Packaging industry sets sights on sustainability at AUSPACK

The packaging and processing industry is poised to move to the sustainability forefront by implementing strategies to meet the 2025 National Packaging Waste Target.

“Sustainability will be a key focus on day one of the AUSPACK 2019 Business and Industry Conference,” said Mark Dingley, Chairman of the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association, which is presenting the two-day inaugural conference as part of Packaging and Processing Week 2019.

Dr Michael Okoroafor, Vice President of Global Sustainability and Packaging Innovation at McCormick (USA), will open the conference with his keynote presentation on innovations driving the future of packaging for FMCG. Dr Okoroafor will share his insights on transformational packaging and a realigned supply chain to drive FMCG industry growth. He will also examine how sustainability needs will push the circular economy and shape innovations in the future.

Craig Reucassel (pictured above) from the ABC series War on Waste will facilitate a panel of CEOs from leading Australian sustainability organisations to discuss the concept of ‘what's good for the planet is good for business’, working through opportunities surfacing from the 2025 target.

Dingley commented that the 2025 National Packaging Waste Target is giving the industry one of the biggest challenges seen in modern times. He called for the industry to recognise the opportunity in the challenge and focus on the potential for the packaging and processing industry to be a leader in sustainability. He also highlighted the value of interorganisational collaboration.

“Collaborating with others gives businesses an economy of scale and broadens their available skillsets to find solutions that they most likely would not find working on their own,” he said. “The panel will talk about this, but because there are so many benefits around industry collaboration in achieving sustainability, it will be the sole focus of the keynote presentation following the panel discussion. It [the presentation] will concentrate on the value of industry collaboration in finding sustainable solutions, looking at how industry can work together to initially create sustainable solutions, then overarchingly to create a sustainable industry.”

The AUSPACK Business and Industry Conference will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 26–27 March 2019. For more information and to register, please visit www.auspack.com.au/business-and-industry-conference.

Image courtesy of AUSPACK Packaging and Processing