Only one week to go until the Sustainable Packaging Summit! Are you wondering what to expect from this year’s even bigger, even better event? Read on for a deep dive into this year’s agenda.
Monday 10th November
The Summit will kick off on the Main Stage. After a brief introduction from Packaging Europe brand director Tim Sykes, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s Olga Kachook, and moderator Hery Henry, Willemijn Peeters from Searious Business will take to the stage as our first keynote speaker.
She will advise the audience to shift their focus from swapping out packaging materials to rethinking formats as a whole, using real-world reuse projects to set out her ideal vision of this industry’s future.
“My talk will offer a practical yet forward-thinking roadmap for leaders who are ready to set the new standard – one that’s provocative rather than reactive,” she tells us.
This will be followed by The 2045 Roadmap panel, with Tim Sykes featuring alongside Nestlé’s Thies Julius Lorenzen, Aisha Stenning from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Fernando Rodriguez-Mata from the New European Reuse Alliance, Avery Dennison’s Pascale Wautelet, Lara Dammer from the nova-Institute, and Reloop founder and CEO Clarissa Morawski.
The panelists will encourage companies to work backwards from their ambitious end goals, both internal and mandated by legislation, and ask the kinds of questions necessary to achieve that sustainability target with strategic certainty.
Then the European Commission’s policy officer, Wolfgang Trunk, will discuss the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation with Gerald Rebitzer from Amcor’s Sustainability Operations & Advocacy department, EXPRA’s Joachim Quoden, Michelle Norman from the Suntory Group, Graham Houlder from CEFLEX, SAP’s Darren West, and Bruno Van Gompel from VGV Management Services.
Together, they will consider which factors could help European companies meet the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation’s targets for recycling rates and PCR content, from harmonized collection to Extended Producer Responsibility. The panel will also highlight potential learnings that other regions might take away from the EU’s approach.
Next, we’ll take a serious look at the plastics recycling landscape with Feliks Bezati from Mars, Curt Cozart from the Association of Plastics Recyclers, Katja Tuomola from MM Group, Verpact’s Hester Klein Lankhorst, and Marius Tent, founder of ViaPackaging UG and 360PackMastery.com’s co-founder.
As Europe’s recycling industry faces a recession and tariffs soar worldwide, the panelists will talk about the unique challenges faced by different regions, the pros and cons of protectionist policies, and how the current outlook for trading recycled content internationally could be improved.
Last but by no means least, we’ll round up the first day with firsthand experiences of scaling up reuse systems. Eunomia’s Tom Domen, Mirjam Karmiggelt from GS1, Dagny Tucker from Perpetual, and Michelle Carvell from Lorax EPI will talk to us about reusable formats in Belgian retailers, city-wide reuse schemes in partnership with a range of stakeholders, and the data superstructure necessary for large-scale reuse approaches.
At the end of the day, you’ll be invited to join us for the Sustainable Packaging Summit’s first international block party! Grab yourself a drink, feast on a range of cuisines, and take the opportunity to network with other guests – you might just meet a future collaborator…
You’ll have free rein of the Networking Zone; or you can head over to the launch of the Emerging Tech stage, featuring talks from PackIntelX founder Siddharth Bagri, NERLEI executive director Henrique Carvalho, Carbon Trust’s Vivien McEwen, and Matt Saunders, managing partner at New Earth Ventures.
Tuesday 11th November
Day two will open with a keynote from Fuseneo’s founder and Head of Curiosity, Brent Lindberg. He will present a six-part framework for navigating the seemingly uncontrollable factors involved in sustainable packaging innovations, from material compatibility to production sites.
The Main Stage will follow up with Jessika Roswall, European Commissioner for the Environment, joining various senior business leaders in the FMCG space; Juan Manuel Banez-Romero from Amazon, Massimiliano di Domenico from Mondelez, Hans von Bochove from Heineken, Francesca Stevens from Europen, and Yoni Shirnan from Systemiq.
They will discuss the geopolitical, macroeconomic, and trade-related frictions our industry currently faces. As Europe veers closer to deindustrialization and globalization gives way to isolationism, where does sustainable development fit in – and what is industrial policy doing to push it forward?
After a networking break to lift our spirits – and Emerging Tech talks from Kelpi’s Lou Hart-Spalding, Pack2Earth’s Françoise de Valera, Shenzen JF’s Xiya (Jessica) Shi, N&E Innovations’ Didi Gan, and Vioneo’s Jaroslaw Jelinek – the breakout sessions begin.
On the Main Stage, Hery Henry will host a lineup of R&D innovations and insights from the big names in polymers, inks, and labels. Join us there to hear from Avery Dennison’s Sophia Savvides, Alina Marm from Siegwerk, Dietmar Lenko from Constantia Flexibles, Thomas Lajouaine and Jaap Verbeeten from Fuji Seal, CCL Lbael’s Marika Knorr, Brückner Maschinenbau’s Markus Gschwandtner, and Jonathan Cage from Impact ICPG.
You might choose to attend our Ask the Europeans! Q&A in the Knowledge Exchange room. Packaging Europe’s Libby Munford will lead CIRCPACK by Veolia’s Vincent Mooij, Ton Knipscheer from ECPA, Anna Perlina from Integrity Solutions, and Marius Tent in an international forum designed to enhance your understanding of European regulation, trends, and market characteristics. If you’re joining us from outside Europe, this is one for you!
Alternatively, you could head to the Future Forum for a series of shorter talks. First, Victoria Hattersley from Packaging Europe will join Feliks Bezati, EPRO’s Mike Jefferson, and Gareth Morton from Ecosurety in a round table discussion about flexible packaging formats and how to process them at end-of-life.
Then Cory Connors from the Sustainable Packaging Podcast will sit down with FEVE’s Vanessa Chesnot to talk about opportunities for glass packaging, from durable packaging demand to decarbonization projects; and Packaging Europe’s Elisabeth Skoda will look at the rise of paper bottles with Alvin Lim from NBCo, Jamie Stone from PA Consulting Services, and Guido Schmitz from Inncrereal.
We’ll come back together for a networking break and Emerging Tech presentations from Bearhug’s Max Higgins, KWiiD’s Loic Vandermeeren, Daniel Millet from Grin, David Katz from Plastic Bank, and Jure Siric and Robert Connell from Modepack.
Then the breakouts begin again! Back on the Main Stage, you’ll find an international panel consisting of Cory Connors, Fengkai Wang from Mengniu Dairy, Renata Daudt from AWEN Packaging Consulting, Filipe Vieira de Castro from CIRCPACK by Veolia, and Kellie Northwood from the Visual Media Association; they will compare their respective experiences of regulatory and legislative measures, industry pacts, and Extended Producer Responsibility across the world, and provide key dates for all the packaging bans you need to know about.
Perhaps you’ll head to the Knowledge Exchange stage as Mondi’s Marco Macoratti makes the case for supply chain collaboration in pursuit of ambitious environmental goals and a positive return on investment. Then Olga Kachook, Fair Resource Foundation’s Rob Buurman, and Forum for the Future’s Jordan McKay will unpack how non-profits, coalitions, and brands are rethinking their use of virgin plastic in response to consumer demand and global policies.
The third option is the Future Forum stage. Nestlé’s Geza Nagy, Metal Packaging Europe’s Krassimira Kazashka, Filipe Watanabe from Trivium Packaging, and Steve Claus and Metka Cavka Luciani from Steel for Packaging Europe will uplift metal packaging as a response to the EU’s new recyclability criteria and performance grades while considering its implications for supply chain transparency.
In the networking break, Emerging Tech presentations will spotlight Shika Chand and Sarah Klinger from Dassault Systemes, Tim Grant from Lifecycles, Davide Mazzanti from Sykell, Tony Rubenstein from Unpac, and Andrea Constanza from Opesus.
Then it’s back to the Main Stage to talk circularity in flexible packaging. We’ll delve deeper into the learnings of the CEFLEX consortium and Plastics Recyclers Europe with Dana Mosora and Fabrizio Di Gregorio, respectively – joined by PepsiCo’s Dominika Maruszak-Dankbaar, Richard Akkermans from Mondelez, and Packaging Europe’s Tim Sykes.
In a subsequent panel, Procter & Gamble’s Gian De Belder, Stora Enso’s Erik Hallberg, TOMRA’s Valerio Sama, Vincent Mooij, Marius Tent, and Nithya Subramanian from the Netherlands Organization for Applied Science will contemplate the barriers to incorporating recycled content into packaging, and take a look at the innovations that seek to overcome them.
Tuesday’s final networking party will provide food, drink, music, and even a dance floor! The combination of business and fun will set the tone for the long-awaited Sustainability Awards ceremony, where we’ll announce and celebrate this year’s winners.
Wednesday 12th November
On the final day of the event, we’ll open with the Accelerating the Transformation of Paper panel. Unilever’s Mark Newman, Laura Smith from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Huhtamaki’s Herwin Wichers, DS Smith’s Susana Aucejo, Oliver Kalmes from Actega, Lisa Clark from Archroma Packaging Technologies, FrieslandCampina’s Caroline Zwart, and Anna Perlina will delve into the direction and impact of R&D in packaging paper.
Ton Knipscheer will then appear alongside Horst Bittermann from ProCarton, Valerie Langer from Canopy, and Jerome Zhang from Yuto Group to consider the availability of feedstocks in the paperization trend. Can the forestry industry meet growing demand without taking an environmental hit, or should the packaging industry turn towards alternative fibre sources – if that’s even a possibility?
The next networking break will feature Emerging Tech presentations by Papair’s Christopher Feist, Graphic Packaging International’s Dr. Elodie Bugnicourt, EFI’s Kerry Sanders, and KIUD’s Kaie Kaas, and the final round of breakout sessions will begin.
Hery Henry will take to the Main Stage and host Elizabeth Staab from H.B. Fuller, Archroma’s Dinakar Gnanamgari, SWM International’s Philippe Ragot, William Kuecker from Solenis, and Katja Tuomola. They will share their innovation journeys and strategic insights around advances in renewable and fibre-based materials.
Meanwhile on the Knowledge Exchange stage, Carsten Bertram and Theres Bertsch will showcase Henkel’s journey to meet complex reporting demand, and Recyda’s Vivian Loftin will present her view on a winning data strategy in line with the requirements of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
On the Future Forum stage, BGG’s Alejandro Navarro and Laura Peano from Quantis will run an interactive session about the value of collaboration, consumer insights, and effective governance in designing your packaging to balance cost, carbon, and consumer appeal. Then Olga Kachook will speak with Nathan Dufour, Reuse Systems Manager at Zero Waste Europe and Leader of the ReuSe Vanguard Project, about the learnings the EU and USA can take from each other about sustainable packaging approaches in Quick Service Restaurant applications.
After a final networking break and presentations from Paramount Planet Product’s Ariadne Dimoula, Xampla’s Sam Walker, Footprint’s Emmanuel Guillaume, and the University of Sofia’s Christo Kaftandjiev, we’ll host our final keynote speaker on the Main Stage.
Sigvald Harryson, Professor of Disruptive Innovation and founder of iKNOW-WHO, will document BASF’s breakthrough with a biodegradable UV filter – and, he hopes, inspire attendees to take a similarly ambitious approach to achieve their wildest sustainable packaging dreams.
Then we’ll hear from a diverse lineup of R&D leaders, VCs, and incubators – ranging from Cambridge Design Partnership’s James Harmer to Emerald Investment’s Frederic Petit, and Zafree’s Bethelhem Dejene to Hanh Do from BUYO Solutions – about the start-ups driving their optimism for the future of packaging.
In one last moment of reflection, Tim Sykes and Olga Kachook will host an interactive session rounding up all the knowledge shared over the past three days and set out a roadmap for everyone, from booming businesses to individual professionals, to chase a more sustainable future for our industry.
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