I write about plastics and sustainability a lot. This week, I'm going to share my platform.
Our second annual Notable Leaders in Sustainability includes profiles of 12 highly qualified individuals whose careers are focused on plastics and sustainability.
Thanks to everyone who nominated someone this year, and congratulations to the folks who were selected. This has become an annual special report for Plastics News, and our next one is scheduled for Sept. 29, 2025.
Being responsible for sustainability is a good career path these days, and I think that's a great sign of the progress that the plastics industry is making.
We asked all of this year's honorees to explain their philosophy related to plastics and sustainability. Here are some highlights:
Katherine Hofmann, sustainability strategic initiatives manager, Eastman
"My personal philosophy is that plastics and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. We always need to use the right material in the right application, and plastics are often the lowest environmental impact material, aside from the waste generated.
"We do have a significant waste problem, but that is something we can fix through product design, innovation, investment and education in end of use. There is no sustainable future without plastics, but the future of plastics is diminished if we as industry don't embrace holistic sustainability practices from beginning to end."
Scott Trenor, technical director, Association of Plastic Recyclers
"There is no perfect material, just better materials/options for a specific application."
Justin Riney, commercial sustainability manager, Ineos Styrolution America
"Sustainability means different things to different people, but to me, it is about balance. I would like to find an ecological balance in that the end-of-life issues of our products are important, but the rest of the product's life cycle and overall impact is just as important.
"Plastics such as polystyrene are the best option from a life cycle analysis perspective for our customer's applications. Using plastics for these applications reduce the overall impact on the environment when compared with competing materials such as paper, glass and metal."
Zach Muscato, corporate sustainability manager, Plastic Ingenuity
"I believe that plastics play an essential and irreplaceable role in our everyday lives. My work has focused on the packaging industry, where plastics protect the food we serve our families at night and protect the medical devices and pharmaceuticals trusted to ensure health.
"Given their lightweight nature, relatively low energy it takes to make them, and superior product protection performance, plastic is often the most sustainable material choice for packaging. However, too much plastic packaging goes to waste. We need to do a better job as an industry working with stakeholders to reduce waste and improve circularity so that we can continue reaping the many benefits plastics provide."
John Avolio, value chain manager, Nova Chemicals
"We cannot continue to work in silos. We need to bring our work out of the shadows and share results allowing innovation and collaboration to move quickly towards adoption.
"At Nova, my work focuses on trying to help brands and retailers meet their 2025+ sustainability goals and aspirations. When I started this role in 2019, I noticed that as a whole, packaging producers shared similar goals, but no one was talking openly about their work, ... opportunities for improvement or lessons learned from failures. This created silos of education, which limits progress."
Alejandra Carrion, global sustainability procurement development leader, Trinseo plc
"Plastics play a vital role in our society, and I deeply appreciate the added value they provide in preserving, protecting and enhancing everyday items.
"I believe there is a need for broader understanding and education about the benefits of plastics, while also improving awareness about the need for circularity.
"We truly need to transform how we use, manage and reuse these valuable resources to ensure plastics are not only functional but also optimized for their end applications, which could have some environmental benefits over alternative materials. With a growing plastics waste problem around the world, investing in circularity will not only help us solve this issue but also mitigate the impact of our industry on climate change."
Don Loepp is the editor of Plastics News and author of the Plastics Blog.