Circular Economy in the High-Tech World

 Detailed Workshop Agenda

WEDNESDAY 

10:00 am Welcome, Drs. Martin Green and Kelsea Schumacher, NIST

Dr. Green will provide an overview of NIST’s mission and role in the circular economy. Dr. Schumacher 

will then introduce the workshop, including objectives, goals, and outcomes. 

10:15 am Plenary Speech: William McDonough

Mr. McDonough is an architect, designer, author, and thought leader on sustainable design and 

development. Co-author of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (2002) and The 

Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability – Designing for Abundance (2013), Mr. McDonough is widely recognized 

for his message that we can design materials, products, systems, companies, buildings, and communities 

with a beneficial footprint that continuously improves over time. 

Mr. McDonough’s plenary address is titled: TBD 

11:15 am Break

11:30 am Session 1: How do we Create a Circular Economy?

How can we increase the circularity of critical raw materials? What are existing frameworks and metrics 

for a circular economy? How do mineral commodities flow throughout their lifecycle, from mining and 

processing to use and end-of-life planning? These questions and more will be discussed by subject 

experts in our first workshop session. 

Speakers: 

 Nik Engineer, Ellen MacArthur Foundation 

 Gregory Keoleian, University of Michigan 

 Alessandra Hool, ESM Foundation and Chair of the International Roundtable on Materials 

Criticality 

 Maria Curry-Nkansah, National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

 Nedal Nassar, United States Geological Survey (USGS) 

1:00 pm Lunch + Networking

1:45 pm Session 2 (concurrent sessions) 

A: Electronics Recycling Challenges

A panel of five, including electronics recyclers, metals refiners, and an academic researcher 

will discuss the status and advances of recycling technologies for electronic waste as well as 

technical and economic challenges facing electronics recycling. Following the panel 

discussion, participants and panelists will break out into virtual roundtable discussions to 
further identify challenges to electronics recycling and discern research, data, and 

standardization needs to overcome barriers. 

Panelists: 

 John Shegerian, ERI 

 Peter Afiuny, Urban Mining Company 

 Julie Daugherty, Multimetco, Inc. 

 George Lucas, Gannon & Scott, Inc. 

 Julie Schoenung, University of California, Irvine 

 B: Battery Recycling Challenges 

A panel of five, including battery recyclers and researchers from academia, a national lab, 

and a nonprofit research organization will discuss the status and advances of recycling 

technologies for batteries as well as technical and economic challenges facing battery 

recycling. Following the panel discussion, participants and panelists will break out into virtual 

roundtable discussions to further identify challenges to battery recycling and discern 

research, data, and standardization needs to overcome barriers. 

Panelists: 

 Jean-Christophe Lambert, Lithion Recycling 

 Todd Coy, KBI Recycling 

 Linda Gaines, Argonne National Laboratory 

 Stephanie Shaw, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) 

 Callie Babbitt, Rochester Institute of Technology 

 C: Solar Panel Recycling Challenges

A panel of five, including solar panel recyclers and researchers from academia, a national lab, 

and a nonprofit research organization will discuss the status and advances of recycling 

technologies for solar panels as well as technical and economic challenges facing solar panel 

recycling. Following the panel discussion, participants and panelists will break out into virtual 

roundtable discussions to further identify challenges to solar panel recycling and discern 

research, data, and standardization needs to overcome barriers. 

Panelists: 

 Parikhit (Ricky) Sinha, First Solar 

 Kristina Whitney, Recycle PV Solar 

 Garvin Heath, National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

 Cara Libby, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) 

 Meng Tao, Arizona State University 

 Evelyn Butler, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) 

3:15 pm Break
3:30 pm Session 3: Boundary-Spanning Tools to Support the Circular Economy

Four experts from academia, national labs, and the US government will present boundary-spanning 

tools designed to track and evaluate material flows and assess techno-economic and environmental 

impacts of electronics, batteries, and/or solar panels throughout their life cycles. 

Speakers: 

 John Glaser, US Environmental Protection Agency: ADEPT: A tool to evaluate electronics flows 

for the US 

 Alberta Carpenter, National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Lifecycle assessment and inventories 

 Carol Handwerker, Purdue University: Ostrom Framework for self-managing sustainable socialecological systems 

 Melissa Bilec, University of Pittsburg: Materials flow through industry tool 

THURSDAY 

10:00 am Introduction to Day Two

10:15 am Plenary Speech: Dr. Thomas Graedel

Dr. Graedel is Professor Emeritus of Industrial Ecology and Chemical Engineering at Yale University. His 

research is centered on developing and enhancing industrial ecology, the organizing framework for the 

study of the interactions of the modern technological society with the environment. His current 

interests include studies of the flows of materials within the industrial ecosystem and the development 

of analytical tools to assess the environmental characteristics of products, processes, the service 

industry, and urban infrastructures. 

Dr. Graedel’s plenary address is titled “Are there limits to circularity?” 

11:15 am Break

11:30 am Session 4: Reuse, Repair, and Refurbishment in a Circular Economy

Reuse, repair, and refurbishment are equally important in a circular economy as recycling. In this 

session, five speakers from different sides of the reuse/repair/refurbish/remanufacture industry will 

discuss their role in the circular economy and specific challenges to keeping products (i.e., not just 

materials) in motion. 

Speakers: 

 Kyle Weins, iFixit 

 Eric Lundgren, Big Battery 

 Adam Shine, Sunnking 

 Nabil Nasr, The Remade Institute 

 Josh Lepawsky, Memorial University 

1:00 pm Lunch + Networking
1:45 pm Session 5: Best Practices for a Circular Economy

What are the roles and responsibilities of government and the private sector in a circular economy? This 

session will explore this question and provide examples of business models, company practices, and 

tools to support circularity. Presenters will include the following: 

 Adina Renee Adler, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI): The role and responsibility of 

government and the private sector in a circular economy 

 Joanne Larson, Seagate: Closing the loop on hard disk drives 

 Kathleen Fiehrer, Intel: Circularity at Intel 

 Mark Buckley, One Boat Collaborative: Business models for circularity 

 Corey Dehmey, Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI): The role of standards and 

certification programs in a circular economy 

3:15 pm Break

3:30 pm Breakout Sessions

This 75-minute session will be divided in half and the discussion sessions will each run twice. Four 

discussion topics will run concurrently as outline below. So don’t worry, if you want to participate in 

more than one you have that ability! And if one doesn’t meet your expectations, you can switch to 

another at any time. 

The four discussion topics will run concurrently as outline below. To maximize everyone’s chance to 

participate in different rooms, the discussions will start over at the half way mark to allow new 

participants to join. So don’t worry if you’d like to participate in more than one room, you’ll have that 

ability! And, if you’d like, you are also welcome to switch rooms at any time. 

“Room” A B C D

Topic: Design Use/Reuse End-of-Life 

Management

Enabling the Circular 

Economy

Content o Choice of materials

 Earth abundant vs 

rare 

 Virgin vs recycled 

o Product design for 

end-of- life 

 Ease of 

disassembly; 

shredding

o Repair

o Remanufacturing 

o Refurbishing 

o Collection

o Sorting 

o Disassembly 

o Shredding 

 Management of 

fluff, e-plastics 

o Recycling 

o Data 

challenges/needs 

o Metrics and 

measurement 

o Certifications and 

standards 

o Life-cycle analysis, 

techno-economic 

analysis, etc. 

4:45 pm Closing Remarks