In this special roundtable episode of the Product and Packaging Powerhouse, host Megan Young Gamble sat down with industry experts Emily Anne Friedman (Recycled Plastics Editor, ICIS), and Ryan Fox (Packaging Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence) and Nicole Toole (Founder of ECGO) to unpack definitions of sustainability, the impact of data and technology, consumer education, and policy approaches like EPR. The panel considers how to move toward a more circular economy, while acknowledging the real-world constraints of infrastructure, cost, and market incentives.

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[Powerhouse Guests Social Links]  

1. Emily Anne Friedman - Recycled Plastics Senior Market Editor, Americas ICIS

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyannefriedman/
• Company Website: https://www.icis.com/explore/

2. Nicole Toole - Founder & CEO at ECGO

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-toole/
• Company website: https://www.ecgo.co/

3. Ryan Fox - Corrugated Packaging Market Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence 

• Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryandfox/
• Company website: https://www.green-markets.com/BOX/Index.html

Additional Resource: 

• Pizza box recycling - https://www.westrock.com/blog/pizza-box-recycling 
• Here's a great resource to help understand curbside recycling trends. - https://recyclingpartnership.org/residential-recycling-report/ 
• [Podcast] Be a Packaging Steward": Packaging Sustainability, Sales and Intentional Connections with Adam Peek “Packaging Pastor” SVP of Meyers | Host of People of Packaging Podcast. Listen here
• [Podcast] How Connected Packaging Shapes Sustainability and Traceability” with John Dwyer, Smart Packaging Expert at Smurfit Westrock & Maurizio Carano, Innovation & Marketing Director IML @ MCC Label. Listen here

Episode Quotes:.

1. It's one thing to give someone a recycling bin, it's another thing for them to actually treat it like one. - Emily
2. Your PCR, which is post-consumer recycled content, is very important, but you also have to ask, where is that recycled material coming from and what’s the overall carbon footprint? - Emily
3. Ultimately when we think about shifting people's behavior, it’s adopting the values of waste stewardship and ensuring products have the best end-of-life process. - Nicole
4. The biggest barriers are incentives and confusion, so we built technology to make it easy, local, and rewarding. - Nicole
5. Every year, corrugated captures about 35 million tons of old containers and turns them into a brand-new version that circularity is sustainability. - Ryan
6. One of the challenges is inspiring people at home to take a bigger role in recycling. That's where the biggest difference will come. - Ryan
7. Sometimes the greenest thing from a greenhouse gas perspective is actually plastic, but it’s the one that gets hit the hardest. - Ryan