· 1 hour 15 minutes

Main Stage Day 3 - Part 2

Thursday, April 27, 2023 · 10:45 a.m. · Central Time (US & Canada)

About This Webinar

10:45- 11:00 am TED Talk | New Insights for On-Pack Consumer Education

How do consumers respond to different on-pack labeling elements like certification language, third-party logos, and instructions? This talk will share results from a first-of-its-kind survey that asked over 3,000 consumers to identify and perceive labeling on compostable packaging. This data gives us new insights into how product certification, labeling, and design can play a more effective role in educating consumers about packaging attributes and proper end-of-life disposal. Equipped with these findings, the industry can help guide future labeling regulations and design guidelines while designing better food waste diversion systems.

Speaker: Rhodes Yepsen, Executive Director, Biodegradable Products Institute

11:00 - 11:20 am Fireside Chat | Sustainable Self-care and what COVID-19 taught us about change

The COVID-19 pandemic increased the world’s collective focus on mental health and well-being and helped to amplify the trend for consumers around the globe to take control of their own health and wellness. In this fireside chat, Steve Ramus from Perrigo Company will share his company’s perspective on swift adaption to global changes and challenges, corporate transformation and how sustainability and ESG fit into systems change.

Speaker: Steve Ramus, VP Sustainability and ESG, Perrigo Company

11:20 - 11:50 am Panel | The whole is greater than the sum of its parts: The Emergence of Collaboration

The urgency to solve global challenges on climate change; packaging recovery and next markets; better recycling and composting infrastructure; consumer awareness and action; carbon impacts; better material selection and innovation requires that all of us work together. In this session, leaders from key NGOs and Associations will share how the emergence of their collaborative efforts is advancing and how they are showing up to collaborate and compliment their efforts to better empower industry to take action, and because at the end, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Moderator: Dr. Jon Smieja, VP of Circularity & Senior Analyst, GreenBiz Group

Panelists:

Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue

Paul Schutes, President, Recycled Paperboard Alliance

Dan Felton, Executive Director, AMERIPEN

11:50 - 12:00 pm Closing Remarks and Conclusion of the Event

Speaker: Paul Nowak, Executive Director, GreenBlue

Paul Nowak

Executive Director

Paul Nowak is the newly appointed Executive Director of GreenBlue. Before joining GreenBlue, Nowak held the role of Vice President of Sustainability at Quad. He brings with him 30 years of experience in the packaging industry in a variety of roles, including General Manager of Manufacturing, Senior Director of Client Experience, and Vice President of Enterprise Solutions for Brands. Nowak’s passion for sustainability is demonstrated through his career accomplishments, including the creation of the first Quad Sustainable Packaging Public Report, the Annual Client Sustainability Symposium, and the development of the Quad Community Education Program. He has served as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) leader, founding the first Quad Business Resource Group (BRG) for LGBTQIA+ teammates.

Nowak was also elected to serve on the SPC Executive Committee from 2019 to 2021. He has been involved in various GreenBlue initiatives, including SPC Forest Products, Forest in Focus, and assisting with recent food waste consumer research. In his new role, Nowak will oversee the growth and development of GreenBlue programs that have played essential roles in furthering sustainable material usage, including the SPC, the How2Recycle label program, the Recycled Material Standard (RMS), CleanGredients, and more. Nowak’s focus will be on unlocking the full potential of the GreenBlue mission by leading member collaboration and education that positively impacts action for the sustainable use of materials in society.

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Rhodes Yepsen

Executive Director

Rhodes Yepsen is Executive Director of the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), a non-profit advocating for the value of certified compostable packaging in diverting organic waste to composting. Yepsen's expertise is on systems-based solutions, specifically the synergy in solving for food waste and packaging at the same time – to address climate change, ecosystem impacts, and regenerative agriculture. He has served on the Board of USCC, on the Advisory Council for the US Plastics Pact, and was an editor and writer at BioCycle magazine.

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Steve Ramus

Vice President, Sustainability & ESG

Steve leads the corporate sustainability and ESG strategy for Perrigo, the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of over-the-counter medicines, infant formula, and oral care products for the store brand market. This strategy includes packaging sustainability, climate, palm oil, human rights, the Perrigo Foundation, ESG reporting and any emerging ESG needs. Steve received his MBA from Spring Arbor University and prior to sustainability, has held roles of increasing responsibility in HR, Operations and Sales. Steve felt a calling to leverage his business acumen to advocate for sustainability and passionately believes that a responsible and sustainable-minded company is a more profitable company.

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Dr. Jon Smieja

VP of Circularity & Senior Analyst

Jon earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of St. Thomas and a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of California – San Diego. After graduate school, Jon joined Steelcase Inc. as their environmental chemist and eventually moved into a role as a leader in sustainable design and development. He joined Andersen Windows & Doors as the product sustainability manager in 2017, became corporate sustainability manager in 2019, and was responsible for product lifecycle assessments, material ingredient transparency, and preparing Andersen for a future in circular economy. Jon is now the VP of Circularity and Senior Analyst at GreenBiz Group, a media and events company that works to accelerate the just transition to a clean economy.

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Paul Schutes

Executive Director

Paul Schutes is the Executive Director of the Recycled Paperboard Alliance (RPA) and the Recycled Paperboard Technical Association (RPTA), the 2 leading industry associations dedicated to expanding the use and improving the manufacture of 100% recycled paperboard. Paul is a paperboard and packaging expert with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Paul is married and has two active daughters. He enjoys hiking and spending time outdoors with his family. He resides in Johns Creek, GA where he is a committed volunteer with his church and in the community.

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Dan Felton

Executive Director

A well-known leader in the government affairs arena for nearly 20 years, Dan has worked within the bottled water, credit card, healthcare and information management industries. He is particularly passionate about environmental, sustainability and packaging issues and has lobbied extensively in those areas at the state and federal levels. He leads the efforts of AMERIPEN – the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment – to develop and advocate positions for the U.S. packaging industry on issues related to packaging and the environment, using sound science and a philosophy of material neutrality. Dan has chaired committees and led task forces for several national trade associations and has served on the board of the State Government Affairs Council (SGAC) where he is a graduate of their nationally recognized professional certificate programs. In addition to his government affairs work, Dan has been involved with the Commission on Presidential Debates since 2000 in support of their quad-annual presidential and vice presidential debates, managing ticketing, seating and security issues. A graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, Dan has lived in the Washington, DC, area for nearly 30 years.

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Hosted By

SPC Impact 2023

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