{"40409":{"#nid":"40409","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Profitably Turning Old Products into New Ones","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInnovative and profitable strategies for the recovery, recycling and reuse of used products will be the focus of the first annual Georgia Tech Sustainable Enterprise Product Re-X Conference on June 21 at Georgia Tech College of Management (800 West Peachtree Street).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe conference, which will run from 8:15 AM to 5:30 PM in Rooms 316 and 317 of the Management building, will bring together scholars and representatives from industry, public agencies and non-governmental organizations to discuss business models, product design solutions, globalization and economic development opportunities in Re-X (short for recovery, recycling, remanufacturing and reuse).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EInnovation is the overall theme of the conference, which is being organized by Expanding Closed Loops in Production Systems (ECLiPS), an interdisciplinary focused-research program at Georgia Tech. \u0022By closing the loop, we mean taking products that have been used by businesses and consumers and turning them into products, parts or materials to be reused,\u0022 says Beril Toktay, associate professor of operations management and coordinator of ECLiPS. \u0022There are some companies like Interface that have figured out how to do this profitably.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMichael Bertolucci, who is instrumental in Interface\u0027s efforts to ultimately cut its waste down to zero, will deliver the conference\u0027s keynote address at 4:30 PM. Interface, a $1 billion company with operations in seven countries, is the market leader in the sale of modular carpet tiles and commercial interior fabrics. \u0022Goals can be lofty,\u0022 says Bertolucci, senior vice president of Interface, president of Interface Research Corporation, and chairman of the Envirosense Consortium Inc. \u0022For example, eliminating dependence on nonrenewable fossil fuels; that\u0027s a very scary goal. People think it\u0027s just not possible. What we\u0027ve learned is that we can innovate towards a bodacious goal like that one step at a time.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMore and more companies know they have to get serious about sustainable business practices now that consumers as well as domestic and international regulations are demanding it, Toktay says. For example, the European Union is enacting tough environmental legislation that restricts the import of electrical products made with certain hazardous materials, a development that affects U.S. manufacturers. The conference will educate attendees on the effects of that legislation as well as how to handle post-use products, make money on commercial returns, reduce packaging costs and waste, develop a remanufacturing strategy, design a global reverse-logistics network, and understand emerging remanufacturing technologies and biomaterials. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPanelists will include senior executives of IBM, Hewlett Packard, Ford, Canvas Systems, Jabil, Shaw, Cummins, and Interface, representatives of industry associations (CARE, Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation), managers from public entities (National Science Foundation, United States Department of Agriculture, Georgia\u0027s Pollution Prevention Assistance Division), non-governmental organizations (Medshare, INFORM Inc.), and researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Maryland, Pennsylvania State University, University of California at Los Angeles and Vanderbilt University. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERegistration for the conference costs $95 before June 9 and $130 after that date for industry participants. Reduced rates are available for scholars, students, and representatives of non-governmental organizations and public agencies. To register or get more information, visit the conference Website at \u003Ca href=\u0027http:\/\/www.prism.gatech.edu\/%7Ebt71\/workshop\/ReX_index.htm\u0027\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.prism.gatech.edu\/%7Ebt71\/workshop\/ReX_index.htm\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Brad Dixon, College of Management\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Innovative and profitable strategies for the recovery, recycling and reuse of used products will be the focus of the first annual Georgia Tech Sustainable Enterprise Product Re-X Conference on June 21 at the Georgia Tech College of Management.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Conference examines profitable recycling strategies"}],"uid":"27301","created_gmt":"2006-06-16 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:00:55","author":"Elizabeth Campell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2006-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2006-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"40410":{"id":"40410","type":"image","title":"Beril Toktay, associate professor of operations ma","body":null,"created":"1449174200","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:23:20","changed":"1475894184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:36:24","alt":"Beril Toktay, associate professor of operations ma","file":{"fid":"189412","name":"tes86334.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tes86334_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tes86334_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":61279,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tes86334_0.jpg?itok=0zL2VlFm"}}},"media_ids":["40410"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.prism.gatech.edu\/%7Ebt71\/workshop\/ReX_index.htm","title":"Georgia Tech Sustainable Enterprise Product Re-X Conference"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2813","name":"Beril Toktay"},{"id":"2816","name":"bertolucci"},{"id":"1072","name":"Business"},{"id":"2630","name":"business school"},{"id":"2819","name":"Canvas Systems"},{"id":"2810","name":"closed loop"},{"id":"2822","name":"Cummins"},{"id":"2809","name":"ECLiPS"},{"id":"2817","name":"Envirosense"},{"id":"675","name":"Ford"},{"id":"2818","name":"Hewlett Packard"},{"id":"1126","name":"ibm"},{"id":"2815","name":"interface"},{"id":"2820","name":"Jabil"},{"id":"1052","name":"Management"},{"id":"2812","name":"operations management"},{"id":"2811","name":"production"},{"id":"423","name":"recycle"},{"id":"1153","name":"recycling"},{"id":"170759","name":"Shaw"},{"id":"166890","name":"sustainability"},{"id":"167052","name":"sustainable"},{"id":"2814","name":"toktay"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}