Sustainability in Packaging US
The premier event for sustainability and packaging professionals
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📅March 10-12, 2026
📍Chicago, IL
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How Can I Get Involved?
Position your company as a leader in corporate sustainability practices innovation and technology- apply to showcase your solutions in the exhibit hall as a 2026 sponsor. We have a variety of opportunities from tangible items to a morning wellness session and an interactive networking hall.
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Bio to come!
Dr. Kyle Miller is a research scientist specializing in the application of machine learning, informatics, and simulation methods to materials design and optimization. He currently works at Citrine Informatics, where he contributes to multidisciplinary research programs spanning nuclear waste forms, recycled alloys, and advanced ceramics, in collaboration with industry, academia, and national laboratories. Prior to joining Citrine, Kyle conducted research at Sandia National Laboratories and Northwestern University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering.
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.
Hodayah Finman is the Senior Director for Regulatory Affairs at the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), where she leads advocacy strategies on behalf of member companies to advance science- and fact-based regulations on environmental, health, and safety issues at federal and international levels. She oversees a multidisciplinary program focused on priority regulatory issues, including chemicals management, food contact materials, recycled plastics, and environmental marketing and sustainability claims.
Prior to joining PLASTICS in 2025, Ms. Finman served as acting Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of International Affairs, where she managed the Agency’s bilateral and multilateral environmental programs and represented the United States in high-level international negotiations. In this role, she helped shape global environmental policy outcomes across a range of multilateral fora, including the United Nations, Arctic Council, OECD, G7, and G20.
Ms. Finman has more than 27 years of experience in federal government service and is widely recognized as a seasoned leader, negotiator, and strategic thinker. Her career has been marked by a deep understanding of regulatory systems, international policy development, and stakeholder engagement, as well as a solution-oriented approach to advancing environmental protection alongside growth and innovation.
As Strategic Sourcing Manager for Circular Feedstocks at Eastman, Marija is charged with developing PET feed streams and partnerships for Eastman’s molecular recycling technologies. Her efforts with the waste industry, PET reclaimers and advocacy organizations are centered on PET streams that are not being collected today or do not have viable end markets. She represents Eastman in The Recycling Partnership’s PET Recycling Coalition and NAPCOR. Prior to Eastman, she has worked in the plastics packaging industry for close to a decade in various supply chain and procurement roles. Most recently, she managed the PET category for a large US converter.
Bio to come!
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!