2017 Summit Agenda

For conference attendees - Network with the CAFR Board of Directors and staff, sponsors, exhibitors and local dignitaries in the Business Partner Showcase. Light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments provided.

Climate Change is Simple. Heat in minus heat out equals change of heat. When Earth absorbs more heat than it emits, the climate warms. When it emits more than it absorbs, the climate cools...

Climate Change is Serious. Warmer average temperatures are associated with dramatic increases in the frequency of extremely hot weather. Warmer air evaporates more water from soils and vegetation, so even if precipitation doesn't change the demand for water will increase with warmer temperatures...

Climate Change is Solvable. Preventing catastrophic climate change will require abundant and affordable energy to be made available to people everywhere without emitting any CO2 to the atmosphere. This will require both the development of energy efficient infrastructure and very rapid deployment of non-fossil fuel energy systems, especially in the developing world...

-- Scott Denning is Monfort Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. He also serves as Director of Education and Diversity for CMMAP, the Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes, working to enhance understanding of global climate. He is author of over 100 publications in the peer-reviewed climate literature, is a former editor of the Journal of Climate, and served for five years as founding Science Chair of the North American Carbon Program. He has served on advisory panels for NASA, NOAA, the US Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation.

Recycling, composting and waste reduction are some of the fastest, easiest and most cost-effective solutions to reduce climate change. Yet because of the limitations of current greenhouse gas accounting models, most communities don't "see" these opportunities.

Hear from two Colorado cities about their innovative approaches to measure the climate impacts of recycling and expose the benefits of local diversion programs. Then break out in small groups to brainstorm action steps for your community, for the state and for CAFR.

Colorado cities are launching initiatives to increase compost and recycling in the residential and commercial sectors, some businesses are taking their sustainability initiatives far beyond. No matter your sustainability goals, you must start by establishing and understanding baseline data.

This session highlights how to use waste stream audits to gather statistically valid data and how to apply that data to develop metrics for measuring sustainability goals and will discuss the roles leaders and champions play within an organization to ensure accountability and success once programs are developed, from creating and nurturing policies to posting educational information.

A panel of regional businesses will discuss why we choose to go so far beyond the basics of recycling. The challenges businesses face are overshadowed by the benefits to employees, products, community and company.

Learn about the opportunities and economic benefits of diverting food waste. Data tells the story about programs that work, where the gaps are, the number of jobs that can be created and how we can contribute to hunger relief by diverting food waste from landfill. Experience tools that can be used to help you manage programs and model scenarios that can lead to economic benefits from diverting food waste.

In the continued quest to divert organics from the waste stream through composting and anaerobic digestion, we are heading down a path of great cost and failure if significant attention and effort is not invested into understanding and addressing the challenges that food waste and/or food waste and yard waste present to those taking the materials, the composter or digester operator.

This session is an interactive discussion between attendees and a panel of experts, which will include a composter/processor, a hauler in a non-regulated market, a hauler in a regulated and/or single hauler market, a government representative from a mandated composting community and a government representative from a voluntary composting community. The work session will identify the challenges and solutions to consider before starting a collection program.

Topics to be discussed:

• Responsibilities of the various stakeholder groups

• How to deal with contamination issues that affect the processing of the material and the final product

• The challenge of creating markets for and selling compost made with residential and/or commercial food waste

• The need to establish infrastructure first for the transfer and/or processing of materials

• The extreme challenges of siting new composting and anaerobic digester facilities near metropolitan areas

• What materials should and should not be included in composting feedstocks and why

• Full lifecycle analysis and environmental impacts

What if something as simple as applying compost on the land proves to be one of our most powerful carbon mitigation tools? Emerging research points to carbon sequestration in soils as a potentially powerful tool to mitigate climate change by absorbing excess carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration in soils is shown to have many co-benefits that can achieve climate goals such as GHG reduction, improved soil health, improved crop yields, increased water retention and restoration of native plant and animal species.

Hear from a panel of experts from science, government and land management as they review emerging research on carbon sequestration, California's nascent carbon credit program and initiatives already underway in Colorado. Participate in a breakout discussion on whether and how Colorado might work toward carbon sequestration and potential carbon credit programs.

Certifiably Green Denver, ClimateWise of Fort Collins, and Partners for a Clean Environment of Boulder County are three local government programs designed to encourage sustainability in the commercial sector. These programs offer simple solutions to help businesses reduce their impact, save money, and gain recognition for their achievements. Learn about these innovative models and how they can be tailored to other communities to successfully support businesses and their efforts to reduce waste, become more energy efficient, conserve water, and encourage alternative transportation. This discussion-based presentation will include representatives of government programs as well as business owners who are enthusiastically participating in these voluntary programs.

This panel of business owners and experts discuss the relevance of recycling in business. Learn how these businesses incorporate recycling into their culture and their bottom line, how they communicate their recycling and sustainability culture with their customers and how they rely on collaboration to continually increase their waste diversion efforts and impact.

Katie Wallace, a Master in Applied Positive Psychology, is the Assistant Director of Sustainability and 'Purveyor of the Good Life' at 100% employee-owned New Belgium Brewing Co., where she has been for 13 years. In her role, Katie helps to lead Sustainability and B Corp efforts as they relate to operations, company culture, community engagement, supply chain, and brand. She co-chairs the sustainability committee for craft brewing's industry association and co-founded the Glass Recycling Coalition. Passionate about business's potential as a force for good in the world, Katie frequently shares New Belgium's business model and best practices as a national presenter and by partnering with company leaders and government officials across the globe.

Adam Schlegel has experience across multiple sectors and disciplines in entrepreneurship, management and socially conscious business practices. In 2006, Adam and his brother Jon founded Snooze AM Eatery, a consortium of breakfast and lunch restaurants throughout the Western US. Adam currently sits on the Snooze Board of Directors and orchestrates the community and sustainability programs across this growing restaurant group. From 2013-15, he served as the Executive Director for EatDenver, a Denver based non profit focused on locally owned, developing the organizations mission of education, community and advocacy before transitioning the Board President.

Catherine Queen joined WhiteWave Foods as manager of sustainability in 2016. With the recent merger, DanoneWave the newly combined entity of WhiteWave Foods and Danone's dairy business, has been incorporated as the largest public benefit corporation in the U.S. with a corporate structure intended to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner. Ultimately, DanoneWave's mission is to nourish people, communities and the world through its diverse portfolio. Catherine is able to blend her personal passion for making the world a better place with delivering the organizations business ambitions to help drive forward and bring to life the company mission.

Janet Burgesser holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Health from Colorado State University and has been employed by the Denver Department of Environmental Health since 1990. In January of 2009, Janet became the program manager for the Department of Environmental Health's sustainable business assistance program, Certifiably Green Denver, which offers free, non-regulatory assistance to any business in the City and County of Denver. The Certifiably Green Denver program assists all business sectors located within the City and County of Denver providing personalized assessments with energy efficiency, water conservation, waste minimization and recycling and alternative transportation options. Certifiably Green Denver has worked with over 1800 businesses in the program, certifying 220 to stringent sustainable criteria.

View list of exhibitors

Visit CSU's 5 MW solar array, in-vessel and windrow composting site and biomass boiler on the CSU Foothills Campus. Tour behind-the-scenes and see these living labs, which are typically not open to the public, up close. This tour is outdoors and there is some uneven terrain; closed-toed shoes and clothing layers are recommended.

This tour will visit four areas of the site: 1. The Garbage Garage Education Center, 2. The Household Hazardous Waste and Drop-N-Swap, 3. The Recycling Center (where Larimer County recyclables are deposited before being transported to the Denver MRF) and 4. The working face of the landfill.

Since 1995, the Loveland Recycling Center has been accepting recyclables and organics from residents in Loveland and the surrounding communities. The site has expanded greatly in 22 years and went through its last remodel in 2015. Expanding over approximately 6 acres, the site provides 'just enough space' to provide recycling of over 25 different items, along with the sale of mulch and compost. With over 140,000 customers a year utilizing the Recycling Center, these recycling efforts help contribute handsomely to Loveland's 61% residential diversion rate year to year.

Every community consists of homeowners, tradesmen and corporations that have some sort of connection with building materials. Materials are produced, exchanged, used and disposed of. Uncle Benny saw the necessity in for a building supply exchange where you can buy, sell or trade new and used building materials. Without a hub such as Uncle Benny's, useable materials are routinely thrown away for many reasons.

CAFR's Recycling Awards fundraiser at the Agave Room above the Rio Grande Restaurant recognizes the 2017 recycling award recipients. Dinner and entertainment provided. Emcee: Kelly Ikenberry. Cost: $55

Attendees will enjoy an easy walking tour of Old Town Fort Collins. We'll look at alley renovation work that has been done by the Downtown Development Authority, including upgrades to shared trash/recycling enclosures. Stopping along the way at local businesses that participate in the Fort Collins ClimateWise program, attendees will have a chance to talk with merchants at the Cupboard (kitchen store) about how they apply recycling and waste reduction in corporate practices. We will also visit the small-scale in-vessel composting in Earth Tubs and the Bean Cycle coffee shop which recycles coffee grounds in the Earth Tub program. Come enjoy a morning stroll, the caffeine delights, and lovely flower plantings of Old Town.

See how Fort Collins recycles everything from aluminum cans to mattresses to electronic devices. First stop: the new City of Fort Collins Recycling Center, which accepts standard, glass, aluminum and paper as well as hard-to-recycle items including paint, motor oil, batteries, scrap metal, aggregates and organic debris. Second stop: I.T. Refresh, Fort Collins' only E-Steward recycling facility, where you will see how they recycle, dismantle and reuse electronics. Last stop: Spring Back Colorado, to see how they recycle used mattresses and box springs and provide redemptive employment opportunities. This tour is both outdoors and through warehouses; a light jacket and closed-toe shoes are recommended.

(Repeat of Monday afternoon tour) Visit CSU's 5 MW solar array, in-vessel and windrow composting site and biomass boiler on the CSU Foothills Campus. Tour behind-the-scenes and see these living labs, which are typically not open to the public, up close. This tour is outdoors and there is some uneven terrain; closed-toed shoes and clothing layers are recommended.

View list of exhibitors

In this session, attendees will learn from experts and discuss the challenges and opportunities of achieving zero waste at events. Experts with waste-reduction and sustainable-event experience, from small office parties to 10,000+ gatherings, will give brief presentations. Attendees will then break out into groups to further discuss planning, partnership management, guest/community engagement, diversion rates, 'sustainable story' marketing and more. Join us for a fun and interactive session while creating relationships to help reach a common goal!

This panel will address how to make diversion costeffective for contractors and recovery viable for governments/businesses in a state without processing capabilities or markets for most materials. We will share composition data from RREO projects and previous studies, struggles by contractors to find space and time and local government research into feasibility. We will subsequently consider how Colorado might emulate other states' development of regional C&D processing and markets, the potential to grow Colorado's deconstruction and reuse efforts and the critical role of policy and technical assistance by regional/state organizations.

Why are local governments all over the board when it comes to recycling? What can local governments do to improve Colorado's ranking near the bottom of states for recycling (12%, rest of country 34%)? What is the role of local government in addressing waste diversion in the state of Colorado?

Hear from a panel of mayors and elected officials across the Front Range to discuss the various challenges and opportunities waste diversion poses to each of their communities. This session provides an opportunity for these elected officials to discuss how local governments can work together to move the needle on our statewide diversion rate.

Ever wonder how laws for materials such as paint and electronics make their way to the Colorado legislature? This hands-on workshop will allow you the opportunity to recommend which materials the Colorado Product Stewardship Council (CoPSC) will focus on and present to CAFR's Policy Committee in the fall. This session starts with a panel of experts who will make their case for the need to focus our product stewardship efforts on materials such as electronics and mattresses. Next, attendees will divide into teams headed by these experts, and the session will conclude with a vote on which topics CoPSC should pursue. Help lead the way in minimizing the health, safety, environmental and social impacts of the stuff we purchase and discard throughout Colorado.

Join a roundtable discussion examining the viability of creating a network of hard-to-recycle materials collections and best options for a single 'hub' in Colorado to aggregate, process and market materials.

Questions to be explored in this panel discussion:

• What are the costs and requirements for existing collection models in Colorado, such as the Eco-Cycle CHaRM in Boulder?

• What are the best models for other parts of the state? How can they be financed? Who should be the operator?

• Can a social enterprise element (e.g., a non-traditional workforce) help?

• How can we build new, local markets for weird materials?

• What would it take to set up a hub in Denver?

The circular economy -" a restorative economic model focused on designing and manufacturing products, components and materials for reuse, remanufacturing and recycling -" represents tremendous opportunity for business growth, competitiveness, and innovation. Yet, the U.S. national average recycling rate has stagnated at 34%, with $11.2 billion in recyclables landfilled annually. To tackle this challenge the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and RRS launched a pilot project with leading value chain partners to break through this 34% barrier and achieve a circular economy through better recycling, recovery, and reuse of valuable materials. In this session, participants will learn more about this unique, business-led collaborative effort, and explore how to best leverage this project to tackle the recycling and recovery gap in the U.S, including Colorado, and accelerate infrastructure development--at the scale of the local economy--necessary to build and optimize closed loop systems.

Join three panelists from around the US as they discuss the future of recycling in the United States. The panel will discuss how corporations and businesses are working together to drive a transition to a closed loop economy. Together, the group represents some of the latest and most exciting large-scale collaborations and local efforts in the circular economy movement. The panel will answer questions such as:

• Why are businesses choosing to invest millions of dollars in recycling, waste diversion, and the closed loop economy;

• How are collaborative efforts helping to drive local programs and markets;

• What tools and resources are available to help Colorado communities and business increase recycling;

• What does the transition to a closed loop economy look like and how will it impact recycling locally; and

• How can CAFR members take action to support markets and diversion after leaving the conference?

The panel includes an interactive discussion with the audience and all attendees are encouraged to use the final event as a way to share what they have learned over the two days of the conference.

Lawrence Bowdish is Director, Research and Food Security with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Corporate Citizenship Center.

Lawrence has been with the Foundation's Corporate Citizenship Center since May 2013. In addition to conducting and managing all of the research for the Center, he also serves as the Issue Network lead for Food Security, where he concentrates on how the private sector contributes to the technology and innovations required to end hunger, improve nutrition, and eliminate food waste.