Big Ideas

Erin Simon, head of Plastic at WWF, joins David Clark, vice president of sustainability at Amcor, on the Big Ideas podcast to discuss progress toward reducing plastic in the environment. The pair also discuss the progress made by WWF's “ReSource: Plastic” initiative, and its recently released progress report, Transparent 2021.

Mael Arribas, research analyst with the global commitment team of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, joined David Clark, Amcor's vice president of sustainability, on Amcor's Big Ideas podcast to discuss the progress brands and retailers are making towards a circular economy. In the podcast, they discuss the findings of the most recent Global Commitment 2021 Progress Report, the huge potential of reuse models and why a global treaty on plastic is essential to achieving a circular economy, in order to prevent a patchwork of disconnected solutions.

Gabriel Thoumi, head of the plastics program and director of financial markets at Planet Tracker, joined David Clark, Amcor's vice president of sustainability, on Amcor's Big Ideas podcast to discuss the financial market's growing interest in one of the packaging industry's trending topics – plastics underserved by recycling infrastructure.  In the podcast, they discuss how investor and analyst attention is having knock-on effects for the packaging landscape and driving innovation, creating opportunities and making lower impact products. The financial market is starting to take a greater interest – but how can this interest drive change for more responsible packaging and positive environmental outcomes?  You can also read the Unwrapping Investor Risk report and the Stormy Outlook report, both written by Planet Tracker.  Finally, you can watch the ‘ESG & the Global Plastic Supply Chain: Uncovering material risks & opportunities in a changing world' event by clicking here. 

Ensuring a strong future for the packaging industry requires innovation, education and state-of-the-art technology. Leading the way are pioneering university programs, which play a pinnacle role in preparing the next generation of packaging professionals in facing the industry's most pressing challenges.   In this podcast, Amcor's Vice President of Sustainability, David Clark, and Michigan State University School of Packaging Assistant Professor, Dr. Muhammed Rabnawaz, reflect on the two organizations' recent partnership and the opportunities it presents to the packaging industry. The pair discuss how undertaking a packaging degree can give students a more complete picture, gaining an insight into health and safety requirements and an understanding of all stages of the packaging lifestyle from distribution to end-of-life. The duo also consider how universities can use the combination of critical thinking, traditional academia and using sophisticated industry technology to drive innovation and critical research to inspire more sustainable packaging solutions.

Not all communities are built the same when it comes to dealing with packaging at the end of its life. Understanding how to engage individuals, groups and broader regions is a crucial part of successful recycling, composting and reusing. In this podcast, Amcor's Vice President of Sustainability, David Clark, discusses McKinsey.org's ‘Rethinking Recycling' initiative with Cynthia Shih, Director of Knowledge and Larissa Sakamoto, Program Manager. They discuss their pilot project in Argentina, which aims to empower every community to build green, inclusive, and economic recycling systems.

There have been a lot of conversations around the importance of designing packaging for responsible end of life scenarios. From recycling, to reuse, to composting, there are many critical aspects to consider. In this podcast, Elizabeth Schuessler, Senior Director of Social Change, Behavior and Impact, and Cody Marshall, Chief Community Strategy Officer at the Recycling Partnership join Amcor’s Vice President of Sustainability, David Clark, to discuss a crucial part of the equation: consumer engagement.

Plastic waste is now a widely understood issue, and with it, the limitations to recycling have become clear. In this episode of the Big Ideas podcast, Matt Prindiville, the CEO and Chief Solutioneer at UPSTREAM, joins Amcor's Vice President of Sustainability, David Clark, to discuss reusable packaging and how innovative product delivery models can help reduce plastic waste.

Michiel De Smet, Finance Programme Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Amcor’s David Clark discuss the lack of awareness of finance’s role in the circular economy, and how bankers and investors are driving a rapid uptake of circular models. The question is no longer if climate change matters to the financial sector, but how it will address it.

Joi Danielson, Co-Founder of Vital Ocean and Partner at SYSTEMIQ, is on the frontline of waste management. In this episode, Amcor’s David Clark talks with Joi on working with governments to address the structural constraints to waste management systems, her free book ‘Leave No Trace’, and the five challenges to overcome to create real change.

John Caturano, Senior Sustainability Manager, Packaging and Programs at Nestle Waters NA, discusses ‘designing for recycling’ with Amcor’s David Clark. Discover how well-designed packaging fits into the wider recycling infrastructure. Here’s the article mentioned in the episode: https://www.tribpub.com/gdpr/courant.com/

Two billion people rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, with some cocoa farmers living on fewer than 70 cents a day. Amcor’s David Clark and Fairtrade UK’s Catherine David talk about how the Fairtrade Foundation builds more sustainable supply chains that are economically secure, fairly paid, and more dignified for people in them. They also talk about how products are certified by Fairtrade and how packaging plays a role.

Adrienna Zsakay, CEO at Circular Economy Asia, talks with Amcor’s David Clark about how the Asian Plastics and Packaging Agreement (APPA) is working to achieve a more circular plastics and packaging system in the region. One way is by encouraging consumers to make more informed choices about recycling. Tune in to hear Adrienna and David discuss this and more. 

Monetizing plastic waste is not only good for the environment but it also helps to facilitate social change. In this episode of Big Ideas, Amcor’s David Clark speaks to David Katz, Founder, and CEO of Plastic Bank about how he is providing a way for people to escape poverty through plastic.

How can businesses realize the circular advantage? Amcor’s David Clark speaks with Wesley Spindler, Business Strategy and Sustainability Senior Manager at Accenture and co-author of ‘The Circular Economy Handbook’ about competitive advantage and the circular economy.

In the 20th episode of the Big Ideas podcast series, Amcor's David Clark talks to Philippe Blank, Head of Packaging Sustainability at Henkel beauty care, about the company's recyclability evaluation tool, Easy D4R, and its "achieving more with less" Factor 3 sustainability strategy. 

Scenario planning, a strategic planning method, is applied to climate change and discussed by Nardia Haigh, business strategist and associate professor of management at the University of Massachusetts, and Amcor’s David Clark. The focus on the potential impacts of climate change on businesses and how scenario planning can be applied to plastic waste are examined, as the pair discuss Haigh’s new book on the subject.

In this special episode, Amcor’s David Clark hosts a panel at the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit about how we have all the tools to act now to stop plastic pollution if we work together. Panelists are Sander Defruyt, Lead, New Plastics Economy at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Kevin Rabinovitch, Global VP Sustainability at Mars and Allen Langdon, CEO at Encorp Pacific.

Recycling is often seen as a singular entity, but it is actually a whole chain of elements from collection to end-usage of recycled material. Amcor’s David Clark speaks to Dr. Shannon Bouton, Global Executive Director, Sustainable Communities at McKinsey.org, about rethinking recycling and what that involves at the community level in emerging economies like Argentina and Indonesia. 

To coincide with UN World Environment Day, Erin Simon, Director of Sustainable Research and Development at WWF, talks with Amcor’s David Clark about WWF’s four-pillar strategy on plastic waste and insights from her recently published report ‘No Plastic in Nature: a Practical Guide for Business Engagement’.

Inspirational UN “Champion of the Earth” Afroz Shah talks with Amcor’s David Clark about his passion for the environment. He started a movement to clean up one beach in India and spurred a movement that cleared more than 20,000 tonnes of trash from that location. Today, he is a globally recognised voice, spreading the word about waste reduction and the need to protect oceans and rivers across India – and around the world.

Stephen Harrod, consultant at Smithers Pira – leader in packaging testing and market research – and author of ‘The Future of Ecommerce Packaging to 2022’ report, talks with Amcor’s David Clark about ecommerce and the circular economy, preventing product damage, and packaging for ecommerce versus bricks-and-mortar.

Extended producer responsibility is a hot topic. Amcor’s David Clark speaks with Michelle Carvell from Lorax Compliance (a company delivering environmental compliance software and consultancy to organizations who need to comply with EPR directives) about what can be learned from Canada, Chile and Australia when it comes to effective EPR systems.

Todd Bukowski, Principal at PTIS, LLC a Packaging and Management Consultancy, speaks to David Clark about the future of packaging. What are some of the big trends that are going to impact packaging over the next few decades? He discusses their ‘future of packaging’ program and insight study which identified the shifting trends to look out for and the four key standouts he thinks are particularly important.

Novamont’s Vice President of Marketing, Paul Darby, talks with David Clark about bioplastics – what they are, how they’re made, and how to dispose of them. They explore the crucial difference between ‘biodegradable’ and ‘compostable’. The meaning of compostable is explained in this video that Novamont helped to create and was shared by the New Plastics Economy initiative here.

Find out which government policies helped to double recycling rates in the US and dramatically increase recycling of PET bottles in Lithuania in this podcast featuring students from the University of Michigan. The group talks with Amcor’s David Clark about their Master’s project on how policy can help to close the plastics loop – which is sponsored by Amcor and will be published later in 2019.

Kyla Fisher describes how AMERIPEN is optimizing recycling systems and tackles big questions around what exactly recycling means and how we can plan for the future for emerging markets. What happens when new materials, new markets and multi-material packaging solutions need to be incorporated into the existing recycling system?

Sander Defruyt, leader of the new plastics economy at the Ellen MacArthur foundation, gives his vision for the future of plastic packaging, and reveals why over 250 businesses, associations and governments have joined a global a commitment to end plastic pollution

Eric Desroberts , manager of the trash free seas programme at Ocean Conservancy, discusses how to capitalise on the huge public awareness around ocean pollution, and why systemic partnerships are needed to create a diverse and healthy ecosystem.

Lon Pschigoda, leader of the world-class paper recycling pilot plant at Western Michigan University, talks Dave through the biggest misconceptions around paper recycling and the innovations we can hope to see to tomorrow’s paper products, from coffee cups to pizza boxes

Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership, argues that while recycling may feel universal, most people do not do it properly, and that more global partnerships are needed to help turn the tide.

Dave Cornell, a 42-year veteran of the PET industry, talks Dave through the commitments that organisations and governments need to be making to deliver on their recyclability claims

Andrea Haas of Earthwatch shares her passion for the marine environment and the challenges currently facing it, which has led her to create marine debris programs with hundreds of organizations and individuals.

Patty Moore, a global expert in plastic recycling and president of Sustainable Materials Managment of California (SMMofCA), discusses the steps businesses and consumers can take to create more impactful recycling programs around the world

Procter and Gamble’s Steve Sikra sits down with Amcor’s vice president, sustainability, David Clark to discuss how global collaboration is creating more innovative and environmentally responsible packaging, and how P&G is committed to protecting the marine environment.