Industry Leaders Form Sustainable Packaging Alliance

EAST LANSING, Mich.Industry leaders including Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical Co., Colgate-Palmolive, DuPont, Kellogg Co. and Procter & Gamble have formed a new sustainable packaging trade organization to create environmentally- and economically-sound packaging initiatives.

The American Institution for Packaging and the Environment (AMERIPEN) was modeled after similar efforts in Europe and Britain and will engage on public policies impacting the packaging value chain on topics related to packaging and the environment. The new organization will represent the interests of the industry that include raw material producers, packaging manufacturers, packaging users and fillers, retailers and material recovery organizations. It will collaborate with trade associations, academic institutions, non-profits and government agencies to facilitate relevant research and data collection.

Corporate founders include The Coca-Cola Co., Colgate-Palmolive, ConAgra Foods, The Dow Chemical Co., DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers, Kellogg Company, MeadWestvaco (MWV), Procter & Gamble, Sealed Air Corp. and Tetra Pak, Inc.

 AMERIPEN will further enhance the packaging value chains commitment to continuously improving its sustainability profile and reducing packaging waste," said Joan Pierce, AMERIPEN president. The organization will play an instrumental role in conveying this message to opinion leaders in North America and ensuring that participants in the packaging value chain have maximum scope to innovate, compete and operate in a resource-efficient way. Having a voice to represent common industry views of these matters and help shape public policy is an absolute essential. In Europe our experience with such an approach over more than 20 years has been positive and productive for industry."