TLMI has announced the lineup of expert speakers that will be featured at the association’s Ecovillage at Labelexpo Americas. The TLMI Ecovillage will be a designated space on the show floor that will feature a comprehensive directory of exhibitors who are committed to best sustainability practices and environmental stewardship.

The Ecovillage will also feature daily sessions that address the current state of sustainability within the North American label-printing supply chain and the most pressing issues that industry converters face today related to environmental compliance. All speaker presentations will be directly followed by a Q&A session where attendees will have the opportunity to interact directly with each speaker.

On Tuesday September 25, Steve Alexander, president and CEO of the Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR), will be discussing the New Plastics Economy. The initiative applies the principles of the circular economy and brings together key stakeholders to rethink and redesign the future of plastics, starting with packaging. APR’s members include all major brands as they seek the best way to design packaging for recyclability. Alexander will be discussing the impact of labels on brands’ sustainability goals and the best ways label companies can design labels to help brands achieve their goals.

On Wednesday September 26, Anne Johnson, principal and vice president at RRS and co-leader of the Global Corporate Sustainability service sector, will be discussing the recent effects of municipal and corporate commitments to keep material from going to landfill and how that has impacted the recycling industry. Johnson will also discuss the pitfalls of life cycle thinking in packaging and waste management systems and why we need to go beyond those calculations to help our industry and to help brands achieve their goals.

On Thursday September 27, Avery Dennison will hold a panel discussion on matrix and liner waste featuring three panelists from the waste and recycling industry: Heritage, Vexor Technology, and Sustana. Kelli Messer, marketing director of Avery Dennison’s Paper and Variable Information team, will be moderating the panel. Messer is responsible for developing and implementing key product line strategies leading to top line and profitable growth as well as share gain at Avery Dennison.