Adam Wozniak, Amco Polymers | Notable Leaders in Sustainability 2023

For Adam Wozniak, sustainability isn't limited to his job as sustainability manager for resin distributor Amco Polymers.

"Every day, I continue to educate industry professionals on the benefits of sustainability, and this carries over into my personal and home life," he said. "I love to widen the eyes and minds of children and show them how their recycling efforts at home and school lead to new material development and innovation for fuels and technologies of the future."

Wozniak added that "it's important for all plastics [industry] professionals to convey the message that plastics recycling works and, now more than ever, we're poised to make a significant difference."

Wozniak has held his current position with Orlando, Fla.-based Amco since 2022. He has previous industry experience with materials firms Enviroplas Inc. and Albis Plastics.

"Plastics are too valuable to let go to waste," Wozniak said. "Especially when we can recapture their dynamic design capabilities through mechanical recycling, and when that's been exhausted, we can move to advanced molecular recycling in which it can be used again and again."

New technologies "also divert the need for crude and carbon-based gases required for polymerization today," he added. "This, incorporated into mass balance polymerization, leads to outstanding efficiencies while helping to reduce scope 3 carbon emissions."

Although no single technology can meet market demands, Wozniak said that by using them together, the industry "can truly make a difference in reducing climate change and staying within the goal of keeping temperatures below 1.5° C over the next 10 years."

Before his plastics career, Wozniak was focused on athletics and a possible medical career.

"I began my college career wanting to play professional soccer and become a pediatrician," he said. "My medical background provided the fundamental chemistry background, and soccer led me to my first plastics position when a teammate who knew I had a chemistry background asked what I knew about plastics and if I was interested in learning more.

"Within a month, I relocated to Rosenberg, Texas, to begin training and learning more about the industry that I knew played a major role in all things that were part of my life," he said.

Looking ahead, Wozniak said that the industry "now is challenged with getting people off the starting blocks and onto their own personal pathway to sustainability and sustainable design."

"We need to improve and expand upon our partnerships for improved legislation, design and development," he added. "It's with transformative thinking and collaboration that we'll continue to build a more [sustainable] world for current and future generations.

"Sustainability is not an individual participation event. It requires teamwork, cross pollination and ideation development of all industry experts."

Every day, I continue to educate industry professionals on the benefits of sustainability, and this carries over into my personal and home life."