What to look out for at Circularity 25 this week

This week, Trellis Group brings its annual circular economy conference to Denver. At Circularity 25, leaders from corporations, startups and nonprofits will explore ways of doing business at scale that eliminates waste from the equation, starting with product design.

“The circular economy requires a fundamental change to business, not just incremental steps or bolt-ons,” said Trellis Circular Economy Director Kori Goldberg.

The event is built to provide pragmatic knowledge and practical tools for circularity practitioners. (I’ll definitely check out the sheets of fungus-based “leather” dripping from the ceiling of the bar at the “carbon positive” Populus Hotel, near the event at the Colorado Convention Center.)

The full program is here. Below are key moments to watch, according to members of the Trellis editorial team and event organizers.

Watch from anywhere:

Keynote sessions will livestream at Trellis.net. They will replay later, too.

Tuesday, April 29 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time

John Warner, the green chemistry pioneer, often challenges conventional wisdom and agitates for change in business and education. We’re curious to see if he’ll reveal what he’s working on as the president and CEO of the Technology Greenhouse, which has been under wraps for nearly two years.

“Cradle to Cradle” coauthor and architect Bill McDonough and Trellis Co-Founder Joel Makower team up again, this time about passing the torch to the next generation of leaders.

Wednesday, April 30 from 10:30 a.m. to noon Mountain Time

Hear about the latest from Google’s labs from Rey Banatao. He’s in charge of Alphabet’s skunkworks, which revealed a “moonshot for circularity” in November.

Jeanette Felix discusses her work with Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles social enterprise that engages formerly incarcerated people in work to repair, refurbish and recycle electronics.

In person:

A three-hour “master class” in circular logistics and business innovation offers a deep technical dive for people seeking to put new business models into practice. Tuesday, April 29, 9:00 a.m.

Target, Keurig Dr Pepper and IDEO will share how to re-think design for circularity, including mapping pain points and tracking materials through lifecycles. Tuesday, April 29, 4:00 p.m.

State and local policies to support materials circularity are moving forward, despite assaults on climate action by the White House. Leaders from the Gap, ThredUp and Goodwill will explore efforts in California and New York to regulate end-of-life textiles. Wednesday, April 30, 1:30 p.m.

The right-to-repair movement for consumer electronics has inspired thriving online and offline communities. Leaders from iFixit and Google share the latest. Wednesday, April 30, 1:30 p.m.

Changemakers in fashion share how pre-competitive collaborations drive climate and circularity-related progress. The lessons can apply to any industry. Wednesday, April 30, 4:00 p.m.

The outdoor industry and insurance companies explore financial innovations for climate resilience. Thursday, May 1, 9:00 a.m.

In the field:

Recycle Row in Boulder, Colorado, will open for a tour the morning of Tuesday, April 29. Visitors will see inside a materials recovery facility that sorts city waste, and learn about new life for challenging items at the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials and ReSource Central.

That same morning, a tour of the Red Rocks Ampitheatre will feature waste-diversion efforts at the legendary venue.

Tersus Solutions performs the “dirty work” of spiffing up used Doc Martens boots and REI jackets for secondhand sales. The Englewood, Colorado, company serves fashion and footwear brands as well as reverse logistics companies, such as Trove, that run their online branded resale portals. A site tour the morning of Thursday, May 1 will trace the journey of a garment by The North Face through the facility.

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