2025 Annual Summit In Review
Cross-Industry Collaboration to Achieve a Circular Economy for Packaging
This week, 150 leaders from across the packaging value chain gathered in Alexandria, Virginia, for the 2025 AMERIPEN Annual Summit—our largest and most expansive event to date. Over three dynamic days, the Summit brought together packaging producers, brands, materials experts, recyclers, policymakers, municipal program leaders, and compliance specialists to chart a smarter, more collaborative path forward.
With packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs rolling out across the country and stakeholder expectations rising, this year’s Summit served as a timely and powerful platform for frank conversations, practical insights, and shared problem-solving. We all left Annual Summit with a clearer vision of what it will take to realize a packaging system that is circular, equitable, and built for the future.
Policy in Practice: Grounding the Conversation in Real-World Experience
The week began with AMERIPEN’s largest-ever Hill Visit, where more than 60 members participated in nearly 40 meetings with federal lawmakers. These conversations informed policymakers on real-world challenges the packaging industry faces and highlighted the critical need for nuanced, cross-material solutions that reflect how producers, brands, and recyclers operate.
With advocacy well underway, we officially opened the Summit in the afternoon with a fireside chat with AMERIPEN Executive Director Lynn Dyer and Jeff Fielkow, CEO of Circular Action Alliance. Their discussion underscored the operational realities of EPR implementation, particularly the need for harmonized data reporting and agility across jurisdictions.
Cross-Material Perspectives, Shared Responsibility
One of AMERIPEN’s greatest strengths is its ability to bring the full packaging ecosystem together, and this year’s Summit made that strength visible at every turn.
Whether it was a panel on defining recyclability or a deep dive into EPR compliance featuring experts from across data, reporting, and PRO management, the conversation wasn’t siloed by material or market. It was collective, coordinated, and focused on the big picture.
From paper to plastic to metal and glass, our members and partners came to the table ready to listen, learn, and lead. The message from this panel was clear: Circularity isn’t a one-material issue. If we want scalable solutions, we need every part of the system engaged.
Public-Private Collaboration in Action
In a series of standout sessions, AMERIPEN welcomed municipal officials, recovery experts, and environmental regulators to the main stage to talk about the realities of packaging policy implementation.
Local leaders from Oregon, California, and Minnesota shared how EPR is playing out on the ground in their communities, highlighting both the promise and pressure of this major shift. They didn’t sugarcoat the challenges, making it clear that producers and organizations responsible for implementation need each other. Sustainable systems depend on honest collaboration and strong relationships across sectors.
A highlight of the Summit was our Legislator Panel, featuring Tennessee Senator Heidi Campbell and Maryland Senator Malcolm Augustine. Their candid insights into the policymaking process and their openness to industry partnership underscored AMERIPEN’s belief that better policies come from trusted, ongoing dialogue between the public and private sectors.
Packaging policy development and implementation don’t happen in a vacuum, and these sessions made it clear that stakeholders must align around realistic, scalable, and locally informed solutions.
Strategic Insight and Future Focus
The Summit’s keynote, delivered by Ciaran Little of Smithers, looked ahead to the year 2050, offering a data-driven forecast of the packaging landscape to come. From changing consumer demands to the evolution of sustainability metrics, his message was clear: innovation and collaboration must accelerate if we are to meet tomorrow’s challenges.
That sense of urgency carried into our afternoon workshop on end-market development in an interactive session focused on unlocking demand for recovered materials. Hosted in collaboration with the Recycled Materials Association and featuring experts from Michigan EGLE, re:3D, and the REMADE Institute leading the way, attendees rolled up their sleeves in cross-material working groups to tackle shared challenges around investment, R&D, and infrastructure. In focused groups analyzing different material types, members strategized how to build a more circular economy through innovative markets, shared responsibility, and collaborative action.
Looking Ahead, Together
The Summit concluded with a forward-focused Members Workshop where participants shared ideas on how AMERIPEN can continue to evolve and serve as a catalyst for collaboration, education, and innovation across the packaging landscape.
As our members return home, we carry with us a renewed sense of momentum and a deeper commitment to building systems that are inclusive, informed, and implementation ready.
To all who joined us: thank you. Your insights, engagement, and leadership are what make AMERIPEN a trusted and unifying voice for the packaging value chain. We look forward to continuing our work together.
