AWA Seminar Series kicks off with MCC keynote on innovation

As part of AWA Alexander Watson Associates’ expansive Seminar Series, held alongside LOUPE Americas, formerly Labelexpo, MCC’s Li Wen kicked off the week with a deep dive into innovation impacting the future of label and package printing.

On September 13, 2026, Wen explored how the rules of innovation in our industry have changed, and working together is critical for driving success.

“It’s not about MCC’s innovation, it’s about how we work together to drive innovation as an industry,” said Wen. “Today, one single SKU change can impact fees, tariff exposure, RFID, customer transparency, all at once – not one after another. Value chain partners and collaboration matter much more than one company’s single capability. None of us can do this alone.”

For example, Wen noted that there are 10 stages of the value chain for a cPET shrink sleeve bottle. The stages range from raw materials and material producers to decoration and labeling – then to consumer use and recycling, reuse and disposal.

“For a cPET shrink sleeve bottle, it really takes a village to design for cradle to grave,” acknowledged Wen. “There are five stages of this process: filling and packaging, material producers, decoration and labeling, container manufacturers, and collection and recovery. And then, does the consumer know what to do with the package? No good decision is made in isolation. To make something recyclable, it most cross all these five stages when we do the design, not after.

And according to Wen, the numbers say we can do better at recycling. In fact, recycling has gone down in some cases. Wen cited a 30.2% US PET bottle recycling rate in 2024, which was down from 32.5% in 2023. There is also just 15.9% recycled content in US PET bottles, on average. From the public’s standpoint, 77% claim they recycle but only 32% of product is actually recycled. This illustrates the “say-do gap” in 2025. Another 84% of people recognize recycling labels on the package, but that recognition hasn’t closed the behavior gap.

“We can do better together,” said Wen. “This is a system problem, and it comes back to value chain collaboration. No single player across this value chain can solve sustainability, connectivity, and regulation alone. When upstream and downstream partners collaborate, we serve the end customer more seamlessly. MCC is committed to partnering across the value chain to deliver packaging innovation that works end to end. We invite you to work with us and innovate here.”

Preparing for LOUPE Americas

Held in conjunction with LOUPE Americas, the AWA Seminar Series kicked off on September 13. The inaugural LOUPE Americas takes place September 15-17 in Rosemont, IL, USA. The AWA event serves as a primer for the week, addressing the latest trends and data while looking ahead to the industry’s future.

Corey Reardon, president and CEO, AWA, acknowledged the suppliers in helping put this event together. He also credited the industry for its willingness to share information on platforms like these.

“A lot of companies support this event, and we couldn’t do it without their support,” noted Reardon. “For this seminar and this industry, they have an openness to support a sharing of information and growing of our industry that should be recognized.”

Top sponsors for the AWA Seminar Series included Avery Dennison, ETI, Maxcess, UPM, Sappi, Mondi, and more.

Meanwhile, Informa’s Andy Thomas-Emans detailed some of the highlights of LOUPE Americas. He also credited AWA for sharing data and trends throughout the industry.

“We’ve worked very closely with AWA for many years,” said Thomas-Emans. “This is particularly important at the moment because we see so much AI information flowing around and it’s never been more important to have a trusted source of information.”

And despite concerns, LOUPE Americas will still be a label-driven show moving forward. “Labels remains absolutely at the core of LOUPE,” he added. “You won’t see sheetfed offset cartons or gravure on flexible packaging. It’s not likely you’ll see much of a difference at all in terms of exhibitors, because it’s taking place among existing exhibitors.

We don’t expect this show to be strong in folding cartons, but next year in Barcelona it’ll be much more accepted technology and becomes more of a market that starts to grow.”

There’s a whole RFID ecosystem at the show. In addition to the concentration on RFID at the AWA Seninar Series, suppliers will highlight the evolution of smart technology.

“It’s an exciting conglomeration of technologies,” said Thomas-Emans. “With this show, I’m more excited about what’s happening in the industry than I ever have been.”