Envision Charlotte, in collaboration and partnership with Wells Fargo, Coke Consolidated, The Coca-Cola Foundation, McKinsey & Company, and Cisco is excited to present a week-long virtual conference that will focus on how cities, companies, and citizens can participate in the circular economy by working individually and together. We will explore the benefits of the circular economy, how it fits in with each City’s own goals around climate change and overall sustainability. In addition, we will give specific examples of programs featuring public-private-plus partnerships.

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This panel will discuss why cities should make the transition to a circular economy, what are the benefits, the role of a City, and examples of cities leading the charge.  We will then dive into Charlotte’s plan and why we launched this initiative, where we are, and where we are going.

Charlotte has 144,000 tons of plastics in its waste stream with a small percentage being diverted from the landfill.  Why isn’t more diverted and what are some successful projects where diversion is happening? What is Charlotte doing now and what more can be done in the future?

Cities have launched innovation labs to advance the circular economy. This panel discusses why these are important and what they can do for a city and local industries.  We’ll also focus on examples and measures of success and give an update on Charlotte’s own Innovation Barn –launching later this year.

Food waste and other organics are one of the largest contributors to our landfills. Now, with more people staying home and eating in, 2020 has seen a significant increase in organic waste through residential waste streams.  We explore the simple and complex innovations already in motion to address this problem on a local and global scale.

This panel will explore the distinct opportunity for business leaders to embrace sustainability in their organizations and to facilitate business model innovations that cause a step change on circularity and other sustainability-related topics. Panelists will share their organizations’ sustainability journeys and discuss best practices for others to advance sustainable business initiatives in their organizations.

Curbside recycling hasn’t been as successful as we need it to be. There are over 2000 different recycling programs in the U.S making it impossible to keep track of what you can recycle and where. Join us as we announce a new pilot aimed at changing the way we manage recycling!