Annual Summit Agenda
Welcome to the 2024 AMERIPEN Annual Summit
Collaborating Towards a More Sustainable Future
It’s been a year since the full AMERIPEN membership, key partners, and stakeholders all met together in our nation’s capital. In this time, we’ve expanded our programming, resources, events, and membership, and have continued to grow our reputation as the premier leader on packaging policy across the entire U.S. This has only been possible because of the dedicated support and service of you, our members.
Your presence and engagement with AMERIPEN are critical to our success as we gather this week to discuss the biggest issues affecting you and the U.S. packaging industry, and as we evaluate how to best leverage our resources and voices to promote the importance and value of packaging to our customers, policymakers, and others. Thank you for making and taking the time to be here.
We’ve got a great agenda lined up for the next two days to inspire and inform you and we hope you’re fired up and ready to dig in and collaborate with each other. There’s a unique mix of discussions and presentations about state and national public policy and developments impacting packaging and the environment, plus plenty of opportunities to network with your colleagues across the packaging value chain and see some of the great landmarks of our nation’s capital. Thursday morning we’ll conclude with our annual business meeting and a strategic plan implementation session for members – setting us up for success in the remainder of 2024 and beyond.
Special thanks to all our speakers for their valuable contributions to the program content this week, to AMERIPEN staff and consultants for their planning and program expertise, to the team at The Markens Group for pulling off all the meeting logistics, to Emily Williams with TC Transcontinental for her leadership as chair of our Annual Summit Planning Committee, and last, but certainly not least, all our committee and workgroup chairs and the AMERIPEN Board of Directors for their leadership.
The Board and staff of AMERIPEN are committed to providing you and the packaging industry with the necessary support to ensure your success, and we thank you for your continued membership. Please let us know at any time how we can ensure you are getting the most out of your membership and thank you for your continued support of AMERIPEN.
Scott Byrne, Sonoco – AMERIPEN President
Dan Felton – AMERIPEN Executive Director
4:00PM • Hill Visit Check-In
Please note pre-registration is required by April 5. Please contact Dan Felton for more information.
Location: Marble Foyer | Hilton Alexandria Old Town
6:45AM • Hill Visit Check-In & Registration
Location: Marble Foyer | Hilton Alexandria Old Town
7:15AM • Depart for Hill Visits
Location: Hotel Lobby
8:00AM • Hill Visits
Location: Capitol Hill
Pre-registration is required by April 5. Please contact Dan Felton at danf@AMERIPEN.org for more information.
12:00PM • Networking Lunch
Location: Grand Ballroom
Sponsor: Ring Container
1:30PM • Welcome & Opening Remarks
Location: Grand Ballroom
Presenter: Dan Felton
2:00PM • Producer Responsibility Organization Update
Location: Grand Ballroom
Presenter: Circular Action Alliance
Learn what's new with the Circular Action Alliance (CAA) — the first PRO established in the U.S. CAA will update members on each state's progress.
2:30PM • Legislative Perspectives on Labelling & Claims
Location: Grand Ballroom
Presenter: Sheila Millar (Keller Heckman)
Join Sheila Millar, partner at Keller Heckman, as she walks us through a comprehensive examination of applicable laws and legislation governing packaging claim and labels. Sheila will highlight potential conflicts and contradictions within the regulatory frameworks and guide attendees through the substantiation requirements crucial for supporting and defending such claims, while evaluating their business impacts. In the face of California's SB 343, FTC Green Guides updates, and numerous legal lawsuits, this session is not to be missed!
3:30PM • Networking Break
Location: Grand Ballroom
Sponsor: Tetra Pak
3:45PM • Experience Packaging: Designing Packaging for Accessibility
Location: Grand Ballroom
Moderator: Kyla Fisher
Panel: Dr. Andrew Hurley (Clemson University), Rocky Batzel (SnapSlide), Deb Gokie (Arthritis Foundation)
In this interactive session, our panelists will share insights on designing packaging accessibility and what the user experience is like for conditions such as color blindness, impaired vision, and impaired mobility and dexterity. Half panel discussion, half interactive experience, we will explore the value of packaging as it relates to inclusive design and explore how we can, and should, promote accessibility within packaging legislation.
5:00PM • Opening Reception
Location: Grand Ballroom
Sponsor: Pratt Industries
6:30PM • Movie: Unwrapped/Emballage by EEQ
Location: Grand Ballroom
Don't want to leave the hotel or head to your room after our reception? Join us for a video documentary on the value of packaging design. A co-production between the EEQ and the University of Quebec (UQAM), this documentary was designed to raise public awareness of the importance of design in the context of the environmental impact of packaging. This documentary positions design as a catalyst for change and offers a vision of a sustainable packaging economy.
7:30AM • Registration
Location: Marble Foyer
7:45AM • Networking Breakfast
Location: Grand Ballroom
Sponsor: Tetra Pak
8:30AM • Welcome & Opening Remarks
Location: Grand Ballroom
Presenter: Dan Felton
8:45AM • Lessons on Eco-modulation
Location: Grand Ballroom
Moderator: Brendan Adams (Kraft Heinz)
Presenter: Reid Lifset (Yale School of Environment), Gaultier Massip (Citeo)
At it's most basic level, eco-modulation is the concept of setting fees within packaging EPR schemes to incentivize packaging design. As states begin defining the parameters for eco-modulation, this panel will challenge us to learn from both academic studies and on-the-ground experiences from those who have been working to incentivize packaging design through EPR.
9:45AM • Policymakers Panel
Location: Grand Ballroom
Moderator: Andy Hackman (Serlin Haley)
Panel: Mallory Anderson (Hennepin County), Representative Liz Berry (WA State)
Always a Summit favorite! Join us as we hear from legislators, staffers and/or regulatory agencies on how they collaborate with stakeholders to evaluate and advance packaging legislation. Learn what works, what creates challenges, and what they are looking for from industry for the future.
10:45AM • Networking Break
Location: Grand Ballroom
Sponsor: Tetra Pak
11:00AM • Keynote Presentation: Amazon E-Commerce Packaging Innovation
Location: Grand Ballroom
Presenter: Kayla Fenton (Amazon)
As a leader in e-commerce, perhaps no other retailer faces the same scrutiny of their packaging as Amazon. Learn how this retail giant has reduced per-shipment packaging weight by an average 41% since 2015. Amazon will explain what plans are in place to eliminate packaging and increase the recyclability of packaging when it's used, what goals and objectives you can help them with, and what legislative priorities they are tracking closely.
12:00PM • Networking Lunch
Location: Grand Ballroom
Sponsor: Ring Container Technologies
1:00PM • Building Out Compostable Packaging Recovery Systems
Location: Grand Ballroom
Moderator: Lynn Dyer (Pactiv Evergreen)
Panel: Leah Ford (NatureWorks), Linda Norris-Waldt (U.S. Composting Council)
This fireside chat will explore the current state and public messaging around compostable packaging recovery. Panelists will explore what is needed to support the demand for compostable packaging, how we address contamination concerns, and how we message to consumers and legislators that composting can be a successful pathway for packaging recovery.
1:30PM • Rebuilding Consumer Confidence in Packaging & Recovery (Part 1)
Location: Grand Ballroom
Moderator: Marissa Segundo (Transformations PR)
Panel: Andy Brewer (PLASTICS), Eric Reller (Recycled Materials Association – ReMA), Lindsay Murphy (American Forest & Paper Association – AF&PA), Randy Burns (Owens-Illinois)
Join a diverse panel of packaging material experts to discuss efforts they've undertaken to promote success in packaging recovery. This robust panel discussion will plant ideas for a facilitated dialogue to follow.
2:30PM • Networking Break
Location: Grand Ballroom
Sponsor: Tetra Pak
3:00PM • Rebuilding Consumer Confidence in Packaging & Recovery (Part 2)
Location: Grand Ballroom
Facilitator: Marissa Segundo (Transformations PR)
This is an interactive workshop, come ready to participate with your colleagues!
It's a common refrain to hear that recycling and composting in the U.S. is broken. This myth doesn't encourage consumer or legislative confidence. How do we ensure the public understands that the recycling and composting system is a success and is working? How can we work collaboratively together to promote this message? This facilitated dialogue will leave us with a proposed strategy to promote unified messages on packaging circularity.
4:30PM • Closing Remarks
Location: Grand Ballroom
Presenter: Dan Felton
5:30PM • Bus Departs for Member Appreciation Night
Location: Hotel Lobby
6:45PM • Member Appreciation Night at the Washington Nationals Game!
Location: Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals
Pre-registration is required. Tickets are available in limited supply on a first come/first served basis.
Sponsor: NOVA Chemicals
10:30PM • Bus Returns to Hotel
Timing subject to change
**Members Only**
7:30AM • Registration
Location: Marble Foyer
7:30AM • Networking Breakfast
Location: Grand Ballroom
Sponsor: Tetra Pak
8:00AM • Annual Business Meeting
Location: Grand Ballroom
8:30AM • Break
Location: Grand Ballroom
Sponsor: Tetra Pak
9:00AM • Strategic Plan Implementation Session
Location: Grand Ballroom
11:30AM • Board of Directors Meeting
Location: Grand Ballroom
More information TBD
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Tuesday Night Reception Sponsor
Nationals Game Sponsor
Gold
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Gold
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Breakfast, Break, Lanyard Sponsor
Breakfast
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Lunch
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