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CE100 ChicagoSeptember 27th & 28th, 2017

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CONTENTS

3 Welcome

4 WEDNESDAY

4 Government & Cities Morning Session

4 Circular Economy 101

5 Innovation: Emerging Innovators

6 Field trip: Plant Chicago

6 THURSDAY

6 Opening: Chris Wheat, CSO, City of Chicago

7 Talk: Circular Journeys

9 Work: Troika Exercise

9 Work: CE100 Collaborative projects

12 Work: Open Space

12 Talk: Andrew Ondracek, Method Products Inc.

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WELCOMEOn September 27th and 28th, the third North American CE100 Acceleration Workshop was held in Chicago. Over the course of two days, representatives from governments, large and small businesses, academia, affiliates organizations, and guests from the greater Chicago region, dug into the topic of ‘De-risking & Re-wiring’ for the circular economy.

With the aim of demonstrating that the circular economy model is scalable, the workshop started with a site visit at Plant Chicago, a community of 20 food businesses showcasing a fully functioning biocycle system, and ended with insights from Method and its journey from market disruptor to market leader.

Throughout the guest speaker sessions, shared case studies, and immersive break-outs, the pivotal opportunity for cities, as attractors and demonstrators of circular economy principles, came up repeatedly. Given the rapid urbanization rate, the potential for cities to leverage the concentration of resources, capital, talent, and data to drive circular innovation, is unparalleled.

In many cases at the State level, investment and procurement strategies for the next decade are in development, in parallel to resource efficiency initiatives, including zero waste and renewable energy. These present an opportunity for the long term vision of a circular economy to tie initiatives together.

After the initial exploration of circular economy principles at the inaugural US CE100 workshop in New York, and the fertile exchange of ideas in Seattle, the Chicago workshop was the first in the US to feature member-led pitches in view of Co.Projects (pre-competitive collaboration projects) to overcome system barriers and collectively work to seize opportunities.

We look forward to hearing progress and updates on those at our next US CE100 workshop in Phoenix.Following the Chicago workshop, the Foundation held the bi-annual European CE100 acceleration workshop in Reykjavik, Iceland, where the critical role of finance occupied centre stage. The cross-pollination of insights and collaboration opportunities across the CE100 network globally remains one of our key ambitions.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation would like to thank both the presenters who made the Chicago workshop inspiring and thought-provoking, and the participants whose commitment to action reconfirmed the benefits of the CE100 convening platform.

We look forward to continuing to work with you to advance and amplify circular economy opportunities at the next US CE100 workshop in Phoenix, Arizona in March 2018!

Del Hudson,Head of US Operations

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WEDNESDAY

GOVERNMENT & CITIES: Morning Session

Public sector attendees from Austin, Cook County, Metro Vancouver, Phoenix, Toronto, and Washington DC gathered in the morning to discuss their respective circular economy agendas and learn more about the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s work with governments.

The following topics of interest were discussed:• Circular economy opportunities: at government, local, and

regional level

• Textiles: collection schemes and diversion from landfill

• Solid waste: challenges integrating circular economy and upstream diversion into existing strategies

• How an inclusive economy is tied up with the circular economy discussion

• Public-private partnerships: moving circular economy initiatives forward, and the role the CE100 community can play

• “Brownfields” opportunities: how can circular economy principles help revitalize, regenerate, and best use brownfield sites in and around North American cities?

CIRCULAR ECONOMY 101

Members and newcomers were invited to a brief foundational session to recap on circular economy insights and research to quantify the economic opportunity.

Resource constraints, regulatory trends, enabling technologies, ecosystem degradation, evolving customer expectations and investment, were discussed as drivers of change. These influences are creating new opportunities and are imperative to devise new business and economic models that are restorative and regenerative by design.

The session was brought to life through multiple examples of companies embracing circular economy principles ranging from the automotive sector to agriculture, and from multinationals to emerging innovators.

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Dan Schechner of Aerofarms, one of the world’s leading vertical farming companies, spoke about the incredible benefits offered by reinventing the way we grow and distribute food.

Urban Mining’s Scott Dunn shed new light on the objects that surround us, revealing our dependency on magnets hidden within them and inspiring the group with the story of new technology designed to recover and remanufacture these high-value components.

Philippe Bois, Chief Scientific Officer at Avespa, gave a fascinating account on the world of algae. Between 4% and 7% of energy in the US is used to transport water to wastewater plants. Philippe demonstrated how a range of significant challenges, related to the way society views and uses water, could be solved by reconsidering algae as a super material, offering hopes of regenerative infrastructure and improved environmental outcomes.

Finally, Jonathan Pereira, Executive Director of Plant Chicago, Chicago, provided insight on how to make cities healthier and more efficient by developing and sharing the most innovative methods for sustainable food production, energy conservation, and material reuse.

*Start-ups at various stages of development that are exploring circular economy concepts; more info is on our website here.

INNOVATION: EMERGING INNOVATORS

Four of our US Emerging Innovators* delivered an account of their exciting journeys towards a circular economy:

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FIELD TRIP: PLANT CHICAGO

A field trip to Plant Chicago, a community of 20 thriving food businesses under the same roof in southern Chicago, showcased a fully functioning bio-cycle system.

The building, a former industrial meat packing facility, was bought in 2010 with the vision of creating a circular economy food system. Eventually established in 2014, Plant Chicago helps companies continually experiment and explore potential synergies between the different food businesses. Particularly interesting was witnessing the circular economy at play at the scale of small and medium enterprises, i.e. the Pleasant House Bakery, which, beyond making delicious bread, also provides some feedstock for the onsite beer brewer, with some of the rest streams feeding fish, whose waste fuels the hydroponics, etc.

Besides the commercial operations, there is a monthly farmers’ market, which takes place weekly during the summer. Plant Chicago also places an emphasis on education, with hundreds of school visits per year and cooking classes for the community.

The local business tenants discussed, with the group, the importance of information flow as a key enabler of circular activity, e.g. the proximity and collaboration between each of the businesses in Plant Chicago has proven to be essential. Embracing diversity and experiments are also key mindsets for designing commercial disruptive solutions - characteristics that are embraced within the CE100 community.

THURSDAY

OPENING: Chris Wheat, Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Chicago

Cities are uniquely positioned to drive a global transition towards a circular economy, with their high concentration of resources, capital, data, and talent over a small geographic territory, and could greatly benefit from the outcomes of such a transition.

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It was a privilege to receive Chris Wheat to open the second day of the workshop and hear his forward thinking approach to Chicago’s journey towards circular economy.

As Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Policy Advisor to the Office of Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, Chris coordinates policies and projects across City Agencies to advance the city’s sustainability agenda.

Chris expressed the necessity of precisely defining how cities and governments can act to enable circular economy, and how to move from limiting negative impacts to an economy that is regenerative by design. An open, collaborative, distributed, multi-stakeholder model including corporations, starts-up, and academics is the best way forward, stressed Chris.

Despite the current political landscape, the enthusiasm for researching new ideas and the recognition of a need for an economic renewal is unwavering, and the circular economy provides a perfect framework in this regard.

TALK: CIRCULAR JOURNEYS

Phoenix and Arizona State University innovative partnership

As the circular economic opportunity starts to unfold in the US, the experiences of others presents a great opportunity to learn. We invited CE100 members in the US to share their journeys.

The first example outlined a successful collaboration to change the urban infrastructure within non commercial space between Arizona State University (ASU) and Phoenix City. The Phoenix and ASU innovation partnership was represented by Marta Hulley of ASU and Brandi Barrett of Phoenix City. Brandie began by sharing the challenges

“the building blocks of a circular economy are all around us”

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faced by Phoenix: one million tons of waste per year, 125 trucks driving 60 miles back and forth daily to the closest landfill, and a waste diversion rate of only 16% in 2013. At the time, the Mayor asked his team to reach 40% by 2020 and zero waste by 2030. Quite a challenge!

One of the strategies applied to this bold goal was to enhance public-private partnership. ASU embarked on their regional engagement strategy - transforming waste into resource - and created a partnership for innovation and entrepreneurship on the circular economy.

The city then identified 50 acres of land near their recovery facility with the idea of partnering with corporations and startups, and offering very attractive lease rates, in order to find and create other materials to divert waste and redirect material flows towards. Since then, they have identified a number of valuable materials in their waste stream.

Following on from this innovative initiative, ASU recently launched a circular economy incubator focusing on reuse, abundance, and new ventures. The incubator uniquely benefits from direct access to both Phoenix’s waste feedstock (in order to prototype products) and ASU’s tools and learning capability.

Since they launched the ASU-Phoenix partnership in 2013, waste diversion rates have practically doubled from 16% to 30%. This collaborative partnership represents a fantastic example of innovation and entrepreneurship in the circular economy.

Arup Circularity Lab

The second story, about partners complementing each other’s skill set, was presented by Tom Kennedy of Arup, the multinational professional services company providing engineering, design, planning, and project management for all aspects of the built environment.

Tom talked about the Circularity Lab, a collaboration between Arup, Google, NYC, the Danish architecture firm 3XN/GXN, and construction firm, Turner. Over the next 18 months, this multi-disciplinary team will design and build a concept and kit of parts that will manifest into two full-scale demonstrators in New York and the Bay Area of San Francisco.

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The Circularity Lab is ambitious (its aim is to close materials and manufacturing loops by finding pieces that complete the circle) and inclusive ( with the aim to test strategies that can be applied across program type, scale and budget).

Tom also shared important insights on job loss and job creation within the context of a wider circular economy. There is an opportunity to shift a workforce from manufacturing to repair and refurbishing if policymakers create the right enabling conditions, through tax-related incentives from repaired and refurbished products.

Arup sets research priorities every year, and the circular economy features as one of them. Bearing in mind the tremendous quantity of waste produced by the US construction sector and the energy consumed, Arup is keen to explore how they can positively influence society, as designers.

WORK: TROIKA

TROIKA was designed specifically with the CE100 in mind. Inspired by the principles behind international negotiations, participants self organised into groups of three to share priorities, spot connections, and take actions. During a dynamic 60 minutes, the group reorganized several times, with individuals making new connections with each iteration. The intention of TROIKA was to create a space for participants to share and identify tangible connection points that could be captured and translated into concrete actions between Acceleration Workshops.

WORK: CE100 COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS (CO.PROJECTS)

The Chicago Acceleration Workshop was the Fondation’s first CE100 workshop in North America to feature member-led collaboration pitches and sparks.

• Co.Pitches are pre-competitive collaboration initiatives, inviting other members to work together to overcome system barriers or collectively work to seize opportunities.

• Existing Co.Projects in other markets can also open up to the network to invite new member contributions and involvement.

• Sparks are earlier stage ideas – not yet accompanied by a group work vision but containing the kernels of future collaboration projects.

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In total, three members shared Co.Pitches and Sparks with a view to developing collaboration projects in the network, and one existing research Co.Project opened up.

Co.Pitch:1. Bring back to light: accelerating the development of a complete circular system for LED lights

Chris Cloutier, CoreCentrics

Chris Cloutier led a discussion in Chicago to gather feedback in advance of a video Co.Project pitch featuring at the Reykjavik Acceleration Workshop two weeks later. Representatives from Tarkett, Aerofarms, Cook County, and Toronto were present. The combination of high value, long life, and potential service model of LED lights, creates a unique opportunity to develop a circular system, including maintenance and technology upgrades. The aim is to shift from the ‘remove and replace’ system to a ‘recover, repair, and repurpose’ one.

Chris also listed some of the key challenges to reach a circular model: (i) understanding how a service model for lights will work, (ii) how to put the deployment phase in place, (iii) how to set up the back-end system. Connections were made within the group to continue knowledge sharing.To learn more, contact: Chris Cloutier, ccloutier@corecentricusa.com

Sparks:1. Circular economy and disaster preparedness and response

Natalie Betts, City of Austin

The recent increase in high intensity storms, coupled with the significant debris and removal costs that follow each event, the City of Austin led a brainstorm to consider how applying circular economy thinking to natural disaster preparedness and response could reduce the fall-out costs and have the potential to stimulate new economic opportunities. The discussion, that included members from Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Georgia Tech, Washington DC, Plant Chicago, Rebuilding Exchange, Steelcase, Santa Luzia, and Target, touched on a wide range of considerations, including relief systems mapping, procurement and insurance systems, capacity building, and more. The discussion will be distilled to tie in, in part, with a current IT research project and to consider what circular economy based preparedness pilots could be developed.To learn more, contact madelyn.morgan@austintexas.gov

2. Exploring public procurement in circularity Joanne Gauci, Metro Vancouver & Ashima Sukhdev, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The topic of public procurement is a recurring discussion point across many public and private sector members of the CE100 alike. This group was seeking to brainstorm North American public procurement trends for a circular economy.

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The discussion included representatives from Arizona State University, Biomimicry Institute, Conagra Brands, Cook County, CoreCentric, Essity (formerly SCA), McDonald’s, Metro Vancouver, Plant Chicago, plus two Schmidt MacArthur Fellows.

The group first shared challenges and barriers to the public procurement of circular goods and services. These included issues around:

• unnecessary levels of specification in procurement tenders

• standards and certifications that aren’t set high enough

• the timescales of procurement (including policy guidelines that are only updated every 5-10 years, contract limits that end at five years, versus a product that is designed to last for up to 12 years)

• the challenges of procuring from small business (which is often seeking to provide circular goods and services)

• the isolation of procurement staff in organisations across the board

The opportunities of using public and also corporate procurement as a key market driver for circular activity was recognized by all. The group also sought to identify products and services that were ‘ripe’ for circular public procurement (namely carpeting, built environment, printing/photocopying/electronics, and remanufactured automotive equipment/fleets).

Finally, the group identified a few ways by which interested organizations could move the topic forward: specifically, developing communications materials or a checklist so that interested representatives could approach their procurement teams, seeking opportunities to share information with procurement specialists via appropriate channels, and procurement template language for procurement specialists for specific sectors/departments. To learn more, contact Ashima Sukhdev, ashima.sukhdev@ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

Co.Project contributions:1. Water in the circular economy

Tristan Steichen and John Platko, Antea Group

Antea Group led a discussion to gather feedback in advance of their Co.Project pitch at the Reykjavik Acceleration Workshop, two weeks later. Representatives from Plant Chicago, Microsoft, Avespa, University of Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, McDonald’s Corporation, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago were present. Topics covered included resilience in water systems, security of supply, current non-revenue water lost in the system, the processing of wastewater contents, and policy landscapes. Connections were made within the group to continue knowledge sharing in the lead up to the full pitch at Reykjavik.To learn more, contact Tristan Steichen, tristan.steichen@anteagroup.com

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WORK: OPEN SPACEAn Open Space session, providing an informal opportunity for dialogue on ideas and questions arising through the workshop, ran simultaneously with the CE100 collaborative projects session for those who did not elect to join project discussions or ‘Sparks’. A further two topics were focused on during the Open Space session:

Nike led a group through a topic on how to capture value from the LDPE plastic waste generated by shipping products from plant to retail outlets. In an animated brainstorming session, representatives from Nike, Dell, McDonald’s, Target, and Danone mapped out a route towards creating a circular solution that would require collaboration between brand owner, retailer, real estate provider, and municipality.

Meanwhile, Method led a wide-ranging discussion based on the challenges faced when sourcing recycled PET in the USA. All Method products are packaged in bottles made from 100% recycled PET. However, faced with domestic supply challenges, the company often struggles to have a constant flow and is forced to import recycled feedstock; an unsatisfactory solution considering the volume of virgin PET introduced to the US market each year. Ideas, ranging from subsidising recycled PET to transitioning to hard-wearing reusable containers, have emerged.

SCALING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY: ANDREW ONDRACEK, METHOD Inc.

“Scalable solutions is recognized as one of the most pressing challenges in the transition to a circular economy”, acknowledged Andrew Ondracek, Senior Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain, at Method.

With the ambition to become the number one B Corp manufacturer in the world, Methoduse green chemistry, recyclable packaging made from 100% recycled materials, and phthalate-free fragrance. They have also set up incentives and metrics for their suppliers.

Andrew shared the very inspiring story of a company started from the back of a van into a global organization. Central to Method’s success was the decision to base investments upon long-term benefit aligned with the company’s founding principles, rather than short-term financial gain. Examples of this included decisions about where to base production facilities, along with hiring from local communities, and training employees in lieu of bringing in talent from farther afield.

Andrew oversaw the construction of Method’s factory in Chicago, the industry’s first LEED platinum certified plant. Their packaging unit and distribution center is located on-site to reduce carbon footprint. Additionally, Method have partnered with the urban agriculture company Gotham Greens to establish a 75,000-square-foot greenhouse rooftop.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation was established in 2010 with the objective of accelerating the transition to the circular economy. Since its inception, the non-profit organisation has become an important lead in global thinking by inserting the circular economy firmly on the agenda of decision makers in business, government and academia.The organisation’s work focuses on four interconnected areas:

Education: inspire learners to rethink the future through the circular economy framework.

Businesses and governments: to catalyse circular activities across the global economy and create the enabling conditions.

Insight and analysis: to provide robust evidence of the benefits of the transition.

Communication: spread the circular economy to a global audience For more information, visit the website here ellenmacarthurfoundation.org