The Packaging Recycling Summit! Kim Overstreet and Matt Reynolds from PMMI

The event is June 25-27 in Dallas: SAVE $200 with the code CCONNORS 

I hope to see you there! Here is the link to register: 

https://www.packagingrecyclingsummit.com/2025/home

Why is the Packaging Recycling Summit a must attend? 

What can be done to make packaging actually recyclable? 

Who will be speaking there and what will they be focusing on? 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/packaging-today-show/id1656906367

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Packaging Today Podcast 

https://open.spotify.com/show/6dksVwqEFVDWdggd27fyFF?si=e924995740f94e19

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-connors/

I'm here to help you make your packaging more sustainable! Reach out today and I'll get back to you asap.

This podcast is an independent production and the podcast production is an original work of the author. All rights of ownership and reproduction are retained—copyright 2022.

Transcript

0:15

Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors. I have two guests, my friends from the industry. We've got Kim Overstreet and Matt Reynolds from the PMMI group. Very excited to talk about this, event coming up and, the Packaging Recycling Summit. In, Dallas, Texas, and I can't wait to be there. I'll be one of the, speakers and, get to attend the show. But, Kim, and Matt, if you don't mind starting with you, Kim, tell us a little bit about your role at, at the PMMI group. Sure. I'm the director of content and, I do some speaker acquisition and programming for the packaging recycling, summit as well. that's become quite a competitive market for, for vying for the top speakers, right? Yeah, absolutely. we're trying to narrow in our focus. we're not trying to tackle everything, Yes. Yeah, well done. and you, Matt, how about you, sir? Yeah, I'm, the chief editor of Packaging World Magazine. so that's the physical print magazine. Actually, we're doing a lot more in the virtual space now in the, streams like this. I also help Kim and I kind of work hand in glove on, agenda development for PRS as well, which is where we'll be happy to have you there. And I thank you Matt, and I've always been impressed with your magazine and it's really become more of a media group, in the industry. I, I, it's exciting to see these magazines turn into, media outlets and, and whether that's social media like this or, YouTube or all the different formats that are, your magazine is now available online and in person. it's really cool to watch how that. Transition is happening. Yeah, it's happening everywhere. you were one of the trailblazers, Corey, so we're just trying to keep up with you. I didn't see myself doing this five years ago, but it just has really turned into something exciting and it's an honor to be a part of the IPPO, the International Packaging Press Organization, and to be one of the leaders like U2 in this space is, it's exciting, because it is a space that's, so important to the society, in my opinion. More and more packaging is interacting. people are interacting with packaging, more and more, and they are not demanding, but commanding sustainable packaging alternatives. And, we all deserve that. So let's talk about Kim. What's the Packaging Recycling Summit? The Packaging Recycling Summit is, at the moment it's a smallish conference, and, we're relatively new. This is our third year, and really it is to bring, all of the stakeholders into the room to have collaborative discussions around, packaging design for recyclability. we've got brands. a lot of the audience are CPG brands. To MRF's , recyclers converters, some like municipal level government people, new technologies. it's a great event. We work in a lot of networking opportunities so that the audience can interact with each other and with the, The speakers, the sponsors. We've got breakfast round table discussions, which you're moderating one of them for more intimate conversations and, This year we've got some of the brands that are speaking. We've got, Danone and Duracell, once upon a farm, SC Johnson are all gonna be, participating in the program. and then, a lot of, sessions around important topics right now, EPR of course being. Of them. we've got, Jeff Fielkow from, CAA is gonna be their right Consumer Brands Association. So we're really trying to have, I'll let Matt talk more about some of the other topics in session. Sorry, mad I'm like going off on a tangent, but yeah, so it, it's a great event. It is a great event and, it, those are some very, big time leaders in the industry and in, in packaging. I've spoken to most of those companies on this podcast and really exciting, things that they're doing to innovate, to make packaging more recyclable, so that makes perfect sense to have them there. it's June 25th through 27th in Dallas, Texas. Yep. And, I can't wait. Looking forward to it. Matt, anything else to add to that? No, same thing. I'm looking forward to it as well. I feel like it's a little bit of a, it's a, it is a competitive market to get these speakers, but it, there, there's developed a sort of a, we call it a circuit, like we were just at SPC last week, you and Kim were. I'm sure I'll see you probably before even PRS comes along and it's all for a, it's a common good, rising tide lifts all boats. And I also think that. Org or every conference, every summit does something a little bit different, and I think our little corner of real estate, does, is particular to packaging. there's not, there's a lot of other materials out there that require recycling and reuse and so on, but we're narrowed down on that consumer package, arena. And we're also, sustainability is also a super wide term that could encompass a whole lot of things under that. Sustainability umbrella. We're talking about recycling very specifically. So there's two different, there's a way we triangulate ourselves in the industry and separate ourselves in a very, in a smaller, spot that we can cover, quite a bit deeper than some of the broader, areas that, that cover all sorts of sustainability from composting to, to, industrial piping, plastic, that sort of thing. I think we're pretty specific. so a lot of interesting stuff going on in that very, narrow arena. You and Kim and the PMMI team have done a great job, making shows that are appropriate for different groups. I think like PAC Expo and some of those other events where maybe they're broader scope. This is, a little more narrow and it's why, one of the reasons why I'm so excited for it. So if you're the people listening to this show. who would you recommend come to the event or who should they recommend, for their companies to send to this event? Matt Kim, do this one. Yeah, sure. anybody. And everybody's welcome, first of all. So we're not turning anybody away at the door. maybe a few suppliers who are trying to, sell their wares. but other than that, I think anybody's welcome. But specifically, job title orientation, I would say packaging designers, packaging engineers, people, who are tasked with, whether it's from C-Suite or. On high with, either switching a material or making their package more lightweight or whatever the job or the, the request is, to, because some of these, the C-suite may pontificate about, huge and extremely ambitious goals for sustainability. We've all heard 'em 20, 25, 20 30. how to get there is what PRS is about. we see that distant horizon where we wanna get. PRS is about trying to develop strategies to get there and getting the right people in the room. often we hear about, recyclability as, something is recycle ready. and what that fails to take into consideration is something that's recycled ready isn't practically necessarily going to be recycled. so we talk about small format, packages that are under three inches by three inches or something according to the green guides. or, packages that might be paper, mostly paper, but have some sort of, Let's say a barrier coating that could render them maybe less desirable. So technically, recycle Ready is what we're trying to get beyond by inviting the Murphs into the room, the reprocessors into the room, and also upstream the converters and material suppliers into the room to start talking about how do we make. Go from recycle ready to practically recyclable and practically recycled. So anybody who's tasked with those jobs, whether a packaging designer, packaging engineer, we're hearing more and more about the chief sustainability officer or various sustainability roles within organizations. They would be, they would be swimming in this water as well. so really anybody who is, who's got their eyes on that prize, whether it's 2025. of being more recyclable and creating a feedstock, some sort of, recycled material that'll be available, drive down prices. Anybody with that, that on their minds, they would be, right at home at PRS. That's excellent. Points. And I think you're right, they are, there's a lot of new jobs out there. Chief Sustainability Officer wasn't a thing five years ago that I heard of. and now it seems to be, not only, a role at a company, but a starting to become a division, which is wonderful. I'm mean, I'm enjoying seeing that process develop. you mentioned ai, sorting systems before, Kim, will there be a system set up at the show that we can see work? No, we are, we do not have a system set up at the show, but we are gonna have a few different companies, on hand there who are specializing in AI sortation. And actually there's a couple of different sessions. So they're, They're bringing in, brand that they might collaborate with, or Murph, they might collaborate with, There's one, one company who was there last year that we're hoping is gonna come back, trying to finalize that right now to talk about some data points that they've collected. so yeah, there, there's definitely a lot of conversation around the new technologies, around ai, sortation. That's great. Got to do a tour recently of a RF and was blown away by the AI sort sorting material, systems. And I'm sure there'll be, different videos shown and different presentations about that technology at your event, which will be really great. Matt, I did want to talk to you a little bit about a broader scope of things. So how has, packaging design been more focused on recyclable ready packaging? recycle Ready, is a, I hate to say it's a weasel word because Recycle Ready doesn't mean it's going to. Practically be recycled. Now we've got a huge variety, a wide variety of murph's recovery facilities, of various levels of sophistication. We were just talking about AI sortation that is the newest, the coolest. But by no means is that the standard, that is, it's a rare situation. so you've got a wide variety of murphs who can accept different types of material. you've got areas where, like. There's different materials that are recyclable in some locations and aren't in others. Thermoform. PET is a great example. films right now rely entirely, almost entirely on, on store dropoff, and we see a lot in films right now because they're expanding. store dropoff could mean more than just the store in, down, down the line. really, changing recycle ready into practically recycled, and not only practically recycled, but. Because frequently, and I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with, and I think it's great, to, let's say down cycle. And we actually have a presentation on, on using, some certain films and so on for, concrete reinforcement, because that's gonna be a 40 year. imagine how many packaging cycles that would be when you have a 40 year lifespan for that concrete or for decking, but at the same time, brands and CPGs. they're, they want this content and there's just not enough of it available. again, it's, it's a rising tide lifts all boats in the sense that the more material that a murf can collect and sell to a reprocessor and turn back into packaging, it just, it becomes a snake eating its own tail. it's a virtuous cycle. That's it. that, that's the goal. Well said, and I'm glad to hear you say that because, I don't like that term either. I'd rather have something be curbside recyclable, or actually recyclable and to fully get recycled and turn into something else, whether it's upcycled or downcycled, is. those are great things too. I like, trek stacking and, those kinds of things. we were talking about turning into plastic piping and things like that. these are great alternatives to a landfill. and they're important to what we're trying to accomplish. But you're right, we wanna keep packaging as packaging. And, I think, at the recent event Kim and I were at, we were talking about, goodwill. being, another option to drop off plastics too for recycling. And so maybe that's possible. They had, I don't know, was it hundreds of locations or thousands? I don't know. But, yeah, lots of opportunity there. So let's, all, let's talk about, EPR. do we think, extended producer responsibility laws will be a discussion topic at your event? Oh yes. Multiple times. Right? It's such an important part. for sure. And it's, it was standing room only in the sessions, last week, right. And, we talked about it last year. Very popular. so we're gonna have some more updates on what's happening, right now. And yeah, there's quite a few. I don't know, maybe four sessions. I think talking about EPR. That's great. And it's ki it's baked into everything. It's like every conversation has a, it's a, it's part of the landscape, you almost don't need, we do have, sessions that are just explaining where it's at, where the five or six now states or whatever it is, standard and interesting timing too. Because I think July 1st is when the first, I'd say bills from a pro are being sent to, to, to constituent members. for, I forget which state it is. I was just talking to, somebody with at Mars about this. But, what's that gonna look like? up until now it's been an amorphous idea, but. Once the first bill arrives to actually, have to pay for this so that bill's gonna end up on somebody's desk or in somebody's inbox. And are they aware, are they prepared for it? is this part of the budget? so the timing I think is right on the cusp of where the rubber is gonna meet the EPR road. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. We're also. Sorry, Corey didn't mean to interrupt. We're also having a session on labeling legislation and what's going on with that. And then, Paul from Green Blue is also doing a session on, how to recycle, so we're covering those bases as well. That was great to see the new logo for the, how the store drop off, that the How to Recycle, group has put together. I think you're both exactly right. extended producer responsibility is changing everything and it's going to hit people in the pocketbook. It's gonna be a part of the green bottom line. And, if we can look at. Packaging in a way, to almost defer away from these fees. All of a sudden we look back and five years later and our packaging is way more sustainable too. And I think that's the goal, right? So that's exciting Times in packaging. Exciting and eco, that's eco modulation. what are the carrots? What are the sticks? And I think, Jeff Fielkow is gonna talk about that, specifically, but, and it's different. That's the difficulty that brands are facing is the fractured nature of these different laws. But hopefully, my hope is with organizations a pro like CAA as that becomes. Some sort of a defacto standard that it does provide a, some of an even keel, a standardizing body, even though they're disparate states doing disparate things and frankly might have disparate needs, that we can, there can be some sort of, through line or thread where, things aren't so widely out of whack, where if you're Nestle, you can sell a package in Maine and you can sell a package in Wisconsin and you can sell a package in California without having to have three different packages. exactly, and I think that's the pushback sometimes I get is, oh, it's only five states, right? which company is gonna want to have packaging for different states? None. None of them are gonna be interested in that. Maybe a regional dairy or something like that. But I think that's unlikely. I think you're exactly right. if it's whatever is the most stringent state is how packaging across the board in North America will end up being, it just makes sense. Yeah. And what's interesting is one of our, presentations, one of the brand owners who's gonna be there is Duracell. and I almost can guarantee that this won't, what I'm about to say, it won't come up. But EPR laws have existed for, batteries for years. when you're, your car battery has to go somewhere, you're not putting that in the, in, in the curbside, garbage municipal waste stream. or nor are you doing your triple batteries. Hopefully you're turning those in as well. Programs while they're new to our industry and we're all here on fire about it. They've existed, they've existed in Europe for a long time and industry specific like batteries, they've existed elsewhere. So they're doable. They're workable, and frankly, they're coming. So get ready. Yeah, said. They say the, automobile battery is the most recycled consumer product in the world. I think it's over 92% per cycle rate. And you're exactly right. The right can I learn something new. The right when the right motivations and structures and infrastructure and apparatus is created, then it's a success. It can be a successful program, and I hopefully, CPG is following the same path. I think you're right. I think we, I think it is, and I think if we can make packaging as valuable as a battery, put that much value on it, I think then the recycling rates will continue to skyrocket. just in states that have a deposit returns scheme for cans and bottles, their recycling rates double for those items. More than double in, in Oregon, I think we're over 65%. And that's, this is incredible numbers, when we really put, a system in place that makes it, valuable for consumers to, to pitch in literally. Right. Yeah. Pitch in. Yeah. It's important. anything else to say, Kim or Matt, about this, great event that you're having? Just that I hope that you will join us. I believe you have a link, right, that you're gonna share for people to check out the agenda and the site, and please register. We hope that you'll come and join us. You've even given me a discount code. So I'll post that in the notes of the podcast. If you're listening, scroll up and, you'll see that code and when you enter, you can use that and get, some percentage off. That'll be great. Okay. Matt, anything final, any final thoughts? getting, getting excited for it. Hopefully see, all, as many of your listeners as possible there. And it's an evolution, it's changed from year one. I feel like there's, the entire packaging recycling landscape has changed in the three years that we've been doing it. we're keeping up and we're evolving with it. I don't think AI was much on. Our radar, especially AI sortation, optical sortation, back in 2023. now it's, it's extremely important and, and it's not just the optical sortation at the front of the line, but it's also last chance lines. We're gonna hear from a glacier about, one of the most valuable materials and the most recycled materials is aluminum, but still. Certain percentage of aluminum still ends up going through the line, ending up in landfill every year. So AI, at that last chance position is able to recover, in a number of bo of aluminum that's put back into the system and has have avoided, have avoided landfill, has been just remarkable. we're, it's an evolving event and we're evolving with the times. It's exciting to see the growth in that area. I remember the first booth I saw, for ai, sortation technology was very tiny. And now the last one I saw was massive. And, there's huge amounts of funding behind it because frankly it works. And, and the la like I said, the last Murph I tour, there were dozens of those AI sortation. All you heard was poofs of air, blow blowing the specific item over the line, to get, recycled in that specific bale. it's an incredible and exciting time, so thank you both. Can't wait to see you in Dallas and see all you listeners as well. Thanks, Corey. Thanks Corey. We look forward to seeing you too. Thank you.