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UnPacked22

A virtual event on sustainable packaging
FEB 22 – 24, 2022

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NETWORKING & WORKSHOPS

The Premiere Sustainable Packaging Event in the Pet Industry

UnPacked is a fully-virtual, action-oriented event dedicated to bringing together sustainable packaging experts and suppliers, as well as pet industry brands, manufacturers, and retailers, to learn more about one of our industry’s largest issues. We aim to unpack the ever-changing, quickly-developing details around packaging through world-class education. We will also provide resources and tools that will help us improve and advance sustainability of packaging in the pet industry to further decrease our overall waste footprint.

I’ve attended many virtual conferences/trade shows and without a doubt you all produced the best!" - Spencer Williams, CEO West Paw

2022 Content

SPEAKERS

Our speakers will include innovative industry leaders from within the pet industry and outside of the industry covering a range of topics including: Sustainable Packaging 101, Packaging Circularity, Designing for Sustainable Packaging, Solutions for Flexible Plastic Packaging, Cross-Industry Collaboration Driving Improvement, and The Future of Sustainable Packaging.

Danielle Jezienicki

Sustainability Director

Grove Collaborative

Melissa Bauer

Director of Sustainability

Pet Sustainability Coalition

Rachel Sears

Sustainable Packaging Specialist

Pet Sustainability Coalition

Audrey Kriva

Climate & Circularity Consultant

Sustainable Business Consulting

Rhodes Yepsen

Executive Director

Biodegradable Products Institute

Michelle Carvell

COO

Lorax Compliance

Paula Luu

Project Director

Closed Loop Partners

Julianna Nienart

Project Associate

How2Recycle / GreenBlue

Alison Younts

Lead Sustainability Consultant

Trayak

David Yaskulka

SVP – Mid America Pet Food

Nature’s Logic

Brianna Sheppard

Senior Program Officer

World Wildlife Fund

Lindsey Ray

Senior Brand Manager

Catalyst Pet

Cherish Morrison

Senior Category Manager

MudBay

Brian Steinwagner

Executive VP Business Development

Morris Packaging

Michael Cody

Global ESG Director

Earth Animal

Sandi Childs

Consultant

The Association of Plastic Recyclers

Svanika Balasubramanian

Co-Founder & CEO

RePurpose Global

Dan Goodnow

CEO

The Natural Dog Company

Rachel Kipar

Circular Ventures Manager

The Recycling Partnership

TICKETS

 

For 50% OFF PSC Member Discount on tickets
please contact your member specialist

Starter Pass

FREE

– Keynote
– Exhibit Hall
– Soiree

Single Pass

$199

All Access for 1
– Keynote
– Exhibit Hall
– Workshops
– Networking
– Soiree

Company Pass

$599

All Access for the whole company
– Keynote
– Exhibit Hall
– Workshops
– Networking
– Soiree
Delivering sustainable packaging education, tools, and collaboration to one of the pet industry’s largest environmental issues

SCHEDULE

DAY 1 – TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22

8:30 – 8:50 AM MST

INTRODUCTION

Pet Sustainability Coalition
Melissa Bauer, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Sustainability Programs &
Rachel Sears, Sustainable Packaging Specialist

Description: Welcome to UnPacked22!

Main Stage
8:50 – 9:45 AM MST

KEYNOTE

Grove Collaborative
Danielle Jezienicki, Sustainability Director

Description: Grove Collaborative, a certified B Corp, is one of the fastest growing online retailers, and is specifically dedicated to sustainability. Today, Grove creates and curates 150+ sustainable, high-performing brands that meet their four-point standard: uncompromisingly healthy, beautifully effective, ethically produced, and cruelty-free. At Grove, every order is plastic neutral. Every shipment is carbon neutral. And by 2025, Grove will be 100% plastic-free. Please join PSC and Grove Collaborative as they discuss building a retailer around sustainability, the challenges they’ve had along the way, and the future we see for selling products that are good for the people, pets, and the planet.

Main Stage
9:45 – 10:15 AM MST

2021 SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING SPOTLIGHT

Pet Sustainability Coalition
Melissa Bauer, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Sustainability Programs

Description: Sustainable packaging is a fast moving and often technical topic. In this session we will cover 2021 with broad brush strokes sharing major milestones, brand commitments, and legislative changes.

Main Stage
10:15 – 11:15 AM MST

EXHIBIT HALL BREAK

Exhibit Hall
11:15 – 11:45 AM MST

FLEX FORWARD & BEYOND

Pet Sustainability Coalition
Melissa Bauer, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Sustainability Programs

Description: The pet industry has a 300 million pound packaging problem that requires both short term action and long term solutions. Get an update on Flex Forward, the successful return to retail pilot program that collected 8,000+lbs of plastic pet food and treat packaging. Learn what life these multi-laminate bags may take on as we share the first look at testing results from recycling trials completed just weeks ago. Then, learn about the framework developed by the US Plastics Pact to develop long term solutions toward more sustainable packaging that may advance the pet industry beyond current hard-to-recycle materials.

Main Stage
11:45 – 12:20 PM MST

RECYCLABLE: What does “recyclable” really mean?

Closed Loop
Paula Luu, Project Director

Description: Recycling has been a cornerstone of the environmental movement but a lot has changed as the world attempts to recycle a wider range of materials and recycling infrastructure advances Learn more about recyclability and different recycling methods including advanced/chemical. Take a look at the challenges inhibiting successful recycling and where new opportunities are emerging.

Main Stage
12:20 – 12:50 PM MST

REFILLABLE: Opportunites/challenges/ measuring environmental benefit of refillable systems

Trayak
Alison Younts, Lead Sustainability Consultant

Description: Refillable containers often seem like a silver bullet solution to many of our packaging woes, but it’s never that simple! Uncover the environmental impact of refillable packaging through lifecycle modeling.

Main Stage
12:50 – 1:20 PM MST

COMPOSTABLE: Compostable Packaging: An introduction and infrastructure overview

Biodegradable Products Institute
Rhodes Yepsen, Executive Director

Description: Compostable packaging encourages organic recycling of discarded food products and diverts waste out of landfills and into composting sites where the package and the organic waste inside it decompose into healthy compost. However, less than 3% of all households in North America have access to composting infrastructure. What does the future look like for compostable packaging and what is a roadmap to ensure composting infrastructure is build to be most effective?

Main Stage
1:20 – 2:20 PM MST

EXHIBIT HALL BREAK

Exhibit Hall
2:20 – 2:50 PM MST

NETWORKING

Pet Sustainability Coalition

Description: Join PSC and our members for co-hosted peer networking sessions

Sky View Lounge
3:00 – 3:45 PM MST

SOIREE

Pet Sustainability Coalition

Description: Please join PSC, several PSC members, and partners as we announce an exciting a new packaging program for the entire pet industry over a year in the making!

Ballroom

DAY 2 – WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23

7:00 – 7:30 AM MST

EU/UK MAKING SENSE OF CHANGING SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING LEGISLATION ACROSS EUROPE

Lorax Compliance
Michelle Carvell, COO

Description: Legislation related to packaging is a large and complex topic, especially when considering different legislation in different geographies. Keeping on top of the latest and pending legislation on topics such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), post-consumer (PCR) mandates, labeling requirements, and more can have vast market and financial implications. Please join PSC and Lorax Compliance for the latest updates on packaging and packaging material regulations in the E.U.

Main Stage
7:30 – 8:15 AM MST

EU/UK NETWORKING & PRESENTATION Q&A

Pet Sustainability Coalition

Description: Join us in the Skyview lounge to connect with other purpose driven leaders who work in your department and share similar responsibilities. These are smaller group sessions that last between 30 – 45 minutes led by peer PSC member companies. Attendees report that networking with fellow attendees is one of the best parts of Impact Unleashed!

Skyview Lounge
8:30 – 8:45 AM MST

INTRODUCTION

Pet Sustainability Coalition
Melissa Bauer, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Sustainability Programs &
Rachel Sears, Sustainable Packaging Specialist

Description: Welcome to Day 2!

Main Stage
8:45 – 9:20 AM MST

INTERSECTION BETWEEN CLIMATE + PACKAGING

Sustainable Business Consulting
Audrey Kriva, Climate & Circularity Consultant

Description: Oftentimes packaging and climate are seen as two separate issues sometimes even with competing priorities. In this session we will explore how climate and packaging are connected and what businesses can do to address both packaging and climate with supporting strategies.

Main Stage
9:20 – 9:40 AM MST

SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPLICATIONS OF PLASTIC PACKAGING CRISIS

Repurpose Global
Svanika Balasubramanian, Co-founder & CEO

Description: The facts around plastic waste is staggering. There is an estimated 15-51 trillion microplastics floating in our ocean right now. The plastic isn’t contained to our ocean either, it is in the air and foods we eat to the point where each person is estimated to consume a credit card worth of plastic every week. However, the people saddled with this growing crisis are overwhelming not the people causing it. Over 50 million informal waste workers across the developing world (like the Dalits in India) have been struggling to deal with the plastic problem for decades and 3 Billion people worldwide don’t have access to proper waste collection.. In this talk rePurpose Global will look at the social justice implications of our waste problem, and offer possible solutions for action.

Main Stage
9:40 – 10:10 AM MST

PLASTIC NEUTRAL PANEL

Repurpose Global, Natural Dog Company, Nature’s Logic, & Catalyst Pet

Description: You’ve probably heard of carbon neutral but what about plastic neutral? Hear from three pet companies who are actively measuring and offsetting their plastic footprints with rePurpose Global, PSC’s global plastic offsetting partner.

Main Stage
10:10 – 10:45 AM MST

EXHIBIT HALL BREAK

Exhibit Hall
10:45 – 11:15 AM MST

NORTH AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

The Association of Plastic Recyclers
Sandi Childs, Consultant

Description: Legislation related to packaging is a large and complex topic, especially when considering different legislation in different geographies. With different countries, states, and even localities passing their own versions of legislation, keeping on top of the latest and pending legislation on topics such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), post-consumer (PCR) mandates, labeling requirements, and more can have vast market and financial implications. Please join PSC and the Association for Plastics Recyclers for the latest updates on packaging and packaging material regulations in North America.

Main Stage
11:15 – 11:50 AM MST

DEEP DIVE INTO HOW2RECYCLE LABELING PROCESS

HOW2RECYCLE
Julianna Nienart, Project Associate

Description: Variation in recycling programs, unclear labeling, and inaccurate recyclability claims make proper recycling a challenge. The How2Recycle label was created to provide consistent and transparent on-package recycling information to consumers in North America. Please join How2Recycle and PSC as we discuss the importance of standardized labeling, as well as ways for packaging suppliers and pet companies to get more materials in the recycling bin by taking the guesswork out of recycling.

Main Stage
12:00 – 12:45 PM MST

NETWORKING

Pet Sustainability Coalition

Description: Join PSC and our members for co-hosted peer networking sessions

Sky View Lounge
12:45 – 1:15 PM MST

EXHIBIT HALL BREAK

Exhibit Hall
1:15 – 2:00 PM MST

TED SERIES

MudBay & Morris Packaging

Description: Join us for short 8-10 minute presentations from two of this year’s leading PSC members and get inspired by their efforts to drive positive impact on the environments and communities where they do business. Then, join us for an interactive panel to ask the hard questions!

Main Stage
2:00 – 2:30 PM MST

UPDATE FROM US PLASTICS PACT

US Plastics Pact
Brianna Sheppard, Senior Program Officer

Description: The US Plastics Pact aims to ensure that plastics never become waste by eliminating the plastics we don’t need, innovating to ensure that the plastics we do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable, and circulating all the plastic items we use to keep them in the economy and out of the environment. Join us for an update and unveiling of plastic packaging that has been deemed “unnecessary or problematic” and therefore is a leading priority for the US Plastics Pact moving forward.

Main Stage
2:30 – 2:40 PM MST

PSC STATEMENT ON PROBLEMATIC PACKAGING

Pet Sustainability Coalition
Melissa Bauer, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Sustainability Programs

Description: As a formal US Plastics Pact partner, the Pet Sustainability Coalition will announce a clear definition of problematic or unnecessary packaging that should be minimized or eliminated as soon as possible.

Main Stage
2:40 – 3:00 PM MST

USPP + PSC COMBINED Q&A

US Plastics Pact + Pet Sustainability Coalition
Brianna Sheppard, Senior Program Officer &
Melissa Bauer, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Sustainability Programs

Description:

Main Stage
3:00 – 3:15 PM MST

CLOSE

Main Stage

DAY 3 – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24

10:00 – 11:00 AM MST

WORKSHOP: PLASTICS IQ DEMO

Recycling Partnership, Earth Animal
Rachel Kipar, Circular Ventures Manager & Michael Cody, Global ESG Director

Description: Plastic IQ is a cutting-edge digital resource to help companies develop an effective plastic packaging strategy, work together to compare strategies with industry best practices, and prioritize innovative solutions to advance circularity and corporate sustainability goals by 2030 or sooner. Created by The Recycling Partnership and SYSTEMIQ, with support from Walmart, Plastic IQ leverages industry guidance and data to help users turn their plastic packaging strategy into measurable actions to help tackle the plastic waste crisis. Join us for a live demo and walkthrough of this exciting new tool, now available to PSC members!

Peach Room
1:00 – 2:00 PM MST

WORKSHOP: MARKETING CLAIMS ON PACKAGING/GREEN GUIDES

Pure Strategies
Ariella Sela, Sustainability Advisor & Cheryl Baldwin, Vice President of Consulting

Description: Packaging serves a number of different functions. Various forms of boxes, bottles, cans, plastic bags and pouches furnish protection and freshness, but they also act as advertising for the products they contain. Producers and packagers share responsibility with other marketers to bring truthful information to consumers. When crafting public statements about the sustainability or environmental safety of their products and services, companies should consider advertising rules and principles, including guidelines specifically designed to help marketers avoid making deceptive environmental marketing claims, and labeling rules for particular types of products or claims. In this workshop we will be guiding companies on how to best market the sustainability of their packaging and products while also sticking to applicable rules and regulations, like the FTC Green Guides.

Peach Room

Sponsors

Thank you to these event sponsors

TESTIMONIALS

Sustainably will not be achieved in isolation, it will take the will and collaboration of partners to close the loop ♻️ The Pet Sustainability Coalition and it's events is the premiere opportunity that starts the conversation and helps us all find the partners we need to reach our goals.

Glenn TrelivingManager Partner, Partners Packaging

“The Pet Sustainability Coalition's virtual events not only provide an impressive amount of useful and applicable information but they also give you the impression of being in the company of coworkers and friends! The virtual exhibition was the best I have ever experienced. The educational sessions where well placed and paced reducing the amount of fatigue and the break-out sessions were with small interactive groups, conducted professionally, with friendly and knowledgeable facilitators. Worth the extra time to participate."

Jeff AlixGlobal Head of Business Development, Veramaris

A TASTE FROM 2021

Keynote: Bear Naked Granola (Kellogg)

A sustainability journey toward a fully recyclable stand-up pouch

Pet Businesses Using Life Cycle Analysis - Panel

WellPet, Earth Animal, Tyler Packaging

PSC

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