This session will explore how innovations in packaging design, such as sensors, coatings, inserts, and other smart packaging, can help to reduce food waste. After an overview of the opportunities for packaging to help address the food waste in consumers’ homes, we’ll hear from industry experts with research, consulting, and investment backgrounds on the packaging design innovations they see as having the most potential to prevent food waste.
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    Tim Sykes
    Brand Director, Packaging Europe
    Tim is brand director at Packaging Europe, the leading media organisation serving the international FMCG packaging value chain. He has wide interests around innovation in packaging technology and its impacts on the environment, consumer experience and efficacy throughout the supply chain. Tim is the founder and organiser of the Sustainability Awards, the leading global competition focused on sustainable packaging innovation, and of the Sustainable Packaging Summit.
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    Helén Williams
    Associate Professor Environmental and Energy Systems, Karlstad University
    Helén Williams is an associate professor in Environmental and Energy Systems and she is working at the multidisciplinary Service Research Center, Karlstad university, Sweden. For the past 15 years she and her colleagues have developed new research insights in the field of Packaging for Sustainable Development.
    For ecological, social and economic reasons much more of the produced food must be consumed as food. Packaging play an important role in this transformation towards reducing food waste in society. The service perspective helps us focus on what packaging do (protect, facilitate handling and communicate) and not only what it is (a material to be recycled). In order to design better packaging that helps the consumer to reduce food waste we need to understand their attitudes and behaviour.
    When improving packaging functionality, the environmental impact of packaging may increase and therefore the environmental trade-off between impact of packaging and the impact from reducing food waste must be calculated for in every single case. Dr Williams has developed and presented insights about consumer behaviour and the environmental trade-off in several research articles over thee years. She has also collaborated closely with several food and packaging companies about new packaging solutions. Dr. Williams is also a frequently invited speaker, to inspire and educate about sustainable packaging development in governmental organisations, in business and at research conferences.
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    Hannah Friedman
    Investment Associate, Closed Loop Partners
    Hannah is an Investment Associate on the Closed Loop Ventures Group team and manages the pipeline, including sourcing and initial due diligence. She assists with deep diligence, market research and operational support, and recently, she authored Closed Loop Partners' report on Navigating Plastic Alternatives. Hannah also helps manage impact reporting for CLVG’s portfolio. Hannah earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, majoring in Sustainable Development with a concentration in Visual Arts. She is currently pursuing an MS in Sustainability Management at Columbia University.
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    Dick De Koning
    Founding Partner, PACKZ
    In 2012 Dick de Koning started PACKZ B.V. as Founding Partner together with Johan Glaser in Breda, The Netherlands. With their Packaging Professional background, they developed a strong focus on Smart Sustainable Packaging. (Technology Scouting, Packaging Innovation Projects and Packaging Insights Seminars). Customers are global brand owners, suppliers and technology providers.
    From 2015 to 2021 Dick was Chairman of the AIPIA (Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association) advisory board and contributed to a global fast growing collaborative network with a global congress and regional summits. Today he is still a member of the advisory board.

    Dick studied Mechanical Engineering at Avans University in Breda, post graduated in Quality Management and graduated as a Strategic Packaging Professional at the Dutch Packaging Centre.
    Before PACKZ, he worked at Unilever, Cadbury, Bongrain, Royal Schut Flexible Packaging and the Heinz Innovation Centre in various Innovation, R&D, Packaging and Quality Management roles.
    During his career he was: Chairman of the Dutch Packaging Professionals for 10 years, member of the examination board for the Strategic Packaging Professionals curriculum and has been active as a member of the jury for the Dutch Packaging Awards.
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    Dr. Karlheinz Hausmann
    Sr TS&D Fellow, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics
    Dr Karlheinz Hausmann, Sr TS&D Fellow with Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics has more than 28 years of experience in ethylene copolymers. He joined DuPont in 1987 in the W&C group in Geneva, Switzerland. From 1989-1991 he held a position as R&D Engineer in DuPont’s ethylene copolymer business at EI DuPont de Nemours Inc in Wilmington, DE, USA. In 1991 he moved back to DuPont in Geneva to work Packaging and Industrial Business Unit. Here he had a number of R&D and Technical and Market Development assignments including packaging, polymer modification, cosmetic packaging and automotive.
    As global sustainability leader he has been contributing to the development of the sustainability strategy of DuPont’s Packaging and Industrial Polymers business unit. After the merger between DuPont and Dow in 2017 he is heavily involved in Sustainability aspects associated with recycling and lightweighting of packaging structures, In this function he is also representing Dow in various industry organizations and working groups on circular economy aspects.