Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum USA

27th - 28th October 2026

Chicago, USA

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Home Agenda Day 2

Opening remarks

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Welcome words by Ian Welsh, Innovation Forum‘s co-founder and chair, and Conor Carlin, president of the Institute of Packaging Professionals.

Ian and Conor will reflect on the takeaways from the first day of discussions, and challenge the room with topics to reflect upon for day 2.

Previous session:

Hard-to-recycle packaging: Lessons for cross-industry collaboration

Next session:

Circular economy as industrial strategy: How to build stronger value chains and local economies

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Day 0

Monday 26th October 2026

Time
Session title
Session theme
Session type
12:00pm - 4:00pm
Visit to TerraCycle's sorting facility and operations center 
5:00pm - 6:00pm
Pre-conference drinks 
Day 1

Tuesday 27th October 2026

Time
Session title
Session theme
Session type
8:45am - 8:50am
Welcome words 
Institute of Packaging Professionals
8:50am - 9:10am
Sustainable packaging innovation: What it means today for industry and consumers 
Smurfit Westrock
Fireside chat
9:10am - 9:50am
EPR compliance infrastructure: What do the rules require and what can the market deliver? 
RecycleMe | The Recycling Partnership | ALDI USA | Unilever
Plenary
9:50am - 10:30am
How to leverage packaging as an asset: Data, materials and what actually drives ROI 
Reverse Logistics Group | Mars
Plenary
10:30am - 11:00am
Networking break
11:00am - 11:10am
Lightning Talks 
11:10am - 11:50am
Closing the loop: How to develop viable end markets for secondary materials 
Tetra Pak | Can Manufacturers Institute | Crown Holdings | NAPCOR
Plenary
11:50am - 12:20pm
The right tech for the right material: How to advance a more circular economy for plastics 
ExxonMobil Signature Polymers | Amcor
Plenary
12:20pm - 1:20pm
Lunch
1:30pm - 2:15pm
Breakout sessions - Round 1 
2:15pm - 3:00pm
Breakout sessions - Round 2 
3:00pm - 3:30pm
Afternoon break
3:30pm - 4:15pm
Solution hubs 
4:15pm - 5:00pm
Case studies 
5:00pm - 6:00pm
Networking drinks
Day 2

Wednesday 28th October 2026

Time
Session title
Session theme
Session type
8:45am - 8:55am
Opening remarks 
8:55am - 9:30am
Circular economy as industrial strategy: How to build stronger value chains and local economies 
Delterra | Martin Brower | Washington State Department of Commerce
Plenary
9:30am - 9:50am
Q&A with CalRecycle: What’s the state of play in the largest US market? 
CalRecycle
Q&A
9:50am - 10:00am
Lightning Talks 
10:00am - 10:30am
Networking break
10:30am - 11:10am
Reuse at scale: What works, what doesn’t, and pathways forward 
Mastercard | Tomra | Sustainable Packaging Coalition
Plenary
11:10am - 11:50am
The network effect: What happens when the value chain moves together 
McDonald's | The Coca-Cola Company | Novolex
Case study
11:50am - 12:30pm
Innovation that sells: translating consumer behavior into new market opportunities 
Keurig Dr Pepper | Rabobank
Plenary
12:30pm - 1:30pm
Lunch
1:30pm - 3:00pm
Roundtables 
3:00pm - 3:20pm
Participatory closing session: Roundtables wrap-up and key takeaways 
Institute of Packaging Professionals
Plenary

Contact

For any questions on this event, please contact:

Lia Da Giau

Senior Project Manager

Contact Lia 

Emma Goodyer

Partnerships Manager

Contact Emma 

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Our sustainable packaging series include biannual in-person forums in Europe and North America, webinars and podcasts discussing business sustainability insights and packaging innovation updates with leading expert voices.

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