BD’s Dec. 7 Future Smarts conference featured an interview with Kate Daly, executive director of Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Starbucks and McDonald’s are among 14 consumer product companies that have partnered with Closed Loop since 2015 to make recycling more viable. 

On Dec. 20, Dirty Lemon parent company Iris Nova announced $15 million in seed funding that includes a minority investment by Coca-Cola. Coke’s Venturing & Emerging Brands unit has paid close attention to Dirty Lemon. The brand gained attention for its unique go-to-market strategy, which founder and CEO Zak Normandin has named c-commerce, or “conversational commerce.”

Coca-Cola North America has upgraded its customer center in Atlanta to make better use of technologies such as virtual reality. The newly-renovated and renamed KOlab 600 is linked to existing space where sales teams collaborate with retailers and restaurant operators. BD got a look at the center during a Jan. 3 ribbon cutting by CCNA President Jim Dinkins.