The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business invites you to the next talk in the Business, Environment, and Society Speaker Series. David Rachelson, Rubicon’s chief sustainability officer, will present “The Circular Economy: Practical Solutions to Environmental Challenges.” The event is open to the public.
Methane emissions from landfills. Carbon emissions from waste and recycling trucks. Microplastics’ harmful effects on marine life. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. E-waste toxicity. The list of problems associated with waste goes on and on.
The circular economy offers a revision of the “take-make-waste” business model. Businesses adapting to the new business model create products that have indefinite (or at the very least much longer) lifespans. The circular economy provides a model for businesses to work towards a more sustainable world–from design and production through refurbishment and reuse.
David Rachelson will offer insights into how to manage the circular economy more efficiently. Rubicon, where he serves as chief sustainability officer, states its bold mission simply: It wants to “end waste.” Rubicon works towards this goal by providing full-service waste management, recycling, and smart city technology solutions. For its industry and municipal customers alike, Rubicon connects circular economy theory with the realities on the ground.
Questions that will be addressed include:
- How does Rubicon innovate for waste solutions?
- What are the challenges and opportunities of improving data around the circular economy?
- What will it take for multinational enterprises to truly embrace the circular economy?
- What is the climate impact of circularity?
- What are the largest barriers to a circular economy?
Speaker bio:
David Rachelson is Rubicon’s chief sustainability officer. He spearheads the company’s sustainability efforts to achieve the company’s mission to end waste through increased landfill diversion and innovative circular economy solutions. He has authored numerous thought leadership pieces on the circular economy, sustainability, and recycling, and has spoken at leading conferences including Ellen MacArthur Foundation CE 100, Sustainable Brands Tokyo, Sustainable Brands New Metrics, Wharton’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL), and GreenBiz’s VERGE conference. Rachelson earned an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and a B.A. from George Washington University. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Advisory Board of the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business.
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About the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business:
The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business was founded in 2013 to act as a catalyst and connector, bringing together students, research faculty, companies, and entrepreneurs to create an environment where business-driven solutions to sustainability challenges can take shape and thrive. In all, Scheller provides students unparalleled breadth in environmental sustainability, ethics, corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, and values-based leadership.