September 26, 2024 • 22 mins
In this episode of The Circular Future podcast, host Stephanie McLarty discusses the recent acquisition of the eReuse conference by CERI with guests Corey Dehmey and Sarah Kim. They explore the mission of CERI in promoting electronics sustainability, the upcoming eSummit, and the importance of collaboration and networking within the industry. The conversation highlights trends in electronics sustainability, the structure of the eSummit, and advice for attendees on how to maximize their conference experience.
Takeaways
- SERI is a nonprofit focused on electronics sustainability.
- The eSummit will feature more pre-summit sessions than ever before.
- Collaboration is key to advancing sustainability in electronics.
- The conference aims to bring together all stakeholders in the electronics lifecycle.
- E-waste management is outdated; focus should be on circularity.
- Networking and learning from each other are essential at the conference.
- The eSummit will include diverse speakers and topics.
- Attendees should reflect on their objectives for the conference.
- SERI is developing an ESG reporting standard for the industry.
- The eSummit is an opportunity to celebrate successes in sustainability.
Learn more about SERI
Register for eSummit
Thanks for listening!
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Want to be a guest on The Circular Future podcast? Email Sanjay Trivedi at strivedi@quantumlifecycle.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
In February 2024, sari acquired the eReuse
conference.
So what's behind this andwhat's in store for the
rebranded eSummit in October?
Welcome to the circular futureyour access to thought leaders
and innovations to help you be abusiness sustainability
champion, even if it's not yourcore job.
(00:25):
I'm your host.
Stephanie McLarty, head ofSustainability at Quantum
Lifecycle Partners.
The announcement of the eReuseconference acquisition by Sari
was big industry news Basically,a major industry conference and
a major industry organizationcoming together in a new way to
(00:46):
create something even greater.
I know I'm curious to unpackthis news and what's ahead, and
I'm sure others are too.
With me is Corey Demme, ceo ofCERI, the nonprofit dedicated to
electronics sustainability.
He spends each day championingand driving the sustainable use,
reuse and recycling ofelectronics sustainability.
He spends each day championingand driving the sustainable use,
reuse and recycling ofelectronics globally.
(01:09):
So welcome to the podcast,corey.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Thank you, stephanie, so glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
And we're excited that you're here too.
And we also have Sarah Kim,president of eReuse Services,
which formerly ran the eReuseConference.
She is now Director of theeSummit and you've been on the
podcast before, sarah, sowelcome back.
Thanks, yay.
(01:35):
So let's start as we always do,and I'll start with you, corey.
What would be two things thatthe world wouldn't necessarily
know about?
Sari?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Well, sari is what we call in the United States, a
charitable nonprofit, and whatthat means is that we don't have
any members.
There's no members paying Sari,and so we are purely about our
mission, and that is totransition the world to
circularity and a sustainablefuture with electronics.
(02:07):
So that's first of all.
So many people know CERI or theR2 standard that we house and
develop and the R2 certificationprogram that we oversee and run
.
But with that mission and withour status as a nonprofit, we
have the awesome job of comingto work every day and working on
a lot of programs that help tomove the world towards a more
(02:28):
sustainable future withelectronics.
So there's lots of things thatwe're doing as well as, for
example, developing an ESGreporting standard for the
industry.
That's ongoing right now.
We serve as the secretariat forthe International E-Waste
Management Network, which is agroup of e-waste regulators from
around the world that arecollaborating.
We're developing onlinetraining programs for workers
(02:51):
and individuals and just manyother things, including the
conference that we're going totalk about today.
So I think a lot of people justmaybe know Syria as R2, and
it's important to know that weare working towards our mission
in many ways.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, we had your colleague Roger Greigy on the
podcast back in episode 16.
And I remember being reallysurprised just how much Ceri
does and also really theentrepreneurial lens at which
Ceri looks at this whole spaceand what it does.
So that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
And Sarah, what about you?
What would be something thatthe world might not know about
the eSummit coming up?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Great question.
I think maybe the thing that'smost surprising, even to me, is
that this year we're having evenmore pre-summit sessions and
meetings put together byindustry stakeholders than I've
really ever seen at any industryevent before.
We've even, to the point, hadto turn down a few people
(03:54):
because we didn't have enoughspace, but the list is really
impressive and I'm excited totalk about it a little bit more
later on.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Excellent and, yes, I will be there for one of those
meetings.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
You will.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Okay, so let's get into this and, corey, I'm going
to come back to you.
Talk to us about what you seefrom your vantage point around
these, the bigger trends thatare affecting this whole space
of electronics, sustainabilityand, ultimately, what led you
into the acquisition of theeReuse Conference.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Sure, yeah.
Well, let's start with what iselectronic sustainability, which
is the core of our existence?
Right?
And to me that means that wecan have all this great
technology that we've come tolove and that is very useful for
the entire world and connectingthe world without the negative
repercussions that come fromthat technology, so without the
pollution, without the resourcedegradation, depletion and all
(04:51):
the other things that come alongwith improper management of our
electronics.
So for years, we've beentalking about e-waste management
and we've been talking aboutpollution and transboundary
movements, and that is all good,but that is the baseline.
Now the world has moved on tobigger things.
The world has moved on tocircularity, creating a circular
economy, and so it's not justabout preventing pollution
(05:15):
anymore.
It's about recovering materials, and recovering materials to
put back into new products, evenwhen there's a cost to doing
that, because we know that we'redepleting precious natural
resources in the world and wecan't sustain that.
But even beyond that, whatwe've learned in this process is
that climate change has animpact from electronics as well,
because we're producing moreand more electronics that are
(05:37):
providing great benefit.
We're integrating them into allkinds of devices that would
have never been electronicbefore, and we're doing this at
such a fast pace and turningover new products so rapidly
that we just can't keep up withthat.
And the reality is, every timewe produce a new electronics,
that's where the point carbon isgenerated in that product.
(05:58):
It's not usually in the use ofthat product or in the energy it
is in manufacturing moreproducts.
So how do we get to asustainable world with
electronics at this pace?
And so the answer has to bearound the first use, around the
longevity of products andaround reuse.
So repair and reuse and returns.
(06:19):
And how do we keep theseproducts in use longer before we
even get to the end of life andwe get to recovering those
materials?
And that's where the fit ishere with CERI, our mission, and
with the acquisition of theeReuse Conference, because that
is where we bring in the fulllifecycle approach to looking at
electronic sustainability.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Right and from your lens.
Sarah, why did you say yes tothis?
What did you see as theopportunity in this?
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, that's a great question that actually a lot of
people have been asking me.
Certainly, I think it was theopportunity for me to grow the
event while still being able tosupport a nonprofit that
supports the growth of theindustry, right?
So it is about growing theevent but also keeping it within
our industry as support, and somy goal is still to create this
(07:11):
space for everyone and, as Imentioned earlier, I think, the
pre-summit lineup.
You'll be able to see that,because we have industry
meetings that are being hostedby REMA and ASCDI and CEP and
GEC and IEMN and INEMI and OBATAand the Repair Association.
We also have the R2 and ESG TACmeetings and, of course, a
(07:36):
workshop from eStewards.
So we're bringing back mobilerepair day and iFixit is even
hosting their design to repairworkshop, which is only
specifically for OEM.
So we're really puttingtogether a space where everyone
can come and learn from eachother and network with each
other.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Well, that sounds fabulous.
So tell us a little bit moreabout the event.
So that was just basically dayone of the morning, day one, I
know.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
So pretty exciting.
So yeah, tuesday, october 22.
We start the morning with ourpre summit sessions and then at
3pm we kick off our main stageevents with two pretty exciting
keynotes.
One you'll hear a little bitmore about details later, but
it's coming soon, we promise.
And then we move into thewelcome reception where we're
going to host the annual repairoff, which is always a super fun
(08:29):
event.
We're excited to announce thatHMD is going to sponsor that
this year, so their repairablephone will be what people will
be repairing probably somethingthat no one's repaired before.
We're going to get some newbiesin there, but it'll still be
just as exciting, maybe evenmore, as previous years.
And then Wednesday starts offwith us gathered again on the
(08:49):
main stage diving into paneltopics and discussions.
After lunch we host breakoutsessions and end the day with a
networking reception.
And we close Thursday with ouryou know our wake up reception
and some morning breakouts, andit then ends our kind of two and
a half pack days of educationand fun for everyone.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
And then you get to rest.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
And then I sleep.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
yes, Sarah, I'm curious how you select the
speakers or even the topics thatgo into the eSummit and ensure
that you've got differentviewpoints and different ideas
that you're bringing to thetable.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yeah, it was a hybrid this year, which was really fun
.
We use the same design that wehave used at eReuse Conference
for the past I would say 10 or12 years or so where we get
session topic.
We use the same design as weused for ERC for the past 10
years we requested topicsuggestions from the community
(09:52):
and then we asked the communityto vote on those.
We then have the tough job ofgoing out and find qualified
speakers for those topics.
But also with the addition ofSiri's team this year, we're
lucky.
We are lucky to have a biggerteam with more contacts that
attract different and morespeakers.
So it was a nice balance to beable and I'm sure Corey had a
(10:16):
good time going through thislong, tedious process, but I
think we'll all agree at the end.
It creates an agenda where weknow that the community is
invested in it and then alsothey know we do our best to make
sure we're attracting the mostqualified speakers to speak on
stage.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Now, Corey, is this the first time that Sari is
doing an event at this level?
Speaker 3 (10:38):
At this scale.
Yes, we do a smaller event inEurope, in Frankfurt, just with
a track on sustainableelectronics, but yeah, this is
the first big dive into it.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
So I'm curious what do you think is going to be
different from the eReuseconference, Especially, you know
, especially with Sarah?
Speaker 3 (10:59):
I think Sarah gave you everything so much.
I would classify it as more.
It is more so.
We are bringing in, hopefully,more content from a wider range,
as well as more people,different people and creating
more opportunities for everybodythere.
Our approach to this is a littledifferent than what we
(11:20):
traditionally see.
There's a lot of conferencesthat focus on one vertical, one
thing to be done, but with manyproduct categories.
Here we are focusing on oneproduct category electronics and
we are trying to bring togetherall the people who touch
electronics throughout thatentire lifecycle from a concept,
design, manufacturing,logistics, retail, returns,
(11:45):
repair, reuse, refurbishment,all the way to recycling at the
end of life.
And so our goal is really, bybringing everybody together who
touches electronics throughoutthat whole product lifecycle.
We want to cross-pollinate.
We want people to see what'sbeing done in other segments of
this industry that maybe theydon't have exposure to, and
(12:06):
learn from one another andcelebrate the success One of the
things that this industry ismaking such a positive impact to
the world through repair andreuse and recycling.
There's so much good being donehere, both environmentally and
socially, and we need tocelebrate that.
We need to talk about all thegood that's happening and all
(12:27):
the progress we're making andencourage everyone to continue
and do more, and that's one ofthe things I think we're going
to be able to achieve here atthe first eSummit.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, I completely agree.
We need to celebrate ourefforts, showcase what's working
well, even, I'm sure, highlightthe things that didn't work or
maybe that we've quote unquotefailed at.
That's all part of this journey, but it sounds like, if you are
in the space of electronics andsustainability basically at any
(13:01):
point in the lifecycle orsupply chain that this would be
a conference that would be ofinterest.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, and failures are learnings, right, they're
opportunities for improvement.
And so, finding all thoseopportunities for improvement,
we like to say this isn't ablack and white issue of
sustainability, it's just moreand it's better, you know,
making better decisionsthroughout the life cycle.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Very true, sarah.
From your standpoint.
How is this going to be?
Perhaps the same as whatattendees may have experienced
in the past?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I think the goal is actually the same, that it's
been for the last 21 years ofthis conference, and that's to
bring people together, for themto learn from each other, for
them to network, to have alittle bit of fun along the way
that are in it.
But it certainly is the samegoal and we, the Siri team, are
(14:07):
bringing that energy and thathelpfulness, you know, to all of
the attendees and are there tosupport people.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Nice, and something that will be largely the same is
that we're doing a live podcastrecording of this podcast, the
Circular Future, at the event,so stay tuned for that.
I wanted to dig into some ofthe trends that you're seeing
and some of the observationsthat are really occurring now in
(14:37):
this industry and how theconference fits into that.
So, sarah, I'm going to startwith you what do you think the
industry needs right now that,specifically, this conference
will fulfill?
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I think there's a lot of thingsthat are changing and there's a
lot of disruptor in theindustry and there are a lot of
new things that are being lookedat and problems that are being
solved, and I think that thisconference is going to give an
opportunity for those people toall come together and learn from
one another right, open eachother's eyes a little bit, help
(15:13):
inspire one another and reallyjust be able to move the needle
forward.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Great answer, Corey.
What do you think?
What does the industry needright now that the conference
will fulfill?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah, well it's.
You know it's all aboutcollaboration, right?
We all have a role to play andyou know, together, though, all
these things, all the good thatwe're doing learning from one
another, understanding oneanother, and the different roles
that we play, the differentjobs we've done, you know, is
how we uplift everybody and webring everybody along in the
(15:43):
journey that we're all on.
So, you know, this event isdesigned to bring people
together to learn and to connectwith other people and take that
back and continue thoseconversations and continue that
work.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Let's get into our how to section.
It was formerly called ourrapid fire how to section, but
nobody answered the questionsquickly, so we're just calling
it the how-to section now.
So I'm hearing collaborationnetworking celebration, sarah,
for someone who's approachingthis conference and perhaps you
(16:16):
know well this is the first timefor all of us in this iteration
of the conference how to getthe most out of the conference.
It can be daunting to look atthe schedule and plan what to do
.
What would you say?
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah, that's a great question.
We're all very busy people inour day-to-day lives.
Going to an event or aconference is certainly an
investment and I would urgepeople, in order to get the most
out of the conference, toreflect on what are your
objectives?
Why are you there?
How are you going to achievethose objectives and accomplish
(16:53):
those objectives and then beopen to other things, while,
specifically, you are there toensure that your time is best
utilized, right?
I think for me, that's alwaysbeen, you know, the most
important thing.
Now it's easier said than donebecause there's not enough hours
in the day, but, yeah, reallyreflecting on what your
objectives are and making sureyou accomplish those goals, I
(17:14):
think are important.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah, I feel too, if you write them down, you write
down what your intentions areand then, even like throughout
the conference, reflect back onwhat did I say I wanted to do?
How many people did I want tomeet?
Yeah, that's important.
Now, corey, it is really commonthat at these conferences we
get excited, we meet new people,but how to keep that alive
(17:40):
after the conference, how tokeep those connections and those
ideas going after theconference ends?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Yeah, it's tough, like Sarah said.
I mean, yeah, we're all excitedafter coming out of a conference
, also drained from a very busyconference, but you know,
sarah's role here is to championthe ongoing engagement, is to
champion the ongoing engagementand so all the things I talked
about earlier.
(18:08):
We're trying to help peopleembed this knowledge and this
information and help them moveforward in the journey and play
their role.
It's not just one of us, it'snot just one thing, it's all of
it, it's everything, and so Ireally encourage people it's not
just this conference, it is thenext event and to keep the
conversation going throughoutall of these industry events
(18:30):
throughout the year, to gettinginvolved.
Get involved in the tradeassociations that are promoting
this, get involved in the workthat Surrey's doing, you know,
to move it along.
Everybody has a place.
You know where they find valueand they can contribute, and so
that's what I would encourage.
You know, moving forward isthis, is the launching point,
this is the turn right and afteryou know, coming to this
(18:53):
conference and seeing the future, you know of where we're all
headed.
I hope you'll be inspired tokeep going.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I'm sure we will inspired to keep going.
I'm sure we will.
And, sarah, I would be remissif I didn't ask you how to find
out more information and,ultimately, how to register for
this conference.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yes, you can visit our website, which is
electronicssummitorg, and I'msure at some point it will be
included either in the shownotes yes, it's actually in the
show notes and maybe in a postor two, but also you can feel
free to contact us at the Siriteam and ask you know, we're
here to help, we're here to makesure that you make the most out
(19:31):
of the show nice.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
And as we wrap this up, we always come back to the
one question, which is aroundone thing what would be one
thing that we could do?
So, corey, from yourperspective, what would be one
piece of advice you would leavelisteners with in the context of
(19:57):
this conversation, but alsoperhaps even bigger, around how
to position themselves, likewhere to go from here.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
My one piece of advice is start changing your
language that you're using.
E-waste management is not thefuture.
E-waste management is the past.
If you're not talking aboutcircularity and sustainability
and transitioning the world andreuse and repair and longevity
(20:24):
products and recovery ofmaterials, then those are the
things that are moving usforward and that's where you
should be framing yourconversations and your
conversations with yourcustomers and the things that
we're doing.
So time to leave e-wastemanagement behind.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
That could be another podcast episode in itself.
Right there, I love it.
That is on point.
Thank you, corey.
Sarah, what about you?
What would be?
One piece of advice you'd leavelisteners with.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
It would be to use Siri as a resource.
We talked earlier about howmany things Siri is doing, and
that is for the industry andit's for everyone that is coming
to the show, so use us as yourguide.
Let us know if you havequestions, what sessions you
should attend, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
That's why we are here to help and I see you have
the conference app again.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
We do yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Which is really helpful to be organized.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yes, and if you've been to previous eReuse
conferences, you will noticethat your connections are
cumulative.
So it'll give you a littlecheat sheet to know where you
had met people in the past andthen it'll help you also meet
some new friends.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So yeah, yeah, and my piece of advice would be to
come, attend and also connectwith us, because I know there's
a lot of listeners of ourpodcast who will be attending,
and so we'd love to meet face toface and make sure you reach
out.
So thank you both for sharingyour insights, but also about
this conference, andcongratulations on all the work
(22:01):
that's been done today.
So thank thank you both for forsharing your insights, but also
about this conference, and andcongratulations on on all the
work that's been done today.
I'm sure it's going to be afabulous conference look forward
to seeing you there andremember, if you are looking for
a canadian partner to help yourepair, reuse and recycle your
electronics, we'd love to chathead on over to
(22:21):
quantumlifecyclecom and contactus.
This is a Quantum Lifecyclepodcast and the producer is
Sanjay Trivedi.
Thank you for being a CircularFuture Champion in your company
and beyond.
Logging on.
In February 2024, sari acquired the eReuse
conference.
So what's behind this andwhat's in store for the
rebranded eSummit in October?
Welcome to the circular futureyour access to thought leaders
and innovations to help you be abusiness sustainability
champion, even if it's not yourcore job.
(00:25):
I'm your host.
Stephanie McLarty, head ofSustainability at Quantum
Lifecycle Partners.
The announcement of the eReuseconference acquisition by Sari
was big industry news Basically,a major industry conference and
a major industry organizationcoming together in a new way to
(00:46):
create something even greater.
I know I'm curious to unpackthis news and what's ahead, and
I'm sure others are too.
With me is Corey Demme, ceo ofCERI, the nonprofit dedicated to
electronics sustainability.
He spends each day championingand driving the sustainable use,
reuse and recycling ofelectronics sustainability.
He spends each day championingand driving the sustainable use,
reuse and recycling ofelectronics globally.
(01:09):
So welcome to the podcast,corey.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Thank you, stephanie, so glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
And we're excited that you're here too.
And we also have Sarah Kim,president of eReuse Services,
which formerly ran the eReuseConference.
She is now Director of theeSummit and you've been on the
podcast before, sarah, sowelcome back.
Thanks, yay.
(01:35):
So let's start as we always do,and I'll start with you, corey.
What would be two things thatthe world wouldn't necessarily
know about?
Sari?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Well, sari is what we call in the United States, a
charitable nonprofit, and whatthat means is that we don't have
any members.
There's no members paying Sari,and so we are purely about our
mission, and that is totransition the world to
circularity and a sustainablefuture with electronics.
(02:07):
So that's first of all.
So many people know CERI or theR2 standard that we house and
develop and the R2 certificationprogram that we oversee and run
.
But with that mission and withour status as a nonprofit, we
have the awesome job of comingto work every day and working on
a lot of programs that help tomove the world towards a more
(02:28):
sustainable future withelectronics.
So there's lots of things thatwe're doing as well as, for
example, developing an ESGreporting standard for the
industry.
That's ongoing right now.
We serve as the secretariat forthe International E-Waste
Management Network, which is agroup of e-waste regulators from
around the world that arecollaborating.
We're developing onlinetraining programs for workers
(02:51):
and individuals and just manyother things, including the
conference that we're going totalk about today.
So I think a lot of people justmaybe know Syria as R2, and
it's important to know that weare working towards our mission
in many ways.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, we had your colleague Roger Greigy on the
podcast back in episode 16.
And I remember being reallysurprised just how much Ceri
does and also really theentrepreneurial lens at which
Ceri looks at this whole spaceand what it does.
So that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
And Sarah, what about you?
What would be something thatthe world might not know about
the eSummit coming up?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Great question.
I think maybe the thing that'smost surprising, even to me, is
that this year we're having evenmore pre-summit sessions and
meetings put together byindustry stakeholders than I've
really ever seen at any industryevent before.
We've even, to the point, hadto turn down a few people
(03:54):
because we didn't have enoughspace, but the list is really
impressive and I'm excited totalk about it a little bit more
later on.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Excellent and, yes, I will be there for one of those
meetings.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
You will.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Okay, so let's get into this and, corey, I'm going
to come back to you.
Talk to us about what you seefrom your vantage point around
these, the bigger trends thatare affecting this whole space
of electronics, sustainabilityand, ultimately, what led you
into the acquisition of theeReuse Conference.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Sure, yeah.
Well, let's start with what iselectronic sustainability, which
is the core of our existence?
Right?
And to me that means that wecan have all this great
technology that we've come tolove and that is very useful for
the entire world and connectingthe world without the negative
repercussions that come fromthat technology, so without the
pollution, without the resourcedegradation, depletion and all
(04:51):
the other things that come alongwith improper management of our
electronics.
So for years, we've beentalking about e-waste management
and we've been talking aboutpollution and transboundary
movements, and that is all good,but that is the baseline.
Now the world has moved on tobigger things.
The world has moved on tocircularity, creating a circular
economy, and so it's not justabout preventing pollution
(05:15):
anymore.
It's about recovering materials, and recovering materials to
put back into new products, evenwhen there's a cost to doing
that, because we know that we'redepleting precious natural
resources in the world and wecan't sustain that.
But even beyond that, whatwe've learned in this process is
that climate change has animpact from electronics as well,
because we're producing moreand more electronics that are
(05:37):
providing great benefit.
We're integrating them into allkinds of devices that would
have never been electronicbefore, and we're doing this at
such a fast pace and turningover new products so rapidly
that we just can't keep up withthat.
And the reality is, every timewe produce a new electronics,
that's where the point carbon isgenerated in that product.
(05:58):
It's not usually in the use ofthat product or in the energy it
is in manufacturing moreproducts.
So how do we get to asustainable world with
electronics at this pace?
And so the answer has to bearound the first use, around the
longevity of products andaround reuse.
So repair and reuse and returns.
(06:19):
And how do we keep theseproducts in use longer before we
even get to the end of life andwe get to recovering those
materials?
And that's where the fit ishere with CERI, our mission, and
with the acquisition of theeReuse Conference, because that
is where we bring in the fulllifecycle approach to looking at
electronic sustainability.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Right and from your lens.
Sarah, why did you say yes tothis?
What did you see as theopportunity in this?
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, that's a great question that actually a lot of
people have been asking me.
Certainly, I think it was theopportunity for me to grow the
event while still being able tosupport a nonprofit that
supports the growth of theindustry, right?
So it is about growing theevent but also keeping it within
our industry as support, and somy goal is still to create this
(07:11):
space for everyone and, as Imentioned earlier, I think, the
pre-summit lineup.
You'll be able to see that,because we have industry
meetings that are being hostedby REMA and ASCDI and CEP and
GEC and IEMN and INEMI and OBATAand the Repair Association.
We also have the R2 and ESG TACmeetings and, of course, a
(07:36):
workshop from eStewards.
So we're bringing back mobilerepair day and iFixit is even
hosting their design to repairworkshop, which is only
specifically for OEM.
So we're really puttingtogether a space where everyone
can come and learn from eachother and network with each
other.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Well, that sounds fabulous.
So tell us a little bit moreabout the event.
So that was just basically dayone of the morning, day one, I
know.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
So pretty exciting.
So yeah, tuesday, october 22.
We start the morning with ourpre summit sessions and then at
3pm we kick off our main stageevents with two pretty exciting
keynotes.
One you'll hear a little bitmore about details later, but
it's coming soon, we promise.
And then we move into thewelcome reception where we're
going to host the annual repairoff, which is always a super fun
(08:29):
event.
We're excited to announce thatHMD is going to sponsor that
this year, so their repairablephone will be what people will
be repairing probably somethingthat no one's repaired before.
We're going to get some newbiesin there, but it'll still be
just as exciting, maybe evenmore, as previous years.
And then Wednesday starts offwith us gathered again on the
(08:49):
main stage diving into paneltopics and discussions.
After lunch we host breakoutsessions and end the day with a
networking reception.
And we close Thursday with ouryou know our wake up reception
and some morning breakouts, andit then ends our kind of two and
a half pack days of educationand fun for everyone.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
And then you get to rest.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
And then I sleep.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
yes, Sarah, I'm curious how you select the
speakers or even the topics thatgo into the eSummit and ensure
that you've got differentviewpoints and different ideas
that you're bringing to thetable.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yeah, it was a hybrid this year, which was really fun
.
We use the same design that wehave used at eReuse Conference
for the past I would say 10 or12 years or so where we get
session topic.
We use the same design as weused for ERC for the past 10
years we requested topicsuggestions from the community
(09:52):
and then we asked the communityto vote on those.
We then have the tough job ofgoing out and find qualified
speakers for those topics.
But also with the addition ofSiri's team this year, we're
lucky.
We are lucky to have a biggerteam with more contacts that
attract different and morespeakers.
So it was a nice balance to beable and I'm sure Corey had a
(10:16):
good time going through thislong, tedious process, but I
think we'll all agree at the end.
It creates an agenda where weknow that the community is
invested in it and then alsothey know we do our best to make
sure we're attracting the mostqualified speakers to speak on
stage.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Now, Corey, is this the first time that Sari is
doing an event at this level?
Speaker 3 (10:38):
At this scale.
Yes, we do a smaller event inEurope, in Frankfurt, just with
a track on sustainableelectronics, but yeah, this is
the first big dive into it.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
So I'm curious what do you think is going to be
different from the eReuseconference, Especially, you know
, especially with Sarah?
Speaker 3 (10:59):
I think Sarah gave you everything so much.
I would classify it as more.
It is more so.
We are bringing in, hopefully,more content from a wider range,
as well as more people,different people and creating
more opportunities for everybodythere.
Our approach to this is a littledifferent than what we
(11:20):
traditionally see.
There's a lot of conferencesthat focus on one vertical, one
thing to be done, but with manyproduct categories.
Here we are focusing on oneproduct category electronics and
we are trying to bring togetherall the people who touch
electronics throughout thatentire lifecycle from a concept,
design, manufacturing,logistics, retail, returns,
(11:45):
repair, reuse, refurbishment,all the way to recycling at the
end of life.
And so our goal is really, bybringing everybody together who
touches electronics throughoutthat whole product lifecycle.
We want to cross-pollinate.
We want people to see what'sbeing done in other segments of
this industry that maybe theydon't have exposure to, and
(12:06):
learn from one another andcelebrate the success One of the
things that this industry ismaking such a positive impact to
the world through repair andreuse and recycling.
There's so much good being donehere, both environmentally and
socially, and we need tocelebrate that.
We need to talk about all thegood that's happening and all
(12:27):
the progress we're making andencourage everyone to continue
and do more, and that's one ofthe things I think we're going
to be able to achieve here atthe first eSummit.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, I completely agree.
We need to celebrate ourefforts, showcase what's working
well, even, I'm sure, highlightthe things that didn't work or
maybe that we've quote unquotefailed at.
That's all part of this journey, but it sounds like, if you are
in the space of electronics andsustainability basically at any
(13:01):
point in the lifecycle orsupply chain that this would be
a conference that would be ofinterest.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, and failures are learnings, right, they're
opportunities for improvement.
And so, finding all thoseopportunities for improvement,
we like to say this isn't ablack and white issue of
sustainability, it's just moreand it's better, you know,
making better decisionsthroughout the life cycle.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Very true, sarah.
From your standpoint.
How is this going to be?
Perhaps the same as whatattendees may have experienced
in the past?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I think the goal is actually the same, that it's
been for the last 21 years ofthis conference, and that's to
bring people together, for themto learn from each other, for
them to network, to have alittle bit of fun along the way
that are in it.
But it certainly is the samegoal and we, the Siri team, are
(14:07):
bringing that energy and thathelpfulness, you know, to all of
the attendees and are there tosupport people.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Nice, and something that will be largely the same is
that we're doing a live podcastrecording of this podcast, the
Circular Future, at the event,so stay tuned for that.
I wanted to dig into some ofthe trends that you're seeing
and some of the observationsthat are really occurring now in
(14:37):
this industry and how theconference fits into that.
So, sarah, I'm going to startwith you what do you think the
industry needs right now that,specifically, this conference
will fulfill?
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I think there's a lot of thingsthat are changing and there's a
lot of disruptor in theindustry and there are a lot of
new things that are being lookedat and problems that are being
solved, and I think that thisconference is going to give an
opportunity for those people toall come together and learn from
one another right, open eachother's eyes a little bit, help
(15:13):
inspire one another and reallyjust be able to move the needle
forward.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Great answer, Corey.
What do you think?
What does the industry needright now that the conference
will fulfill?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah, well it's.
You know it's all aboutcollaboration, right?
We all have a role to play andyou know, together, though, all
these things, all the good thatwe're doing learning from one
another, understanding oneanother, and the different roles
that we play, the differentjobs we've done, you know, is
how we uplift everybody and webring everybody along in the
(15:43):
journey that we're all on.
So, you know, this event isdesigned to bring people
together to learn and to connectwith other people and take that
back and continue thoseconversations and continue that
work.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Let's get into our how to section.
It was formerly called ourrapid fire how to section, but
nobody answered the questionsquickly, so we're just calling
it the how-to section now.
So I'm hearing collaborationnetworking celebration, sarah,
for someone who's approachingthis conference and perhaps you
(16:16):
know well this is the first timefor all of us in this iteration
of the conference how to getthe most out of the conference.
It can be daunting to look atthe schedule and plan what to do
.
What would you say?
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah, that's a great question.
We're all very busy people inour day-to-day lives.
Going to an event or aconference is certainly an
investment and I would urgepeople, in order to get the most
out of the conference, toreflect on what are your
objectives?
Why are you there?
How are you going to achievethose objectives and accomplish
(16:53):
those objectives and then beopen to other things, while,
specifically, you are there toensure that your time is best
utilized, right?
I think for me, that's alwaysbeen, you know, the most
important thing.
Now it's easier said than donebecause there's not enough hours
in the day, but, yeah, reallyreflecting on what your
objectives are and making sureyou accomplish those goals, I
(17:14):
think are important.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah, I feel too, if you write them down, you write
down what your intentions areand then, even like throughout
the conference, reflect back onwhat did I say I wanted to do?
How many people did I want tomeet?
Yeah, that's important.
Now, corey, it is really commonthat at these conferences we
get excited, we meet new people,but how to keep that alive
(17:40):
after the conference, how tokeep those connections and those
ideas going after theconference ends?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Yeah, it's tough, like Sarah said.
I mean, yeah, we're all excitedafter coming out of a conference
, also drained from a very busyconference, but you know,
sarah's role here is to championthe ongoing engagement, is to
champion the ongoing engagementand so all the things I talked
about earlier.
(18:08):
We're trying to help peopleembed this knowledge and this
information and help them moveforward in the journey and play
their role.
It's not just one of us, it'snot just one thing, it's all of
it, it's everything, and so Ireally encourage people it's not
just this conference, it is thenext event and to keep the
conversation going throughoutall of these industry events
(18:30):
throughout the year, to gettinginvolved.
Get involved in the tradeassociations that are promoting
this, get involved in the workthat Surrey's doing, you know,
to move it along.
Everybody has a place.
You know where they find valueand they can contribute, and so
that's what I would encourage.
You know, moving forward isthis, is the launching point,
this is the turn right and afteryou know, coming to this
(18:53):
conference and seeing the future, you know of where we're all
headed.
I hope you'll be inspired tokeep going.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I'm sure we will inspired to keep going.
I'm sure we will.
And, sarah, I would be remissif I didn't ask you how to find
out more information and,ultimately, how to register for
this conference.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yes, you can visit our website, which is
electronicssummitorg, and I'msure at some point it will be
included either in the shownotes yes, it's actually in the
show notes and maybe in a postor two, but also you can feel
free to contact us at the Siriteam and ask you know, we're
here to help, we're here to makesure that you make the most out
(19:31):
of the show nice.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
And as we wrap this up, we always come back to the
one question, which is aroundone thing what would be one
thing that we could do?
So, corey, from yourperspective, what would be one
piece of advice you would leavelisteners with in the context of
(19:57):
this conversation, but alsoperhaps even bigger, around how
to position themselves, likewhere to go from here.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
My one piece of advice is start changing your
language that you're using.
E-waste management is not thefuture.
E-waste management is the past.
If you're not talking aboutcircularity and sustainability
and transitioning the world andreuse and repair and longevity
(20:24):
products and recovery ofmaterials, then those are the
things that are moving usforward and that's where you
should be framing yourconversations and your
conversations with yourcustomers and the things that
we're doing.
So time to leave e-wastemanagement behind.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
That could be another podcast episode in itself.
Right there, I love it.
That is on point.
Thank you, corey.
Sarah, what about you?
What would be?
One piece of advice you'd leavelisteners with.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
It would be to use Siri as a resource.
We talked earlier about howmany things Siri is doing, and
that is for the industry andit's for everyone that is coming
to the show, so use us as yourguide.
Let us know if you havequestions, what sessions you
should attend, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
That's why we are here to help and I see you have
the conference app again.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
We do yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Which is really helpful to be organized.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yes, and if you've been to previous eReuse
conferences, you will noticethat your connections are
cumulative.
So it'll give you a littlecheat sheet to know where you
had met people in the past andthen it'll help you also meet
some new friends.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So yeah, yeah, and my piece of advice would be to
come, attend and also connectwith us, because I know there's
a lot of listeners of ourpodcast who will be attending,
and so we'd love to meet face toface and make sure you reach
out.
So thank you both for sharingyour insights, but also about
this conference, andcongratulations on all the work
(22:01):
that's been done today.
So thank thank you both for forsharing your insights, but also
about this conference, and andcongratulations on on all the
work that's been done today.
I'm sure it's going to be afabulous conference look forward
to seeing you there andremember, if you are looking for
a canadian partner to help yourepair, reuse and recycle your
electronics, we'd love to chathead on over to
(22:21):
quantumlifecyclecom and contactus.
This is a Quantum Lifecyclepodcast and the producer is
Sanjay Trivedi.
Thank you for being a CircularFuture Champion in your company
and beyond.
Logging on.
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