Sustainability in Packaging US
The premier event for sustainability and packaging professionals
View Agenda
March 10-12, 2026
Chicago, IL
See Who Attends>>>
How Can I Get Involved?
Position your company as a leader in the sustainability sector- apply to showcase your solutions in the exhibit hall as a 2026 sponsor. We have a variety of opportunities from a morning wellness session to an interactive networking hall.
2026 Sponsor Brochure>>>
.png?ext=.png)
Kimberly Kovacs is the CEO of RENW. She also serves as CEO of Element6 Dynamics, an agtech innovator focused on reducing Scope 3 emissions and advancing biogenic carbon solutions through industrial hemp.
With over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, Kimberly has a reputation for developing and scaling solutions. The inaugural Forbes 50 over 50 in Investing honoree has played a founding role in seven companies, successfully raised over $120 million in equity capital and achieved multiple lucrative exits.
Her past accomplishments include co-founding Oryxe Energy, where she led the development of a bio-based additive that allowed refineries to meet clean air emission standards without costly infrastructure changes. This gained attention from the EPA and Congress, leading to work with Hillary Clinton to amend the Clean Air Act, facilitating the additive's adoption. Her efforts resulted in significant partnerships with oil companies and a $300 million acquisition offer from DuPont. Now at the helm of RENW and Element6 Dynamics, Kimberly continues to pioneer sustainable solutions that meet the needs of businesses and their customers.
Bio to come!
Bio to come!
Apurva has spent almost his entire career in the films and flexible packaging industry – first through several sales & marketing roles within Dow Chemical’s Packaging & Specialty Plastics business. In between his time at Dow and CNG, Apurva was at L.E.K. consulting, a London-based strategy consulting firm, where he advised private equity firms looking to invest in the packaging space. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Clemson University and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Apurva lives in Chicago with his wife, Amy, and son, Liam.
Apurva also serves on the board of MyPlas USA, a plastic film recycler that is building a state-of-the-art facility in the greater Minneapolis area.
Bio to come!
Annice Kim, PhD, is the Senior Director of the Center for Media Impact and Consumer Behavior Research at RTI International. She leads multidisciplinary teams investigating how marketing and regulatory environments surrounding products such as tobacco, drugs, and food shape consumer perceptions, attitudes, motivations, and behaviors. Drawing on methods ranging from social listening and policy analysis to consumer focus groups, surveys, and experimental message testing, Dr. Kim delivers timely, actionable insights that help clients anticipate emerging trends and understand how communication and regulation influence real-world consumer decision-making.
Sameer is a R&D Director, External Innovation at PepsiCo. In this role, he manages PepsiCo’s open innovation platform and strategic partnerships to source external technologies that can impact the company’s wide portfolio of food and beverage products. These technologies can range from packaging materials, ingredients and processing to digital technologies and business model innovations.
Prior to his current role, Sameer held various roles within Packaging R&D at PepsiCo and before that at the Wm. WRIGLEY Jr. Company, successfully leading packaging development for commercial launches of new beverage, food and confectionary products as well as longer term development on new packaging materials and technologies. Sameer began his career in the materials industry working on polymer films and coatings as well as glass and fiberglass for GE Plastics and PPG Industries. He has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston and B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Scott Jost has spent 35 years leading design, innovation, and sustainability initiatives across industries. He heads Studio One Eleven—one of the world’s largest packaging design consultancies—and oversees Corporate Marketing and Sustainability at Berlin Packaging.
As Chief Innovation Officer, he built and scaled multiple service divisions, growing Studio One Eleven from a two-person internal team into an internationally recognized group of 90+ designers, engineers, sustainability experts, and strategists across North America, Europe, and Asia. The business models he developed earned ISO 9001 certification, more than 200 global design awards, and over 3,000 design and utility patents.
Scott holds degrees in Technical Illustration and Industrial Design, along with a dual MBA in Marketing Management and Corporate Strategy from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. A frequent industry speaker, he has been quoted in publications including Inc., Chicago Tribune, and Packaging World. His client experience spans food and beverage, personal care,
Rose Shulman is a Sustainable Packaging Director at the LEGO Group. There she works in a strategic function, helping to set the company’s sustainable packaging ambitions and enabling the organization to deliver on their aggressive environmental sustainability goals. She has over 15 years of experience in the packaging industry at major corporations including The Hershey Company and Hasbro. Rose also serves on the Advisory Board for Sustainability in Packaging US and EU. She is active in the diversity and inclusion space and is passionate about making a positive impact on people and the planet.
Dr. Sandeep Kulkarni is the founder and President of KoolEarth Solutions Inc., a technical consulting and business development company focused on helping companies develop and commercialize new sustainable packaging solutions as well as to improve the sustainability footprint of existing packaging and to reduce/eliminate packaging waste. He is also VP, Plastics and Packaging at Ubuntoo (www.ubuntoo.com), a unique environmental solutions platform to address plastic waste, plastic litter, food waste, sustainable fashion and so on.
Sandeep has over 20 years of industry experience working for several large packaging companies, such as International Paper, Neenah Paper and Georgia Pacific. Most recently he worked for PepsiCo, in the area of sustainable beverage packaging. His diverse expertise includes recycling, bioplastics, paper based as well as molded fiber packaging. Sandeep has 7 granted patents as well as several publications in industry journals. He has also served on conference advisory boards and has delivered several invited presentations, at international conferences, on the topics of sustainability and sustainable packaging. Sandeep serves as an Adjunct Professor at The Packaging School (a spinoff from Clemson University) as well as the North Carolina State University. Recently he was elected to serve as member of the Executive Committee of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) for 3 year term (2021-2024)
35 years experience in the Household products and the food industry globally, in product, process and packaging development.
Responsibilities cover sustainability corporate goal deliverables for packaging, reporting out for Global EPR compliance, driving our How2Recycle label program and development programs to lower environmental impact.
Previous external role as Vice President of the International Microwave Power Institute.
Bio coming soon!