2023 Summit Recap

The 2023 FRESH Summit focused on measuring progress and driving change as many organizations near their 2025 sustainability goals and are striving to accelerate progress.

Stay tuned for dates for the 2024 event!

Monday, September 18

Welcome Reception and Student Posters
Attendees celebrated the next generation of talent while reconnecting with friends and colleagues at the FRESH Summit Welcome Reception. In addition to enjoying Clemson hospitality, they had the opportunity to meet students and hear about their research on a range of sustainability topics.

Keynote Presentation
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: National Sustainability Strategies
Keynote sponsored by Clemson Public Service & Agriculture
The National Recycling Strategy and the Plastics Strategy are the first two in a series of strategies to support EPA’s vision of a circular economy for all. A circular economy reduces material use, redesigns materials to be less resource-intensive, and recaptures “waste” as a resource to manufacture new materials and products.

The Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling program provides grants to implement the National Recycling Strategy to improve post-consumer materials management and infrastructure; support improvements to local post-consumer materials management and recycling programs; and assist local waste management authorities in making improvements to local waste management systems. Lastly, the United States 2030 Food Loss and Waste Reduction Goal is the first-ever domestic goal to reduce food loss and waste. The goal seeks to cut food loss and waste in half by the year 2030.  The presentation included an overview of these strategies toward a more sustainable U.S.  

Grant Cope
Senior Counselor to the Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Dessert & After Dinner Drinks
Reception sponsored by the South Carolina Farm Bureau
Attendees enjoyed networking with fellow attendees, faculty and students while enjoying the outdoor Owen Pavilion lakeside location and music from Jennifer Goree, Singer-Songwriter and Clemson Instructor for Sustainability Leadership

Tuesday, September 19

Keynote Presentation
The Path to 2030: Delivering a Sustainable Future
The world currently finds itself just past the halfway mark of an ambitious journey to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations in 2015. The 17 goals have provided a framework to bring together governments, organizations, and companies to deliver a better, more sustainable future. As the 2030 deadline approaches, activities must be scaled to ensure that the SDGs can be met. Jim Doucette, Global Consumer Sustainability Leader, EY LLP US, described the progress made during the first half of the SDGs program, lessons learned and the pathway forward.

Jim Doucette
Principal – EY-Parthenon
Global Consumer and Retail Practice Leader

Fireside Chat
10-Year Compass: Trends and Implications for a Circular Packaging System
There is a growing movement to see packaging become circular through either recycling, composting or reuse. But while these discussions are happening in sustainability and policy circles are they trickling down to packaging designers and innovators? The Packaging Compass, a ten-year forecast by AMERIPEN and PMMI looks at plans for packaging design as shared by 394 CPGs and discusses the implications for policy and recovery system investment. Rebecca Marquez, Kyla Fisher and Scott Byrne shared insights on rack how this applies to the SDGs, international concern regarding plastic packaging and domestic efforts to increase recycling and composting.

Breakout Sessions
Sustainability Across the Value Chain

On-Farm Sustainability: The Intersection of Agriculture, Technology and Sustainability
Agriculture is responsible for approximately 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which presents a unique opportunity for more sustainable crop production that helps address climate change, food security and economic resiliency. This panel explored various aspects of sustainable agriculture, including climate-smart practices, technology and innovation, popular misconceptions and the opportunities for collaboration at the beginning of the supply chain that can support larger initiatives to achieve circularity.

Supply Chain and Logistics: Implementing Effective Sustainability Strategies and Testing to Standards
Requirements to ensure sustainable outcomes in supply chain and logistics are extremely complex – especially when products change hands multiple times and can be damaged in transit, which undercuts the potential to achieve sustainability goals. This session provided an excellent opportunity to ask experts questions about the most effective ways to think about this aspect of sustainability strategies, along with approaches to measuring impact.

Compostable Packaging: What Does Success Look Like?
Compostability is rapidly becoming a widely touted strategy to achieve circularity in packaging. However, what it means to be compostable can be complex, and the path to significant scale-up will take a well-coordinated effort. Panelists representing compostable material R&D, packaging conversion, certification and organics recycling provided insights into what is required to achieve large-scale adoption. The panel also discussed near-term strategies that will help advance compostable packaging.

Advanced Recycling: Industry Perspectives on the State of Technology and Adoption
More than $8B has been invested in plastics recycling technologies over the past 5 years, a majority of which has gone to support advanced recycling technologies. These technologies complement existing mechanical recycling methods, with the goal of allowing more types of plastics to be recaptured and remanufactured into new plastics and products. Industry experts gave an update on the state of the technology and adoption of advanced recycling as a complement to traditional forms of plastic recycling.

Understanding and Seizing Opportunities in Sustainability
Moderator James Gaubert, Clemson University Senior Lecturer in Marketing, and Sally Stephenson, Euromonitor International Global Consultant for Partnerships and Sustainability, discussed approaches to understanding and advancing opportunities in sustainability. 

Student Gift Bag Presentation
Gift Bag sponsored by PepsiCo
The student-designed gift bag has quickly become a highlight of the FRESH Summit! Haley Appleby, Senior Lecturer and Project Mentor, Emma Eason, Sustainable Packaging Materials Commercialization Packaging Engineer at PepsiCo Foods and Clemson student Remy Schimick described their design process to develop the 2023 Surprises for the Summit gift bag.

Lunch Sponsor Remarks

Hugh E. Weathers
Commissioner
South Carolina Department of Agriculture

Keynote Presentation
PepsiCo Foundation: The Creation of Innovative and Sustainable Solutions
As the philanthropic arm of PepsiCo – the PepsiCo Foundation invests in the essential elements of a sustainable food system to help communities thrive. Working with local non-profits and global experts, the potential of people and communities is supported by investing in sustainable solutions to increase equitable access to nutritious food, safe water and economic opportunity. The PepsiCo Foundation strives for tangible impact in the places where PepsiCo’s associates live and work and to be a pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) force for good.

C. D. Glin
President, PepsiCo Foundation
Global Head of Philanthropy, PepsiCo

Breakout Sessions – Successes in Sustainability

From Innovation to Scale Up
Innovation is undoubtedly a key to advancing sustainability, but developing new concepts and successfully achieving scalable solutions can be challenging. Attendees learned about the innovation process from four industry veterans whose organizations have built successful track records in taking new ideas from concept to implementation while maintaining an ongoing commitment to supporting a culture of innovation.

Fresh Produce Successes in Sustainability
The level of food waste that occurs in production and distribution presents extensive challenges and has also sparked innovations that have led to successful innovations. Industry leaders representing three high impact approaches to successfully reducing food waste presented insights into working closely with other stakeholders in the food value chain to mitigate food waste while also identifying opportunities to convert waste into economic opportunity.

Paper as a Sustainable Packaging Solution
Paper packaging is often viewed by consumers as the panacea of sustainable solutions. However, achieving full recyclability while balancing environmental goals and functionality has taken extensive research and the development of new materials and technologies. Industry experts described their journies to full sustainability and the importance of understanding consumer perceptions of paper packaging formats in driving wide-scale adoption.

Leveraging Data to Inform Action in Reducing Food Waste
ReFED is well known for engaging food system stakeholders in the fight against food waste through the promotion of data-driven solutions and the opportunities they offer for environmental, economic, and social returns. As a resource partner for the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment (PCFWC), ReFED is working with businesses and jurisdictions in a pre-competitive format to reduce food waste along the West Coast – and serve as a model for similar collaborations across the nation.

Jackie Suggitt presented a case study on the PCFWC, as she illustrated this new approach to data collection and demonstrated how that data is being used to drive action. PCFWC partner organizations joined the discussion, offering perspectives from different industry sectors. The session will included exciting updates on a newly launched whole-chain food waste reduction pilot, a new program that dives into specific nodes in the supply chain to recommend high-impact and cost-effective solutions to waste. 

Keynote Presentation
Embedding Sustainability in Sports: The Ripple Effect
Keynote sponsored by Clemson Athletics Properties Company
The impacts from sporting events don’t stop when the big game ends. This is exemplified by scope 3 emissions, the indirect emissions throughout the value chain that involve a wide variety of stakeholders. Material procurement and waste diversion fall into scope 3 and represent an important engagement and emissions reduction opportunity that is relevant across industries. 
 
Attendees learned from the context of sports venues and large-scale events on how any industry can address its indirect environmental impacts. As the sports and entertainment industry continues to measure and manage its footprint, see how they are leveraging these findings to influence suppliers, vendors, employees, and fans around thoughtful environmental management. WM’s sustainability advisory team was formed over 20 years ago, and today the team manages onsite and remote sustainability programs across North America for a variety of customers – including businesses and events of all sizes.

Bonus Session
University Tech Transfer and Innovation Perspectives
Regardless of your industry or market segment, it is probable that at some point your organization will collaborate with a university’s research enterprise. While both sides value research and the outcomes of research, there are key differences and approaches that should be understood prior to research engagement. Technology transfer, innovations and intellectual property may have certain drivers – or constraints – that may not be apparent to potential industry partners.

Attendees of this session gained an understanding of the different types of research collaborations between academia and industry, key issues to consider when engaging, points to consider from both the academic and industry perspective and multiple areas in which mutual understanding will be critical to success.

Chase Kasper
Senior Deputy Director
Clemson University Research Foundation

Tailgate Tiger Style!
Reception sponsored by Sonoco FRESH Industry Advisory Board
Tailgating at Clemson is legendary – and our attendees experienced it! The reception was an evening of music from the Tiger Band, games, some of our favorite game day fare… and a special visit from the Tiger himself! We also featured the best of industry partnerships together with the next generation of talent throughout The Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics. Labs were open and hosted by students, and activities were held throughout the building.