Conclusions of the successful first day of the 2nd Circular Packaging Conference

We successfully completed the first day of the conference on circular packaging. 

Francesca Siciliano Stevens was with us, Director of the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment and lectures by industry experts from global companies (Greiner Packaging, Interseroh, Lidl GB, BSH Home Appliances Group, DS Smith...) and successful small and medium enterprises (LabelProfi d.o.o., MetGen, KraftPal, Bossis Valjevo...).
In the afternoon we were gaining new knowledge in the field of recycled plastics for packaging and testing biodegradability and compatibility, visiting FTPO laboratories and successfull slovenian company LabelProfi, which deals with flexible packaging and labels.

We providing you some valuable conclusions of the first day of the 2nd Circular packaging Conference:
 

1. "It is not about one material against another" (Francesca Siciliano Stevens,European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment). Renewable is not enough. The challenge is easy to collect, sort and recycle. Design for circularity.
2. "Circularity is about interface, all actors in the value chain cooperating. Value added generated at each step of the cycle". (Stephan Laske, Greiner Packaging).
3. "It is about new business models created in circular, regional value chains to allow optimisations in material, product, consumer and waste streams". (Duncan Mayes).
4. "Act now and not react when it is too late". (Rok Stifter, BSH Home Appliances Group). Redesign of the business strategies. Taking responsibility for the environmental impact of packaging among all stakeholders. "Following and adjusting to the trends and needs" (Janez Subelj, LabelProfi d.o.o.). Selling the knowledge and models not only products = high level of flexibility.
5. Legislative challenges. No EU internal market, underdeveloped infrastructure for waste collection and recycling, different legislation, investment support for building up regional circular value chains.

We would like to thank the presenters for sharing their knowledge and solutions and also the sponsors of the Conference.