Nick Riedl: The 2024 Automotive Packaging Summit was an incredible day filled with networking, collaboration, and learning. We managed to catch up with two of our presenters, Bridgette Grewal of Magna and Suzanne Fisher of Fisher Packaging, to discuss their presentation on the consolidation of automotive supply chain packaging for recycling, as well as a set of guidelines and a collaborative report they contributed to through the Suppliers Partnership for the Environment.
What are some challenges you faced when trying to consolidate automotive supply chain packaging for recycling?
Bridget Grewal: Well, when we tried to consolidate the automotive packaging materials for recycling, we realized that there were so many different materials and that we were using them for similar reasons. So, if we were able to use and create the guidelines that we did through SP, we were able to narrow the type of materials that we were gonna have to recycle.
Suzanne Fisher: And I think because the guidelines have only been introduced a couple of years ago, they haven't stemmed the stern, developed their new products with those guidelines in mind yet. They're still working on it. And so some of the challenges we've been seeing is just plain identification of what is and is not recyclable. And I think there's some misnomers. There's some misunderstandings out there about—they'll see a flexible film or a pouch or a bag and they'll think, well, I can't recycle this at my curbside at home, so maybe I can't recycle it here in my company. And really, you can. It's just finding the right stream for it. So, it's really education.
What led you to develop the industry-wide recycling initiative?
Bridget Grewal: So we had the supplier guidelines, or Suppliers Partnership Guidelines that we created, but that's not an action step. That is, it's an action step to say this is how I design my new containers, but it's not an action step to say what happens after you design the container. So, we're giving it the most recycled content, and we're trying to get it recycled, but there's one more step in there, and that's where Suzanne comes in with that final step.
Suzanne Fisher: Yeah, and so, with the program, and it's a final step, but we consider it a baby step no less because we're just starting with polypropylene and polyethylene, items that we know can be recycled. They just aren't being recycled yet. The other thing we wanna make sure that we're doing is choosing to have guidelines, and maybe someday, they’ll be requirements. Because if we look at California and some of the legislation that's happening there, that's been a long time coming. And so we want to make sure that before we're under legislation that's going to be very, very prescriptive, let's make sure that we're doing the right thing now early enough that it's not such a screaming shift when it happens, when legislation hits the automotive industry.
Expand on the collaboration between Magna, Fisher Packaging, and other organizations.
Bridget Grewal: Well, first, you had to trust. You know, going out to a consultant, they always want, they have their own agenda, and I'm like, no, we really need to focus on packaging. This is not, you know, EPR. It's not a whole bunch of different things that we could focus on. It's just our packaging and how do we get it recycled. We have an immediate need and we need to do that fast.
So, when we looked at our options for consultants, Suzanne with her background in sustainability and background in packaging, she fit the bill without any problem. And so, then she teamed up with another organization called RRS and they know the government situation. They are in with Michigan, and they know what's going on there.
How can this recycling initiative be applied across the supply chain?
Suzanne Fisher: And it really gets to the nuts and bolts because we can have this big document and people might look at it and go, yep, that's nice. But really acting on it, that's a whole different story. And so we have the playbook and then we have a more simplified checklist. Here's your steps. Here's what you need to do. And, hopefully, you know, whether our next interested party is in Kentucky or Alabama or more that are interested back in Michigan, then I'm here, RRS is here, to help them see, okay, here's what we went through, here were the stumbling blocks—because there were, there always are, right?—and here's the part that should be easy and hopefully it will be for you and then we can go forward from there.
Is this easy to apply? Or does it require companies to start from scratch?
Suzanne Fisher: You really shouldn't at all. The only thing that I think is regionalized is who your hauler will be for your recycling material, and is that material, what materials are readily able to be recycled in your region and what aren't? Because if you don't have it regionally available, to some degree, then that gets cost prohibitive. But for the most part, we're you know, if you're anywhere near an automotive supply base, we're going to have the recycling in place that, the haulers in place, that can help.
How does this align with your broader sustainability goals?
Bridget Grewal: Well, we have in a lot of the companies, the OEMs and the Tiers in the automotive industry, have a goal of zero waste to landfill by 2030. And you know what goes in the landfill is packaging, and so that's why we felt we needed to step up before government regulations, before anything else. Our company has made this goal and said, this is a place that we can, we can do an actionable item. And so those designs that we're creating, following the guidelines, those you know, our programs are 5 years long, and it's 2024, and the goal is 2030. So, the designs that we are making right now that are gonna be balancing out in 2029, 2030, those are the ones that are gonna be recycled and that we have to get the stream moving for. And so that's why we did it now because we knew that it was coming.
Suzanne Fisher: And quite frankly, think about it, if more is being recycled, then we're creating jobs in a different way. And so the plant, the employees in the plant, have been really excited to be a part of it.
Nick Riedl: We'd like to thank Bridget and Suzanne for taking the time to speak with us during the summit. If you'd like to read the documents referenced in this video, they can be found at supplierspartnership.org. And if you'd like to get in contact with either Bridget or Suzanne to see how you can get involved in these initiatives, you can reach them with the information provided on screen. As always, make sure you're subscribed to the Packaging School on YouTube for more informational content just like this.
