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Agenda

The 2024 Agenda will be announced soon!

This year's highlight is the Alterra Tour: If you want to see Inficycling™ at work – you won’t want to miss this tour! Our patented technology is proven day in, and day out at our full-scale, continuous plant. Alterra’s 60-ton-per-day plastic circularity facility in Akron, Ohio is the only plant of its kind globally. Our plant has successfully recycled millions of pounds of discarded plastic, and that number is growing every day. Our growth will see the development of new facilities that will help meet the overwhelming demand for sustainable materials. So while you’re in Akron, take a tour with us and see how – with our plastic circularity technology – communities can recycle even more types of plastic than ever before. 
Note: Light refreshments will be provided. Please note that pants and flat shoes should be worn, no open toes or heels.  


See the 2023 Agenda below! 

Meet the expert presenters from Closed Loop Partners, Sphere Solutions, Inc., Alterra Energy, RRS, Berry Global, enval, Stanley Black & Decker, New Energy Risk, Neste, AMP Robotics, AMERIPEN, and many more. Speaking on industry-leading topics, such as an industy overview, the future market outlook, recycling goals, use cases, technologies, EPR, and more.  

 

                                         
 

Please click on the dates below to see each day's program!


Registration Open
Registration Opens & Continental Breakfast
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Ashli Speed, Manager of Production - Americas, Smithers
Session I: Industry Overview and Future Market Outlook
The Future of Chemical Recycling to 2025
  • The legislation holding back the development of chemical recycling
  • The economic viability of chemical recycling and the drawbacks of expanding the process
  • The polymer types and subsequent technology for plastic packaging recycling.

Benjamin Trent | Managing Consultant, Smithers
Molecular Recycling 101: 10 Graphs and Charts that Explain the Technologies, Opportunities, and Considerations for a Circular Plastics Economy
Closed Loop Partner’s leading expert on molecular recycling will provide a high-level summary of the key findings in their report, Transitioning to a Circular System for Plastics: Assessing Molecular Recycling Technologies in the United States and Canada. This presentation will highlight the economic, environmental and human health impacts of diverse molecular recycling technologies, assessing where they fit in a circular plastics economy.
Paula Luu | Senior Product Director, Closed Loop Partners
Life Cycle Assessment of Chemical Recycling: Methodology and Case Study
The presentation will focus on key methodological aspects of life cycle assessment studies of chemical recycling technologies and show the exemplary application to an industry case study conducted for the European Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) published in 2022.
Christoph Koffler | Technical Director, Sustainability Consulting, SPHERA SOLUTIONS, INC., USA
Networking Break
PANEL: Benefits of Advanced Recycling – How can the benefits change the future of recycling?
How do we communicate the benefits of advanced recycling? Where are the gaps in knowledge? How do we get others in the industry to “buy in”?

Moderator:
  • Jesus Atias, Advanced Recycling and Bio Supply Associate Director for North America and Latin America, Dow
Panelists:
  • Carlos Ludlow-Palafox, CEO, enval
  • Jeremy DeBenedictis, President, Alterra Energy
  • Anne Johnson,  Principal and Vice President of Global Corporate Sustainability, RRS
  • Rob Flores, Sustainability Director, Consumer Packaging NA, Berry Global
  • Jim Huang, Director Food Contact Materials, Global Scientific & Regulatory Affairs, Coca-Cola
Networking Lunch (Included)
Session II: Achieving Recycling Goals
< Session Description >
This session details the ongoing push by brand owners to reach plastics recycling goals.
Advanced Recycling and Extended Producer Responsibility: Challenge or Opportunity?
Join AMERIPEN Executive Director Dan Felton for a rundown on the current status of packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) in the U.S., with four states now having full program laws enacted and being implemented and other states looking to enact their own related laws. The discussion about whether or not advanced recycling should be allowed within packaging EPR programs, and other packaging policies, in the U.S. is heated and ongoing, so you won't want to miss this lively and timely session.
Dan Felton | Executive Director, AMERIPEN
Policy And Environmental Drivers To Reach Circular Economy Goals
Join Craig Cookson of the American Chemistry Council to learn the ways that advanced recycling is a key component to achieving sustainability goals for both brands and producers.
Craig Cookson | Senior Director of Plastics Sustainability for the Plastics Division, American Chemistry Council
How to bring Chemical Recycling to scale
The speed of technology development, funding and project development in the direction of chemical recycling has increased vastly during the last couple of years. The industry is looking forward to the first large scale plants starting up and transforming difficult to handle plastic waste into valuable feedstock that can be used for the production of new chemicals and polymers. In his speech, Klaus will discuss the advantages of extrusion based material preparation solutions, pros and cons of different technical approaches and as well insight into the energy efficiency of these processes.
Klaus Lederer | Business Development Manager Application Chemical Recycling, EREMA Group
Networking Break
Advanced Recycling in the Power Tool Industry
This presentation will showcase the sustainability journey of Stanley Black & Decker and Eastman, and their efforts to incorporate more sustainable materials in power tools. We will explore the challenges and opportunities of utilizing chemically recycled plastic, and discuss the environmental and economic impacts of these changes. Attendees will gain insights into the development of sustainable design practices and the role of collaboration in achieving these goals
Dan Fitzgerald | Sr. Director Product Sustainability, Stanley Black & Decker
PANEL: Building Supply Chains for Advanced Recycling
This panel will discuss infrastructure, collection, securing capital:
  • Improve collection and access
  • Improve consumer education
  • Improve accuracy of data and reporting
  • Standardize policy for collection and sorting
Moderator: Tim Buwalda, Principal, Circular Matters

Panelists:
  • Brad Price, Managing Director Technical Due Diligence,  New Energy Risk
  • Jeremy DeBenedictis, President, Alterra Energy
  • Bob Render, CEO, Lakeside 360 Partners
  • Shannon Crawford, Director Recycling and Environmental Policy, Waste Management
Networking Reception (with Drinks)
Registration Open
Registration Opens & Continental Breakfast
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Session III: Advanced Recycling Use Cases and Technologies
Collaboration to maximize plastic recycling
Additional Presenter: Scott Sass, Head of Technology, Alterra Energy

Collaboration along the value chain is needed to enable a true circular economy of plastics through advanced recycling.
  • Liquefaction combined with intermediate refining can turn hard-to-recycle plastics into drop-in petrochemical feeds for material applications
  • Examples of collaboration include joint development, deployment and commercialization of technology

Outi Teras | Head of Technology Commercialization Chemical Recycling, Neste
Pathways to Circularity
Plastics, with their remarkable versatility, have revolutionized numerous industries. However, their varied performance characteristics necessitate careful consideration when selecting the right material for the right application. Similarly, the fate of plastic products at the end of their useful life demands careful planning. This session delves into the crucial decision-making processes surrounding mechanical recycling, molecular recycling, conversion to durable applications, and consideration for compostable materials. Join us for this enlightening discussion, where we will explore the importance of optimizing material selection to achieve a circular economy and sustainable future.
Katherine Hofmann, Ph.D. | Sustainability Strategic Initiatives Manager, Eastman
Smarter Systems, Superior Sorting – Feedstock Sources for Advanced Recycling
The waste and recycling industry is quickly adopting advanced technologies, including robotics systems guided by artificial intelligence (AI), to automate the identification and sorting of recyclables from mixed material streams. AI-driven solutions are enabling economic improvements via retrofits within today’s waste management infrastructure. And advancements in AI are facilitating the expansion of new infrastructure, helping to maximize the volume and quality of recycled feedstock by turning what was previously considered contamination into valuable material streams ready for mechanical or advanced recycling. Explore how AI-driven sortation is enabling precise material separation, higher commodity values, and end markets; the latest advancements in recovery of film and flexible packaging; and more.
Carson Potter | Product Leader, AMP Robotics
Networking Break
PANEL: World Changing Innovation: It’s Not Just for Silicon Valley
By now, we all know the stats: only about 9% of the world’s single-use plastics are actually recycled. 380 million metric tons of plastic is produced every year…and about 10 million tons of that winds up in the ocean. But plastics contribute a lot of value to society, like durable goods, medical use, and more. We have an end-of-life problem, where does it all go? And how do we make new plastics that don’t further contribute to the problem? Enter advanced recycling. It enables the recycling of many more materials, regardless of the type or quality, turning long-standing methodologies and paradigms on their head.

Join us for a deep dive into advanced recycling technologies and learn from the organizations that are investing in advanced recycling as part of their strategies and making it a viable solution to our plastic problem. During the Q&A, we’ll dive into the tough topics facing these technologies, including expanding collection for feedstock, ensuring responsible use, remaining complementary to mechanical recycling, regulatory uncertainty, environmental justice, and more. By addressing these challenges head on, we can start to realize a world with truly circular plastics. Now that’s world changing innovation.

Moderator: Kim Holmes, 4R Consulting

Panelists:
  • Jennifer Ronk, Sr. Manager, Sustainability and External Engagement NA Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Dow, Inc.
  • Candace Rutherford, Feedstock Manager, Brightmark
  • Holli Alexander, Strategic Initiatives Manager, Sustainability, Eastman
  • Domenic DiMondo, President, GreenMantra
Networking Lunch (Included)
Session IV: Advanced Recycling Beyond packaging
Towards textile to textile recycling: Is there a sustainable solution?
Polyester is one of the most widely used polymers all around the world, with applications that span from packaging to textiles. Depending on the application the material composition can be quite different, with a polyester amount ranging from more than 99% for PET bottles to 25% for some particular textile applications. The most common method for recycling plastic waste is mechanical recycling. This process typically includes collection, sorting, washing, and grinding of the material, but a breakdown of polymer chains occurs when the resin goes through multiple cycles, degrading its intrinsic viscosity and limiting the number of times the process can be repeated. The larger amount of polyester is then landfilled or incinerated, and this is particularly true for textiles, where colorants and dyes can play a pivotal role. Is there a sustainable solution? Polyester wastes that are not mechanically reused can be depolymerized via MADE, a Microwave Assisted DEpolymerization, able to recover terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (MEG) that can be used to produce new virgin PET and then more sustainable fibers, avoiding nonrenewable sources. With MADE it will be no anymore recycled PET but brand-new PET from recycled monomers.
Maurizio Crippa, Ph.D. | Founder and Inventor , Gr3n SA
Recycling PPE Waste into Reusable Resin for Car Parts
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly increased the amount of single-use plastic, especially as personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves, disinfecting wipes, and medical-grade facemasks have become common among the general public. The need for public health, however, has ushered in a pandemic of another kind: one of environmental harm. Although efforts have been made to prolong use or otherwise reduce waste of these items, many areas have already seen negative effects of both properly discarded and littered PPE. It is estimated 89 million masks are used globally per month, and in the U.S. alone, the healthcare system generates 5 million tons of medical waste annually, not including drastic scale-up during the pandemic. Other countries have up to eighteen times that amount, far exceeding capacity at disposal facilities. To reduce the environmental threat from these items, which have become necessary to maintain public health, the Hyundai-Kia Materials Development Department collaborated with a U.S.-based specialty recycling facility to develop a supply chain for collecting and compounding these disposable items into reusable resin. The objective is to develop cost-effective material for automotive use, supporting Hyundai Motor Company global sustainability goals. Sourcing and collection was conducted at medical centers and research labs, with stringent protocols to eliminate any possible biohazard risks. Compounding was completed to meet internal specification requirements and preliminary testing shows promising results for mechanical performance. Targeting interior and exterior trim components for two vehicle platforms, this development is expected to divert 1 thousand tons of PPE waste annually. Although similar recycling efforts are in progress around the world, this will be world-first for the automotive industry, enabling drop-in replacement for current materials. Future work can include the addition of regional collection partners to support global production, as well as additional compounding such as the development of glass-fiber reinforced structural grades.
Amanda Nummy | Senior Polymer Materials Engineer, Hyundai Motor Group
End of Conference
Advisory Board