More than just another webinar, this virtual roundtable series will facilitate opportunities to solve specific materials challenges from Great Lakes businesses that can lead to development of a more circular economy in the region.
The next Great Lakes Circular Materials Roundtable will be held on Tuesday, September 1st at 10:30 ET and will focus on textiles - use the form below to request an invitation to the event.
According to a recent whitepaper published by RRS, the growth of textile waste in the US is outpacing the growth of every other major category of waste. Textile waste increased 78% by weight between 2000 and 2017, while the waste stream as a whole grew 10% over the same time period. Scaling solutions and end-markets to meet this growing challenge will require gathering more data on textile supplies, development of new standards and specifications, and the creation and support of new value propositions that work for solution providers, manufacturers and brands.
If you have recurring supplies of textile materials available, have an end-market or solution provider in your network, or can help Great Lakes businesses keep textiles out of the landfill - we’d love for you to join this conversation on September 1st!
Speakers for the event have been selected from the Materials Marketplace network, and will present on existing and emerging end-markets for textiles, and Materials Marketplace listings for these types of materials that could be redirected to recycling or reuse. Speakers include:
Janay Brower, Founder/President at Public Thread
Nick Carlson, Vice President of Donated Goods Operations at Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids
Marisa Adler, Senior Consultant at Resource Recycling Systems
Kari Bliss, Customer Experience & Sustainability at PADNOS
Madeline Walker, CEO & Founder at NexTiles
Attendees that have similar challenges and/or identify as problem-solvers will work together to brainstorm solutions, recommend professional connections and commit to actionable next steps for recycling, repurposing, or reprocessing the material. Attendees will meet via Zoom video conference - connection details will be shared once your registration is confirmed.
The Great Lakes Circular Materials Roundtable series is hosted in collaboration with the Michigan Recycling Coalition; Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE); RRS; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; Council of the Great Lakes Region; and the US Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Agenda:
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 textiles 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 captured as actionable next steps for textile recycling, repurposing, or reprocessing and will be distributed to attendees.