On January 4, 2023, the REMADE Institute, in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and with support from the United States Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, announced that registration is now open for the REMADE Circular Economy Technology Summit & Conference.
The conference will take place March 20-21, 2023 at the National Academy of Sciences Building, 2101 Constitution Ave., NW, in Washington, DC.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the circular economy is based on three principles, driven by design:
- Eliminate waste and pollution;
- Circulate products and materials (at their highest value);
- Regenerate nature.
The need for this sort of regeneration-based economy was first documented in the groundbreaking 2002 book, The Restoration Economy.
The REMADE Institute is a 164-member public-private partnership established by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) with an initial investment of $140 million.
“REMADE and our partners are very excited about bringing together, for the first time, all aspects of the circular economy into one unified, in-depth, multidisciplinary, action-based scientific conference and national thought-leadership event,” said REMADE CEO Nabil Nasr.
“We strongly encourage industry innovators, academic researchers, and others — from university students just starting out, to international experts renowned in their fields — to attend this critically important event,” he added.
The Conference seeks to advance the conversation on a circular approach and how it can benefit nations in meeting their multiple energy, environmental, manufacturing, industrial decarbonization, and economic goals.
The Conference will share new and detailed information on technologies capable of advancing and accelerating the transition to a circular economy and will have a specific theme focused on breakthroughs in sustainable manufacturing, circular technologies, and clean tech innovations.
“The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is excited to work with the REMADE Institute on this national thought leadership event,” said Andrew Morlet, Ellen MacArthur Foundation CEO.
“As more business leaders, cities, policymakers, and innovators worldwide start to recognize the benefits of the circular economy, this conference will highlight technology solutions that can help them achieve their economic and environmental goals,” he continued.
“EERE is proud to support the REMADE Institute and its partners in their efforts to reduce embodied energy and carbon emissions associated with foundational industrial materials,” said Steve McKnight, Acting Director of EERE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office.
“This important international event will advance REMADE’s work in moving America toward a circular economy and reducing carbon emissions across the manufacturing sector,” he explained.
A systems approach to addressing problems from all angles is planned for the Conference, including systems analysis, industrial ecology, eco design, manufacturing materials optimization, remanufacturing and reuse, and recovery and recycling.
The event will serve as a showcase for innovative technologies capable of reducing energy consumption, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, decreasing the use of virgin materials, and increasing the supply and use of recycled materials.
Experts at the event will present REMADE-funded research and development projects as well as other technological research projects from around the world that are capable of increasing the reuse, remanufacturing, recovery and recycling of energy-intensive materials. These materials include metals, such as steel and aluminum; polymers, including plastics; fibers, including papers and textiles; and electronic waste (e-waste).
Efforts are ongoing worldwide to transition from today’s linear “take, make, waste” economy to a circular economy, where waste and pollution are eliminated, products and materials are circulated, and nature is regenerated.
A regenerative, circular economy can help tackle some of the biggest global challenges we face today — including climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution — and create resilience and prosperity for business, the environment, and society.
Founded in 2017, REMADE is a 164-member public-private partnership established by the U.S. Department of Energy with an initial investment of $140 million. REMADE is the only national institute focused entirely on developing innovative technologies to accelerate the U.S.’s transition to a Circular Economy. In partnership with industry, academia, national laboratories, and trade associations, REMADE enables early-stage applied research and development that will create jobs, dramatically reduce embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions, and increase the supply and use of recycled materials.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is an international charity that develops and promotes the circular economy in order to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. The Foundation works with its Network of private and public sector decision-makers, as well as academia, to build capacity, explore collaborative opportunities, and design and develop circular economy initiatives and solutions. Increasingly based on renewable energy, a circular economy is driven by design to eliminate waste, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature, to create resilience and prosperity for business, the environment, and society.
The REMADE Circular Economy Technology Summit & Conference is open to REMADE members, non-members, and university students in the U.S. and around the world. Members of the media are also encouraged to attend.
Featured image courtesy of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.