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Discussion: Winning with the circular economy – and building better businesses

14 May 2025
Track 1
Teams

At a time when sustainability strategies are being called into question, retailers are still facing into conflicting pressures of mounting regulation and rising costs of Net Zero implementation despite leadership teams wanting to “do the right thing”. The reality is that the global retail industry - from food to fashion – is contributing to the climate and environmental crisis. Overproduction is rampant – up to 40% of food produced globally never gets eaten and 85% of all textiles ends up in landfill each year.  

But by focusing on key elements of production and supply chain and by utilizing the innovation that drives retailing, real progress can be made to move towards a circular economy. This important panel of industry experts will share some real examples of the progress that is happening now and discuss how the industry can do more.

Chairperson
Reniera O'Donnell, Executive Lead - Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Speakers
Lynne Walker, Director Primark Cares - Primark
Paula Coughlan, Chief People, Communications and Sustainability Officer - Currys
Mark W. Baum, Chief Collaboration & Commercial Officer & SVP, Industry Relations - FMI - The Food Industry Association
Suzanne Long, Former Chief Sustainability and Transformation Officer - Albertsons

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