Are you ready for America Recycles Day? Heather Turner (Marketing Director Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics)

Are you ready for November 15th? America Recycles day is a great day to focus on sustainable packaging.
 https://www.dow.com/en-us/market/mkt-packaging/sub-package-sustainable-packaging/america-recycles-day.html?cid=OTR:Sustainable-Packaging:11529:202111_PSP_NA_PRO_AmericaRecyclesDayPromotion:PKG:NA:na:na:na:Cory-Conner-podcast:na:PSP:PRO:db147254-0043-ec11-8c62-000d3a538a77

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Transcript

Cory Connors: 0:34

Welcome to sustainable packaging with Cory Connors . I'm really excited about my guest today. Heather Turner, who is the marketing director for Dow packaging and specialty plastics. I Heather, how are you?

Heather Turner: 0:47

I'm doing great. How are

Cory Connors: 0:48

you? Really good. Thank you for taking some time. I've been wanting to interview you guys for a long time. You're working on some very innovative, sustainable packaging, materials and concepts.

Heather Turner: 1:00

We we are, it's a really fun time to be a part of this industry. I'll admit.

Cory Connors: 1:05

So I agree. Totally. Can you, can you tell us let's, let's start with you first. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, how you ended up at Dow focusing on sustainable

Heather Turner: 1:16

packaging? You know, I I joined out 20 years ago. I had my anniversary this summer after. I joined after my MBA and I came more from a nonprofit liberal arts background. And so this was a big transition to come into a technology, you know, chemistry based company. But I have loved it. So even though I'm not technical, I have such great regard for my colleagues that are, and I just love how science really can solve problems in our everyday lives. And so I have had a variety of marketing. Jobs over the years and mostly in our plastics business. And so very aware of all the good that plastics can do, but also very aware of heightened concerns by consumers. And and so. What I've loved is my last couple of years, I've been in roles that are really specific in packaging, as well as really collaborating, to deliver sustainable solutions for packaging. And so that is really one of my passions. Just summer I took a new role where I have actual marketing responsibilities for our films that go into industrial consumer packaging. So pretty much anything that's non-food and all of those. Materials and applications are recyclable. And so I, I just feel like it's such a priority for us to ensure that people understand they're recyclable and that they help us get them recycled so we can use them and understand their value. And so that's a little bit about me and, you know, my kids are probably the most well-informed about recycling because we really try to live it at home.

Cory Connors: 2:56

I absolutely agree with you. This is oftentimes an education issue and people don't know. And when I say people, I mean, consumers like us don't know that a lot of things are recyclable and same, same here in this. The, my kids will ask me, or my wife will ask, Hey, can we recycle this corrugated approved?

Heather Turner: 3:21

Which I love that term corrugated. That is, I got to come up with something that I can tie into my day.

Cory Connors: 3:28

We'll come up with one for you too. So big day coming up, November 15th is America recycles day. Why is it an important day? What, what are we supposed to do on this special day? Tell us about the.

Heather Turner: 3:42

Absolutely. Well, most special events, really. They are in place to bring, bring attention to the event or the activity. And so keep America beautiful, organized America recycled day, and it's usually November 15th and this year it is. And and it's just a way to bring awareness to the need, to recycle. And they, they have the hashtag be recycled and they really encourage consumers. And, and just members of society to reduce, to reduce, to recycle and, and to be more aware of, you know, how to use things and make sure that they get reused and their value of them. And so it's a day to, you know, bring attention to recycling and give it focus. It's also a data celebrate to show maybe how far we've come. Also maybe have some hard discussions about what we still need to do. Cause there's so much. And it's to your point to educate there. So many people don't understand, like the value of recycling, how you can do it besides just maybe putting in your, you know, your bottler can and a recycle bin on the curb and, and the value, like what it can go into and, and how there's a market for it and needs and uses for it. And so, To me, that's the biggest and the most important thing. So America recycled it's a day, but really you hope it's like becomes more of a lifestyle. And so and so that's, you know, the desired outcome from it. And and so what should we be doing? You know, Hopefully folks like you and I will help educate our friends. And I know our team will have, you know, messaging and things. Two years ago before pre COVID, you know, we're going to have like BC, we're going to have like PC, you know, so pre COVID. My daughter was in fifth grade and I had the opportunity to go in and teach the whole fifth grade. There were about 150 kids and their teachers all about recycling and. So energizing and even the teacher's like, no, you can take your films and your bags back to the retailer, you know, just things like that. So finding ways to, to share and help educate, I think will be the most important things we can do around Americans recycled.

Cory Connors: 5:56

It's exciting. I know, I think you and I might be unique that we're really excited about this, but I would like to continue to push and tell everybody that's interested about this and educate and show them about store drop-off and show them how plastic can be reused. Thousands of times, it's a.

Heather Turner: 6:17

It is, it is. And just a few other things like so from Dow, we'll have some events that week that you'll be part of. But there are also other events that go on around the same time to really build consensus. So, so one thing we do is called pulling our weight and it's actually, you know, a national program with ocean Conservancy about cleanup. And so we actually do it globally as employee basis and go work, you know, and clean. The volunteer at beaches or riverways are usually around water, but because we don't want, we do not want packaging, plastics, anything in, in the environment. And so pulling our weight has been a really fun activity. In fact, that was one of the most. Things I did when I moved to Houston and joined our plastics team was do a beach cleanup on the Gulf coast. And so it's been a tradition in art and our business for years. And so, you know, that's definitely something that people can easily do as well as families even, you know, we've done it where we just go to the dog park and we'd take our dog out, but then I'm picking up litter at the same time. Just being aware and and you know, making sure that we, the last thing we want is packaging and the environment. So that's another activity you could do. And and just, I think, you know, also other ways to you know, just get people engaged, I think has really.

Cory Connors: 7:36

So important, so valuable, so needed. And it's a, it's a teachable moment for our youth and for for everyone of every age look, we can, we can affect positive change together and it's time to step up and do it. Let's let's stop the negativity and. Making positive changes that we can do ourselves, like store drop-off for recycling, like pull your weight. That's a brilliant name. I love that. Dow doing some innovative work in, in sustainable packaging as well. Can you, can you speak to that a little bit? Like the materials you guys are developing that are recyclable?

Heather Turner: 8:14

Absolutely. Absolutely. So. You know, we set some very aggressive goals last year and, and they're called we want to stop the waste and then close the loop. And so on. Stop the waste. We committed by 2030. A million metric, tons of plastic that will be collected and reused or recycled. And so we definitely don't want it in the environment, but if you're going to collect it, then what are you going to do with it? Right. And so one of the offerings is that we take films that are collected. You know, a lot of people aren't aware, but all those pallets that come into your retailer, you know, that stretch film. Like it collected and that has a value. And and so we take that from a recycler and then we've actually taken our formulations with some high performing resins and put 70% of the recycled content is. And compound it together. And then we sell it as a one pellet solution. It's almost like a concentrate where it can go back into like coalition shrink or other applications. So you can actually have recycled content back in your package. And it's more high-performing and you know, that's one of the challenges of mechanical recycling is it's not always easy to process the material back in. And so that's a way that you can have. A sustainable solution and get recycled content in and have a second use for that for that package, that plastic. So that's one, we were integral funders of the closed loop, circular plastics fund, which is a way that we can really show. You know, and invest where infrastructure is lacking or technology's lacking. And so having projects and funding, I mean, this is that's part of the problem always is, is the education part, but then the whole infrastructure part as well. So that's another thing in sustainable packaging, working very closely on, you know, making packages more recyclable. And that's where our close the loop. Fits in. And by 2035, a hundred percent of the products that we sell will be reusable or recyclable. And so that's a big deal because even though the products in my segment are almost all recycled, there are other parts of food packaging that aren't. And so we know that you know, we have work to do. And so we want to either know. Find solutions, or we may have to exit some too, you know, and, and are fully aware that, you know, having, you know, recyclable packaging and having these kinds of options are really important.

Cory Connors: 10:42

Absolutely well said, it's exciting. How companies are picking up the torch and running forward to, to make positive changes and a hundred percent of, of all the packaging that you make will be recyclable. That's amazing. That's a, you know, it's not a 45% maybe, you know,

Heather Turner: 11:06

Well, recyclable or reusable and, you know, you see all the brands have really aggressive goals too. And so we recognize the importance that we want us to be able to support them and provide that to the market. And so it's, it's critical and you know, they're definitely, you know, their goals are even for 2025 , we've got a lot of work to do in the next three to five years or eight. So

Cory Connors: 11:31

it'll be here before we know it. I know. It's an exciting time to be a part of packaging, like you said. I agree. Yeah. So what else can we do to, to help move circular economy forward? What what's, what's the consumer's role here or people like us in the packaging world.

Heather Turner: 11:50

Yeah. So, you know, one thing is let's talk about making packaging more recyclable, first of all. So then we can talk about what, how the consumer then can, can act is. So, you know, one of the challenges, especially with food packaging. To be able to have like the shelf life that you want and to keep it fresh is that you need to have performance. And, and so with that, a lot of the flexible packaging, which has a great, you know, story in the sense of it's usually has a lower, it has a lower carbon footprint and it uses so much less material than, you know, aluminum can or, or, you know, other packaging types cause it's much thinner and such, but at the same time, because you, you want to have those properties. It usually has multi materials in it. And so then it's harder to recycle. And so that's that's been a real challenge. You know, you're using less material, but it might not be recyclable versus some other packaging materials might be thicker or use more packaging material, but maybe they're more readily recyclable, like a. Like a plastic jar or bottle or something. And so it's a trade off, but with the flexible packaging, the things that are really exciting is that there are technologies and developments where you can simplify those structures now. And with things like compatableisers, we have one called retain that enables you to actually have a film structure with a barrier in it to keep your product, you know, fresh. But then when it gets to be recycled in store, That that compatible wiser will actually help it to break down and it can still, you know it can still be reuse the packaging, you know, the material and so really exciting. And so Bear naked granola was one that we launched a couple of years ago. And It's definitely one of my favorites and I love that I can actually then put it in my bag of bags that I keep under the sink that I take from store drop-off. And so, you know, in that bag is my talent issue. Overwrap it's my you know, my collision strength that was in a case of water or soda. And my Amazon bubble wrap, I just cut off the label and put it in that bag or my air pillows that came in a box. My daughter stomps on 'em. She loves to pop. Then I make sure she puts them in my bag of bags. And then once anther, you know, I just take it back with me when I go to one of the grocery stores and they all have drop-offs. And so I think the second part is, is knowing that you can take all of that back and take it to the. So one thing that I, a couple of years ago, I just was like, I'm going to post a video of this. And so I took a video of myself and I was like, Hey, I'm here at the grocery store. And like, this is what's in my bag of bags. And I put it on my personal social media and I put it on LinkedIn and my colleague Chris Gandy saw it and he's like, Hey, I can do that too. We kind of took it as a challenge that wasn't my intention. But he took it on as a challenge and it got momentum. And so our, our communications teams, like, Hey, let's make something out of this. So, so I think it was two years ago for American recycles week. We did a whole challenge and we got a lot of input. We got. We got other brands, we got customers engaged, we got our CEO, he did a, he did one and it was super fun. Little did I have that intent when I did that first video, but I really do think it's finding opportunities like that, where we can just do quick, you know, educate our, our friends, our neighbors, our family, that these are things are recyclable and they have value. And so, I don't know. That's one idea I have for you. Is there something that you've done recently? I love some of your Tiktok's and concise and succinct and like just letting people know what to do.

Cory Connors: 15:43

Thank you so much. Yeah. That's, that's been a labor of love. I've I've, you know, I've made over 1200 videos about sustainable packaging in the last 12 months. And. It's amazing. The response you'll get. And a lot of people don't respond on the app. They tell me in person, which is so funny or, or they'll email me like, Hey, I saw your video. I really liked it. It's like we're, we're teaching one person at a time or, you know through video, through pictures. All kinds of social media channels. So what you're doing is so valuable and I'm hoping to do my part for America recycles day and beyond. It's an exciting event, because like you said, it brings attention to and hopefully people will feel like you and I, a little bit of competitive nature and they want to

Heather Turner: 16:31

So I hope. Absolutely.

Cory Connors: 16:35

So I heard you say mono materials or mono materials, the secret to sustainable packaging future,

Heather Turner: 16:42

you know, that's a great question. I I do think yes, but it's not a slam dunk because there are different packaging types for different applications. And I think, you know, you just you, you need to use what's best, but I do think it's simplifies a lot when it is. When you can have it's motto material, or if like you had a compatible wiser to keep a barrier in, if it, you know, it had like an or something with polyethylene or something, I do think that really, really helps. And so. You know, consumers are really, they know they know what to put in curbside for the most part though, I'll admit when I'm walking my dog on the day, the recycling truck comes and people have their bins out. I kind of do an audit and I'm like, oh, that shouldn't be in there. You know? But I think people really do know that the rigids and things like that can go in the bins. And so and so right now, films are recycled at the store and store drop off and we need to educate as much as we can on. But there are some pilots out there, like the materials recovery for the future did a pilot in Pennsylvania last year that we helped fund and, and they actually put films in with their, in their in their bins and, and were able to sort them at the, at the MRF's. And I think that's really I think that's where consumers, you know, they want it to be somewhat easy. And so I think with that if we, you know, if you could have it mono material and then. Easier collection. I think those together would be winning for sure. And there's a lot of money that needs to be involved in infrastructure. I think the other thing is that there's a lot of disparity. Like a lot of neighborhoods don't have access to recycling and if they do, it's just so fragmented, even, even, you know, it's not by it's it's it's. Communities it's like by neighborhoods, like, you know, and so there's so much fragment. I do think, you know, if we could help really the infrastructure would, that would be the other part of the educating part. And so, but, but to your question on the model material, like as if we could have model material like that does help. From there you could you know, just to simplify whatever, you know, all the, all the steps would just take some complexity out. You know, we even have resin that for the closure on a lot of bottles are high density polyethylene, but the closure is polypropylene and, and so, and, and not every area does, you know collect polypropylene. And so with that, that's an opportunity as well, where we have a new grade. Performs like a polypropylene and molds, like the poly, but the closure could be polyethylene. And so another way, like you could, we've seen a trend for even rigid packaging to have it all mono materials. So not just on the film side, but even in rigids. And so it's pretty exciting.

Cory Connors: 19:23

That's a game changer. And I think the work you guys are doing is so valuable for the whole packaging world and all the communities involved. But you're right. We have to make it easy. We have to make it simple. We have to educate people. Store drop-off is a. First step to, you know, I love that you said your bag of bags under the sink. I've got the same thing. And like my kids know not to put stuff like that in the garbage check, those and recycle, and they they're proud of that. I think that's an important thing. I like the idea of going to teach their school about that. So that's maybe that'll be my next.

Heather Turner: 20:01

Yeah, send a note to their science teacher. I just emailed her and offered. And in fact, my, I have a fifth grader this year, and so I'm going to, I'm going to go that week and, and teach the fifth grade again. And so I'm really excited to be invited back to do that.

Cory Connors: 20:15

It's an honor to have that opportunity to speak to our youth, I think. And

Heather Turner: 20:20

so.'cause they're the ones that get it. And they really, really do want to improve like their mom, like we have to save the planet and of course that's why we're doing it too. Right. Is we want you know, we want to make our mark and help leave, you know, the planet in a, in a better place for our kids. So of course, you know, that they I'm excited. They feel that energy

Cory Connors: 20:43

it's it's almost contagious, I think. Yeah. Yeah,

Heather Turner: 20:46

absolutely.

Cory Connors: 20:48

Well, thank you so much, Heather. This has been an awesome episode. I'd like to thank Dow, packaging and specialty plastics for sponsoring this episode. And Heather, you're so brilliant and I appreciate you. And I just, I can't wait to talk to you again. Maybe we'll do a followup in six months and see how America recycles day has affected you know, you and your

Heather Turner: 21:10

company. That would be awesome. Cory , thank you so much for having me. Appreciate it. Thank

Cory Connors: 21:15

you.