies. Without trust from all these stakeholder groups, business leaders may be doubted, ostracized, and even ousted despite the best intent.
I will end my reflection with a call to action to business leaders who are still exploring circular economy concepts. The time to act on circular economy is now. Regulators are catching up with carrots and sticks; investors are mandating disclosures; competitors are racing to turn circular strategies into differentiators; and consumers are demanding to see actions from their favorite brands. The cost of inaction is insurmountable, and it will continue to increase with time.
I am proud and inspired to be part of this amazing community to advocate for a circular future, and I invite you to join us in this dialogue as well.
