Sustainable Packaging and Recycling
How can we help you define your sustainability goals?
Do you need to better understand the technology or approach that will help you move closer to your sustainability goals?
As you prioritize sustainability efforts and investments, we ensure you’re successful.
We position clients to understand that a focus on sustainability
- uncovers opportunities for growth and innovation.
- delivers impact to stakeholders.
- creates long-term value.
Whether you need to create sustainability plans, define related opportunities and challenges, set targets, or successfully deliver internal projects that ensure your sustainability goals become reality, we can help.
Let’s talk about your sustainability efforts.
Impact Stories
Are you looking for new sustainable packaging materials and solutions that maintain or exceed the capabilities and functionality of your current packaging? Are you interested in new packaging that reduces environmental impact by facilitating recyclability or accelerated biodegradation? We identify paper-, fiber-, and polymer-based packaging solutions and technologies. And we provide the insights our clients need to make informed decisions.Are
Signals
Are you prioritizing your focus on sustainability efforts? Wherever you are in the process of developing and moving towards sustainability goals, we have three recommendations to put you on the right track.
How is sustainability defined and how does sustainability change the innovation process? About 10 years ago, Innovation Advisor Dr. Jamie Pero-Parker collaborated on published research that investigated those questions. Much of what she postulated is playing out today.
Dr. Jamie Pero-Parker shares her views on sustainability and plastics recycling. Well-versed in the subjects, Dr. Parker co-led an effort to help use RTI International’s (RTI) Innovation Ecosystems methodology to build a plastic recycling industry cluster in the Ohio River Valley. She also helps corporate clients identify technologies to recover and/or recycle plastics.
Our Experts
Susan Mayer, Food Industry Lead
With great problem-solving, strategic, and communication skills, our clients rely on Susan Mayer's experience in product development, product lifecycle management, and public-private food industry partnerships. Applying that expertise, Susan helps organization understand how technology, research, and the right suppliers can create innovation opportunities. Susan has an M.S. in Food Science and a B.S. in Foods from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is a Certified Food Scientist.
Lawrence Blume, Ph.D., Food Industry Co-Lead
Lawrence Blume, Ph.D., is passionate about collaborative partnerships that bring innovative solutions to challenging research and development roadblocks. He helps life science, food & beverage, and consumer goods companies develop technical insights and business models that unlock and yield disruptive innovation in core products and markets. He received a Ph.D. in Physiology & Pharmacology from Wake Forest School of Medicine and a B.S.in Biology with a minor in Biochemistry from Duquesne University.
Tawanda Muzhingi, Ph.D.
Food scientist, nutritional biochemist and international development expert Tawanda Muzhingi, Ph.D., has over 20 years’ global experience supporting innovation initiatives for food and agriculture companies and foundations. Dr. Muzhingi received his Ph.D. in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition and M.S. Food Policy and Applied Nutrition from Tufts University, and his B.S. in Nutrition from the University of Zimbabwe. In 2018, he received the IFT Emerging Leaders Network Award.
Jamie Pero Parker, Ph.D.
With an academic background in chemistry, Jamie Pero Parker, Ph.D., leads our work in sustainability. She works across issues related to sustainability: from finding alternatives to perfluorinated coatings, to addressing halogenated flame retardants and using waste heat to power factories. Currently most of her work is focused on plastic recycling and pollution. She is an engaging and passionate teacher who speaks English and Spanish.
Jamie has a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a BS in Chemistry form the University of Utah.
Amanda Rose
A systems thinker, Amanda Rose has dedicated her career to supporting initiatives that leverage innovative technologies, cross-sectoral collaborations, and novel policy and market mechanisms to drive long-term impact in emerging markets. Amanda combines a generative mindset for envisioning future systems change and a unique skillset in facilitation, design, research, and project management. Amanda received a B.S. in Chemistry and in Interdisciplinary Studies from North Carolina State University and an M.S. in International Science and Technology Policy from The George Washington University.
Jacob Smith, Ph.D.
Jacob Smith, Ph.D., leads research efforts for technology scouting and landscaping, partner identification and assessment, and technology commercialization assessment. Whether evaluating a next-generation propulsion technology for commercial potential or landscaping high barrier enabling coatings for more sustainable food packaging, Jacob collects, organizes, analyzes, and delivers research and results clearly and enables clients to easily evaluate the big picture and drill down to investigate the details. Jacob received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Chemistry and Spanish from Austin College.