LONDON, March 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Resource, Europe's leading show for the circular economy opened today at ExCeL London.  Visitors queued at the entrance and there was a packed conference theatre for the event's first keynote speaker Jamie Butterworth of the Ellen McArthur Foundation.

Jamie discussed the importance of businesses collaborating to achieve a successful circular economy and practical ways in which working together could unlock both the financial and environmental benefits of sustainable supply chains and more circular business models.

Jamie stayed on the conference stage and was joined by Alice Ellison, Environment Policy Advisor, the British Retail Consortium, Markus Zils, CEO & MD, Returnity Partners, Joe Franses, Director - Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability, Coca Cola Enterprises, David Palmer-Jones, Chief Executive

Officer, SITA UK, Jamie Butterworth, CEO, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Mark Greenwood, Sustainability Director, DS Smith for the Big Debate during which the panel discussed what the circular economy means for the retail and manufacturing sectors.

Following The Big Debate, David Palmer-Jones, Chief Executive Officer, SITA UK commented:

"The quality of the conference programme here today demonstrates that people are now starting to take the potential of the circular economy seriously and are keen to realise the commercial and environmental benefits it has to offer." 

"Our discussions on the panel this morning focused on turning rhetoric in to reality and how to do this successfully we will need everyone in the chain to work together." 

The first morning of Resource also played host to the launch of The Great Recovery Phase Two.  Commenting on the launch Sophie Thomas, Director, RSA said:

"We are delighted to be launching the second phase of The Great Recovery at Resource today.  The Great Recovery challenges the linear use of resources and brings together the design, manufacturing, retail and recycling sectors to find practical ways in which we can improve resource efficiency."

Commenting on the success for the first day Stephen Gee, Event Director, said

"It was amazing to see the tremendous pre show interest translate in to day one visitors.  Over the next two days we have more speakers from some of the world's best known and forward thinking brands including Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover, M&S, DS Smith, SAB Miller and Kingfisher.  You can register on the day so there is still time to join us and start thinking circular."

Resource - 4-6 March 2014, ExCeL, London
Resource is the first conference and exhibition that connects the whole supply chain - extraction, design, recycling, manufacturing, retail and resource recovery - to capitalise on the commercial opportunities of a circular economy. A resource constrained world demands new thinking and new business models, this event allows senior business leaders to network throughout the supply chain and discover forward thinking solutions for closed loop business strategies.

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SOURCE UBM Built Environment Live