The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) 2024 Joint IEDO-AMMTO Sustainable Food and Beverage Packaging Workshop was held in person on Sept. 24 and 25, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois.
The workshop brought together industrial food and beverage producers, packaging technology providers, related trade associations, academic institutions, national labs, and government stakeholders to identify key challenges, priorities, and opportunities surrounding sustainable packaging as part of industrial decarbonization efforts with respect to the U.S. food and beverage manufacturing sector.
The first day of the two-day workshop involved a series of presentations, including an overview of the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office's food and beverage portfolio along with the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office's sustainable materials portfolio from DOE leaders. Additionally, stakeholders presented on sustainable packaging topics that covered various areas, including food packaging materials, edible packaging, food loss, and plastic recycling and circularity.
The second day of the workshop included the following four breakout sessions focused on identifying key technology priorities to advance sustainable food and beverage packaging:
- Food packaging materials
- Innovations in food packaging
- Post-processing activities and storage
- Recycling infrastructure and circularity of food packaging.
Following the breakout sessions, all attendees reconvened at the end of the workshop where each breakout group reported on the main outputs related to decarbonization priorities, challenges, and barriers discussed.
The publications for this workshop include the detailed workshop agenda and select presentations from the plenary session of the workshop, which include the following:
7:30-9 a.m. Registration, Breakfast, and Networking – Atrium 9‒9:15 a.m. Workshop Introduction and Logistics – Room: Rosemont #1 9:15-10 a.m. Welcoming Remarks and IEDO Program Overview
Yaroslav Chudnovsky, Senior Technology Manager, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO)10‒10:30 a.m. AMMTO Sustainable Materials Portfolio Overview
Allison Robinson Turner, Technology Manager, DOE Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO)10:30-11 a.m. (a.m.) Networking Break 11‒11:30 a.m. Plenary Talk #1: Sustainable Food Packaging Materials
Eva Almenar, Professor, Michigan State University11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Plenary Talk #2: Innovations in Food and Beverage Packaging: Edible Packaging – Opportunities and Challenges
Yanyun Zhao, Professor, Oregon State University12‒1:30 p.m. Networking Lunch 1:30-2 p.m. Plenary Talk #3: Role of Food Packaging in Food Loss and Carbon Intensity
Kristina Armstrong, R&D Assistant Staff Member, Oak Ridge National Laboratory2‒2:30 p.m. Plenary Talk #4: Plastics Recycling and Circularity
Allison Robinson Turner, Technology Manager, AMMTO2:30-3 p.m. (p.m.) Break 3‒3:30 p.m. Plenary Talk #5: Packaging Technology and Research
Claire Koelsch Sand, Owner, Packaging Technology and Research, LLC3:30-4 p.m. Plenary Talk #6: Sustainable Possibilities through Kuraray’s High-Barrier EVAL™ EVOH
Edgard Chow, Director of Technical Service and Development, Kuraray America, Inc.4‒4:30 p.m. Q&A for Day 1 and Plans for Day 2 4:30 p.m. Adjourn for Day 1 8-9 a.m. Breakfast and Networking – Atrium 9‒9:15 a.m. Introduction and Logistics of the Breakout Sessions – Room: Rosemont #1 9:15-10:30 a.m. Breakout Session #1: Food Packaging Materials 10:30‒10:50 a.m. Networking Break 10:50-11:50 a.m. Breakout Session #2: Innovations in Food Packaging 11:50 a.m.‒12:50
p.m.Networking Lunch 12:50-1:50 p.m. Breakout Session #3: Post-Processing Activities and Storage 1:50‒2 p.m. Break 2-3 p.m. Breakout Session #4: Recycling Infrastructure and Circularity of Food Packaging 3‒3:30 p.m. Networking Break 3:30-4 p.m. Breakout Sessions Outcome Report Outs – Room: Rosemont #1 4‒4:30 p.m. Closing Remarks 4:30 p.m. Adjourn for Day 2