EVENT organiser Easyfairs has unveiled what it described as an ‘unmissable’ speaker line-up for next month’s Packaging Innovations & Empack 2024.
With over 30 free-to-attend sessions, panels, interviews and more at the NEC Birmingham, the conference programme is designed to provide visitors with educational content and ‘pioneering’ solutions from various industries, markets and professionals.
“We spend so much time creating and curating what we feel is an unmissable line-up because we consistently get positive feedback about our ability to develop a pool of knowledge sharing and ideas from all sectors,” said marketing manager Naomi Stewart. “It’s a line-up and an experience you just wouldn’t get anywhere else.”
On Day One, Nick Kirk, technical director at British Glass, will explore the challenges of ensuring that glass is a sustainable packaging option for the future, while Nicola Harrington, packaging development director UKI, DHL, will discuss the need to radically re-think packaging supply chains.
Ben Edmonds, former principal engineer of Dyson, will present his session titled ‘Innovation & the Power of YET: Releasing your full potential’ on the Innovation & Design Stage, while the Circular Economy Stage sees Julien Tremblin, general manager of TerraCycle Europe, deliver his 45-minute keynote called ‘Sustainable Packaging: Solutions for right now and the future’.
Defra’s newly-appointed head of EPR scheme administrator and former ORRL executive director Margaret Bates, and Martin Kersh, executive director of the Foodservice Packaging Association, will lead two opposing teams of experts in debating whether the government’s collection and packaging reforms will make no difference to climate change.
On the Supply Chain & Manufacturing Stage, Josephine Coombe, chief commercial officer of Nulogy, Anita Donohoe, group MD, logistics & fulfilment at Kinaxia Logistics and Thomas Verbeke, global coman excellence manager at Danone, will delve into the evolution of the external supply chain network.
Other speakers on Day One include Tom Barton (founder of Honest Burgers), Daniel Hoare (director of sales for Congo Brands (Prime)), and Felix Gruenewald (associate partner, McKinsey).
Day Two will see Fraser Doherty MBE, co-founder and CEO of Beer52 and Wine52, share his adventures in packaging, while representatives from Aldi UK, Ocado Retail Ltd, CHEP, and InnovateUK, will share their ‘Lessons from The Refill Coalition’ and Peter MacQueen, principal lecturer – apprenticeships at Sheffield Hallam University, will discuss packaging recruitment.
Paul Davidson, director UKRI Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge, Innovate UK, will chair a panel on returnable and refillable packaging with guests including Stuart Chidley (co-founder of Beauty Kitchen and Reposit), Sam Higginson (head of food technology at Marks & Spencer), and Hugo Lynch (Abel & Cole’s sustainability lead).
Zoi Roupakia, research associate at the Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, will moderate a Women in Manufacturing panel on the Supply Chain Stage comprising Emma Verkaik (CEO of the BCMPA), Jo Stephenson (MD of PHD Marketing), Nicola Peacock (senior relationship manager at The Printing Charity), and Nicola Jones (manager, steel packaging recycling at TATA Steel).
Elsewhere on Day Two, Andrew Masterson, detective inspector, Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), City London Police, will speak about a new dawn for brand protection, alongside other discussions including OPRL and IOM3’s panel, ‘Maximise the EPR Conversation in Order to Succeed’.
To view the full schedule of speakers with timings, visit www.packagingbirmingham.com
