The forum opened with a keynote address by Richard Heinberg, author and senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute. Heinberg said that unlimited growth is not sustainable, and he supported his statements with statistics on the limiting factors posed by finite amounts of raw materials, including oil and key metals, and population growth.
Following Heinberg's message that business as usual is not sustainable, Patti Temple Rocks, vice president Global Public Affairs and Reputation Dow Chemical Company, detailed her company's moves to grow through developing products and services to help businesses and consumers be more sustainable. During the day and a half event, there were presentations on:
- Consumer trends with the implications toward marketing sustainable products to consumers
- A discussion of life cycle analyses
- A panel discussion on sustainability and cost
- Packaging case studies
- An update on the Sustainable Packaging Coalition's new COMPASS tool
The evening supplier showcase drew the usual high number of attendees and everyone had ample networking time during breaks and meals to discuss the issues. The event's 350 attendees represented leading materials suppliers, converters, consumer packaged goods companies, and a smattering of nongovernmental organizations.
The Sustainable Packaging Forum is a valuable industry event for understanding the trends, issues, and context of sustainability, and how it impacts marketing and packaging. It offers a chance to meet with materials and services suppliers and to network and learn from peers. It is not a nuts and bolts venue for those looking for answers on "how to" make specific packages more sustainable.
Editor's note: We received the following correspondence from Betsy Steiner, executive director of the Alliance of Foam Packagers and Recyclers :
Concerning the story about Georgia-Pacific's seafood shipping containers in the August 2008 issue of Packaging World, kudos to Georgia-Pacific for all of its sustainability initiatives. But it's disheartening to see the story includes inaccurate statements about how EPS foam containers "are petroleum-based and therefore not recyclable." In fact, EPS packaging is widely recycled (at an average annual rate of 12%; 19% in 2006). We also challenge the claim that Georgia-Pacific's products take up less space in warehouses and trucks. Is this based on any particular study? If so, does it compare equivalent product quantities by volume and weight?
