Year: 2022

Held on September 19 – 21 at Clemson University, the FRESH 2022 Food, Packaging & Sustainability Summit focused on technology as an enabler of circular solutions across the food value chain and included strategies to achieve sustainability targets in both corporate and consumer environments.

With the help of Clemson students, faculty and staff, Sonoco FRESH worked to reduce as much waste as possible at the FRESH Summit. A Zero Waste event is one that has the goal of reducing the amount of waste produced at the event. An event can create a massive amount of waste, whether it is from food scraps and leftovers, handouts (agendas, speaker presentations, giveaways, etc.) or food and drink containers.

The industry standard for a Zero Waste event is 90% diversion from landfill. 87% of the waste from the FRESH Summit was composted, 12% was recycled and less than 1% was sent to landfill.

During the 2021-2022 academic year, with guest speakers from WM, Sonoco FRESH sponsored a Creative Inquiry (CI) course on Zero Waste events, with a second-semester focus specifically on the FRESH Summit. The CI students were instrumental in creating many of the processes and procedures that were implemented during the Summit to make it a Zero Waste event.

“When planning a Zero Waste event, you have to consider everything, including the materials going into your décor and the training you give your staff. You have to make sure everyone understands your message,” said Cassidy Nosenzo, a recent Clemson graduate who participated in the CI and spoke at the Summit. “The magic solution is to focus on the ‘reduce’ in reduce, reuse, recycle. The goal should be to reduce waste overall. It is difficult to have no waste produced from an event like this, but that is the goal we strive for. It’s a mindset and it starts at the beginning of a product life cycle rather than at the end.”

Guided by Clemson recycling staff and representatives from WM, the CI students researched and implemented strategies to reduce waste at the FRESH Summit, including minimizing printed materials with the use of an event app, utilizing fresh produce that was donated after the event for décor and designing menus with bulk items and locally-sourced products.

The CI students also researched eco-stations and identified the best options to help Summit attendees easily put their waste in the right bins. Some of the Summit eco-stations were donated, and the others were purchased with grants secured by the students. Waste sorts were held throughout and at the completion of the FRESH Summit where student volunteers ensured the accuracy of separation and weighed the waste. Attendees were encouraged to refrain from bringing any outside food or beverage to the Summit and to acquaint themselves with the waste streams of the Summit eco-stations and dispose of their waste correctly.

“The 99% landfill diversion rate from the Summit far exceeded our expectations and we were thrilled with the cooperation and enthusiasm of our students and attendees as we strived for a zero waste event,” said Anne Barr, Executive Director of Sonoco FRESH. “We hope that the success of our event will inspire others to consider what they can do to reduce waste in their personal and professional endeavors.”

Visit the FRESH Summit website for more information on the efforts to make the FRESH Summit a zero waste event.

Clemson students Sneh Bangar and Cayden Gates introduced their project, BioPack, at the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life sciences annual Cultivate.CAFLS competition this year. Their project was awarded third place with a monetary prize of $500 to further their research and development. These students are working towards changing the future of sustainable packaging.

Biopack was inspired by the goal of turning today’s challenges into tomorrow’s solutions. It is a starch-based film to reimagine food packaging across the commercial landscape. Rather than being designed for standard recycling, Biopack was designed with the goal of biodegradability. So often our waste finds its final stage of life in the environment, so the goal of Biopack was to counteract the problem of harmful waste in the environment and turn it into biodegradable materials.

The two explain, “The food packaging industry is a major contributor to plastic waste because most food packaging is for single-use purposes. Our goal was to find a sustainable alternative to plastic-based food packaging which led us to develop starch-based films.” Starch based films are not designed to be recycled in the traditional fashion that we are used to, and if they are recycled, the options are limited on how to recycle it. If bioplastic contaminates recycled polyethylene terephthalate, the most common plastic, or other chemical components, the entirety of the products could no longer be recycled. Consumers can sort their recycling and dispose of bioplastics in designated areas of recycling centers or find a bioplastic-specific recycling program near them. The team hopes to reinforce the starch film using Kudzu, an invasive weed that has caused sufficient economic losses for the southeast, to act as a sustainable and biodegradable alternative to single-use plastic. This will create a water soluble material that can naturally biodegrade in the environment. They shared a common goal of developing the invasive Kudzu weed into Cellulose Nanocrystals to create something positive for the environment.

The two major components used are Pearl Millet Starch and Cellulose Nanocrystals, which are both plant-based. Pearl Millet Starch has been underutilized as a natural resource, but Sneh and Cayden put their knowledge together to utilize this material as a packaging alternative that ultimately benefits the environment in the long run. Pearl Millet Starch is primarily used for forage and livestock grazing, but it requires significantly less resources to grow compared to other starch crops, essentially making it a simpler and more efficient way to create their starch-based packaging. As a result of their material usage, Biopack is designed to completely degrade within 3-4 weeks of disposal, as compared to several years for single-use plastic. The best way to dispose of Biopack is by composting. It is designed to degrade into water or slil quickly and provice natural nourishment to the environment. If disposed of into waste bins, the packaging will biodegrade on its own.

Biopack is still in its beginning stages, but Sneh and Cayden plan to push their product to become applicable for commercial use. Developing Biopack for commercial use will reduce plastic waste that is harmful to the Earth, wildlife, and humans. “We hope to produce a film that can coexist with current manufacturing operations. Our focus is to develop active packaging films for wider market acceptability” (Bangar). The future of sustainable packaging lies within the curiosity and creativity of students, and Sneh and Cayden have demonstrated that together, we can strive for a better future with the right ideas.

On March 3, Sonoco FRESH hosted a virtual event, “FRESH Perspectives on Sustainability,” that featured leaders from three global corporations who shared how their companies are addressing sustainability throughout the food value chain. Also included in the event were presentations from Clemson faculty and students and updates on upcoming events, including the FRESH 2022 Food, Packaging & Sustainability Summit.

The Shifts Creating Ripples Across Food & Agriculture
Rob Dongoski, Partner, Global Agribusiness Industry Leader, Ernst & Young LLP

Rob Dongoski provided a look into the trends driving change across the industry, what consumer behaviors are reshaping food and agriculture and what should be considered to position for growth. Rob’s presentation was a precursor to a more in-depth look at the reimagined food system that he will be presenting during the FRESH Summit in September.

Developing and Testing Packaging of the Future
Clemson Faculty and Students

Dr. Andrew Hurley and his students described the work on a project sponsored by Titan Farms on The Peach Package of the Future. Dr. Greg Batt and one of his students then provided an introduction to Clemson’s ISTA-certified Packaging Dynamics Lab and showed how the lab is leveraged to prepare the next generation of packaging scientists for a rapidly changing distribution environment.

Inspiring Positive Change for People and the Planet
David Allen, Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer, PepsiCo Foods North America

PepsiCo has recently introduced PEP+ (PEP Positive), a strategic end-to-end transformation to drive sustainable long-term value and competitive advantage. David Allen described how this initiative is changing the way PepsiCo is sourcing ingredients, making and selling products, improving packaging sustainability and inspiring people through its brands.

Developing Purpose Driven Leaders of the Future
Clemson Faculty and Students

Dr. Anastasia Thyroff and Katie Hildebrand described their innovative approaches to engaging students and industry to explore consumer behaviors and brand responsibility during this snapshot of marketing research and education at Clemson University. Several of their students joined them to describe some of the research being conducted to provide data points on consumer attitudes about sustainability.

Hundred X: Digital Technologies & Transformations to Enable Sustainable Goals
Sandeep Dadlani, Chief Digital Officer, Mars, Incorporated

Sandeep Dadlani’s presentation illustrated how the Mars digital transformation to accelerate the Mars Purpose by shaping the world we want tomorrow by empowering associates to create value 100x faster today came to life. He also highlighted how Mars is digitizing its supply chain and how the digital transformation is contributing to the Mars commitment to achieve net zero GHG emissions in its full value chain by 2050.

Sonoco FRESH will be hosting the second annual Food, Packaging & Sustainability Summit at Clemson University on Sept. 19 – 21, 2022. Register today at www.SonocoFRESHSummit.com.