About Re|focus Sustainability & Recycling Summit
Now in its fifth year, the Re|focus Sustainability & Recycling Summit has become an essential, not-to-be-missed event for thought leaders in the plastics industry. Produced by the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), Re|focus is a solutions-driven event that equips attendees with the resources and connections they need to meaningfully advance sustainability throughout their organization. Our industry is turning a corner, moving from one that aspires to sustainability to one that puts our commitment to recycling and reusing into action. Re|focus will continue to challenge brand owners, processors, engineers, product developers, and the entire supply chain to refocus on product design, technology, and manufacturing with an eye toward recycled and sustainable content, designed for recycling and sustainability. We look forward to welcoming you back in person to Cincinnati, OH, for the 2022 Re|focus Sustainability & Recycling Summit May 23–25. Until then, we hope you will join us virtually from December 1–2, 2021, for the Practical Guide to Sustainability in Plastics workshop. This workshop will provide a platform for our industry to convene, exchange information and ideas, and discover new ways to push sustainability in manufacturing forward.
Save the Date and Get Involved with Re|focus 2022
Click below to mark your calendar for the 2022 Re|focus Sustainability & Recycling Summit! We are looking forward to reuniting with you all in person May 23 – 25 in Cincinnati, OH.
For details about sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, contact Mark Miller, Director, Membership and Sponsorship Sales at 202.974.5276 or email mmiller@plasticsindustry.org.
"One of the stumbling blocks in commercializing sustainable materials is finding people who are willing to go down that road with you. An event like Re|focus, where professionals like brand owners, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), converters, and material suppliers can come together, is important in making sustainable solutions happen."
- Meagan Marko, Product Line Manager, Noble Polymers, LLC
Watch the Recordings from the 2020 Re|focus Summit Virtual Webinar Series
Due to the cancellation of the live 2020 Re|focus Sustainability & Recycling Summit originally scheduled for May 21, 2020, in Cincinnati, OH, components of the program were offered as a complimentary webinar series from May 2020 through December 2020.
This six-part webinar series provided timely, impactful, and diverse topics with featured sessions on circularity in food packaging, driving environmental outcomes using life cycle analysis, new solutions for untapped feedstocks, and putting marine plastics to work in the supply chain. Gain free access to the innovative and thought-provoking sessions by clicking below!
Putting Marine Plastics to Work in the Supply Chain
This session features panelists that are leading research on the recycling of marine plastics and explore strategies for aggregating meaningful volumes of materials from otherwise isolated clean-up efforts.
Driving Environmental Outcomes Using Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
"Paper or plastic?" While a seemingly simple question, arriving at an answer could be quite complex. Fortunately, life cycle analysis (LCA) can be used as a tool to reveal the critical information necessary to make the choices about materials and design that will drive the best environmental outcomes.
Telling Our Sustainability Stories
Today, more than ever, constructing a persuasive narrative is essential to reaching our audiences. During this session, panelists from each segment of the supply chain will use a specific case study on recycling marine plastics to showcase how you can shape an impactful narrative to better tell your sustainability story.
New Solutions for Untapped Feedstocks
As the industry seeks to advance the circularity of our products, the limitations of mechanical recycling are becoming increasingly clear. While some products are perfectly suited for mechanical recycling, some are not. This session explores how advanced recycling technologies are building new pathways to ensure all plastics can be managed as valuable resources for manufacturing.
Leading Bipartisan Solutions for Recycling in Congress: A Conversation with Rep. Haley Stevens
While most would agree that plastics are a valuable material that should be recovered for their highest and best use and prevented from entering the environment, creating policy solutions to bolster the systems needed to make this vision a reality is a far more difficult task. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) is proving that bipartisan policy solutions are possible.