Sustainable Packaging
Industry Experts discuss all the new materials and ways that packaging can be more sustainable and how we can do our parts to help recycle and reuse. Sustainable Packaging is and will continue to affect us all in our daily lives. We have lots of fun and get down to the real data of what's working to help our planet!
Sustainable Packaging
35 Billion Hangers! Nancy Justice and team at Pact Group are setting up Reuse systems for this and more!
Join the US Plastics Pact! https://usplasticspact.org/
The amazing Nancy Justice from https://pactgroup.com/
Over 35 Billion garments shipped annually in the USA. What is those hangers could be reused or recycled? This is what they are doing at the Pact Group and why they won one of 4 US Plastics Pact awards! Thank you Green Biz for hosting and letting us record live from Circularity 23! https://www.greenbiz.com/events/circularity/2023/program?full-program=true
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Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors live from Circularity 23 with my friend Nancy Justice, who is the Senior Vice President of North America Packed Group. Hey Nancy. Hey,
Nancy Justice:Corey. How are you? Good. How are you? Oh, I'm having a wonderful
Cory Connors:day. Wonderful, and congratulations. This episode is, is very exciting. But we'll get to that in a second. Okay. Let's talk about your background. How did you get into this
Nancy Justice:space? Oh my goodness. it goes back about probably 25 years. Let's not show my age too much, but, I started out working full-time and going to school at night. Yeah. and I got involved in the building industry, believe it or not. and through that work I did a lot of unique things. I think we were in a session earlier where they asked what is the most unusual job you ever had? Mine was certified to grade Appalachian hardwoods. But anyway, through that, building industry, I got to work with plastics. Yeah. And then I, had the opportunity to kind of segue over to retail. And to still be involved in the plastic industry. And from there, I never went back. Wonderful. It's an area I love to work in.
Cory Connors:I'm excited to learn about your current role. What are you doing now?
Nancy Justice:right now I am senior Vice president of our North America operations. So I work with a, what I say, a lean and green team. we manage, our retail partnerships across North America. But I have responsibility also for operations, sales, all of those areas and touchpoints. but I am, one of about 800 employees that work with packed retail accessories across the globe. Oh. we work in 15 different countries and, we service over, gosh, 2,500 different garbage manufacturers and retailers across the
Cory Connors:globe. I'm excited you've brought some props and this is exciting for people that are gonna be watching on YouTube eventually. Yeah. but let's talk about what your company does. Okay. and why it's so exciting for this industry.
Nancy Justice:Yeah. if you think about, when you think about retail and packaging in general, There are items within a retailer's environment that are single one way use. Right. And they're problematic. and the things that we focus on and have been involved with over the years in putting infrastructure together for reuse has really been around hangers accessories. Right. So if you think about a hanger there are about 35 billion of those sourced on an annual basis. Wow. And the scary part is, About 85% of those make their way to a landfill. So what we are doing and what we continue to do is work with retailer because those items have the ability to be collected and reused many times over. Wow. and so our, Pact retail accessories has set up. Closed loop reuse solutions. And we strategically place those close to garment manufacturers. So when we do get these products back, yeah. We move them quickly through and, we get 'em right back out to the industry where they're needed most.
Cory Connors:that's an amazing thing. I had no idea this was even possible. I've thought about it for years now. Hangers and things should be reused. Yep. So well done. Kudos. Thank you. And congratulations. we can announce here for the first time. Okay. that you are a one of four winners for the US Plastics Pact, sustainable packaging innovation content.
Nancy Justice:Well done. thank you. we are excited about it. We've kind of kept it under the lid a little bit, which we're supposed to do, but there is an excitement because, for us it's a great honor and to be able to sit here with you too, Corey and Oh, thank you. And the work that you're doing too. it is an honor to be recognized, but. We didn't achieve this alone, right? When I say there's the 800 employees, but it really is a collaboration of our partnerships. we're honored for this award, but we can't do it without our retail partners, our garment manufacturers, right? All the touchpoints, the employees, the customers that are engaged in this process. it's collectively, I accept on their behalf, but it is a great honor.
Cory Connors:it's a big deal. can you walk us through some of the products that you work with here? Yeah.
Nancy Justice:when we started, we actually built a reuse program about two decades ago. And it was focused primarily on hangers and accessories. So think of everything that could come through on a garment. variety of different accessories, shoes. All of those items, belts and et cetera. And as the hangers make their way through, I brought a few props, but as the hangers make their way through, the beauty of reuse, because it's closed loop, we can work with the retailer. Their employees actually collect these at the point of sale. Right. and then those items are then collected. We move them back through, the retailer's infrastructure that they've already set up. Right. we take them from under the cash wraps, wherever they're located. they're collected in a, different methods, but the goal is to maximize efficiencies. Reduce touch points and make sure that we're, we are shipping those back out. They're cubed, they're maximized with bill rates. and then they make their way through the distribution network again, through the retailer setting. Awesome. We pick 'em up, we move them to our, collection points where we inspect them. Okay. We repack them. And if we get those that are broken Yeah. Which that does happen. Sure. we'll recycle that material and use it in the production of new hangers if they're needed as top up demand. That's amazing. But we didn't stop there. Yeah. Because with our retail partners, they started, because we were already set up with reuse and closed loop, they approached us to say, we have another problematic area. Can you help us solve it? I love it. And I think that's the cool thing about reuse. You can segue into something you've already established. Infrastructure. Yeah. And then you can start layering other products. So what we did is we started working with retail partners on security tags . Yeah. This little tag Yeah. That is used for garments that's applied. The problem that we created, the solution was, is that they had no visibility of how many tags they actually had in the system. And so reuse solved a totally different problem. So we started collecting these. Yeah. Having traceability volume counts where they were coming from. Wow. And we moved them through that same closed loop infrastructure to move them right back to garment manufacturers where they can be applied just like the hangers. So
Cory Connors:this is incredible. what I'm looking at is all of the things that you think go into the garbage when you're done buying that shirt or that garment right? from the retail store. These are plastic hangers. I think they're, PVC or H T P
Nancy Justice:E? No, they're, that's the thing too. Hangers are made out of so many different materials. Right. they can be made outta poly styrine. Polypropylene. Wow. Okay. they can have different types of K resin. Additives. but the neat thing about our closed loop reuse system, they don't have to be our hangers. We've worked with so many different styles that we'll collect and sort what's already in place at a retailer's setting. Yeah. but of course, if a real, a retailer has an interest in looking at. Something new. Yeah. we actually have design capabilities. Oh. where we can design hangers that are fit for reuse. Great. That reduce unnecessary
Cory Connors:plastic, which is the goal. A little, maybe a little heavier duty. Doesn't have to be heavy duty. Oh. Just a better design.
Nancy Justice:Just a better design. Well done. Too many hangers out there that have got way too much grams of plastic in it. Yep. That aren't needed today.
Cory Connors:Wonderful. Yeah. These, a lot of these are multi-material. They're metal and plastic, or several. This one is, two different colors. I'm just explaining it to the people that are listening rather than watching. Right. these are the standard ones. And this one has a size denoted on the top that says Xs or Extra small. Yep. so these all need to be sorted and returned back into the system. Right. And what a challenge. And good for you. Do you have any, idea of volume or metrics as far as what you've accomplished so far?
Nancy Justice:let me tell you, every year we recycle enough hangers. If you put them in to end, yeah. They would c circle the globe three times. Wow. And that's again, The 15% that are captured. Yeah. Corey, there's still a problem we're facing. There's still way too many that are going to the landfill. Yes. Each and every day. And, so our goal is to continue to work with more retailers. National brands, garment manufacturers, to get them on board with reuse thinking. But there's no component of the hangar. We can't reuse. We separate the sizers. We have optics where we can actually separate these sizers quickly read them. Repackage them and every hangar is quality checked or tagged to make sure they're still usable. All of these are QC checked, because you don't wanna put product back out that are not fit for function, right? And if they're not, then we'll recycle 'em all the pieces. We take the broken pieces too, and we'll recycle that material.
Cory Connors:that's amazing. Congratulations. Thank you. I'm so impressed with this and I, I see why you won, the award and, here we're at Circularity 23. I'd love to know your thoughts. how did it go so far
Nancy Justice:today? Oh my gosh. Okay. I came with the full intention that I was gonna be simply amazed. Job well done. Yeah. I mean, to get this collective group of people together That have such a passion and drive. To really reduce unnecessary plastics to focus on key targets that we all are collectively agreeing on unnecessary plastics, more post-consumer recycled materials, reuse as a solution. And you're bringing scientists and different types of organizations coming together. Retail partners, brands, the people that I've met in the last, just what eight hours has just been massive.
Cory Connors:We just happened to be in the same line getting our badges today, which is just, I met three people from Google and, just ran into them by happenstance. And these events are incredible. They are, there's 1400 people here. That are trying to change the world for the better. And it's exciting to be a small part
Nancy Justice:of this big and more people should come. I mean, anybody that's in this space needs to get involved. And I keep telling colleagues, people that I talk to, I've been in reuse for, like I said, over 20 years. And I was in it in its early days when it wasn't really cool, as my kids say they grew up with it, but now it is. It is at a rapid pace and people are starting to recognize it is a significant solution to the problems we're facing, but more people should come, get involved. Get involved in a lot of great organizations, US plastics, back upstream. There's so many that are working.
Cory Connors:I agree a hundred percent. Yeah. And there are so many companies doing reusable. Packaging. Yes. and I didn't even think of hangers as a packaging, but it truly is. It is. it's a method to get a finished good to a consumer. It's exactly packaging. Right. So, and well done.
Nancy Justice:Yeah. And we're starting again, the next iteration of what we're doing, is. Talking to our customers. understanding their needs. Another area that's problematic is the amount of corrugation. Corrugated products that's coming through the pipeline for one trip. And so, we're working and trialing now, a box made out of, polypropylene. Okay. so that box can be used up to 15 times. Yep. So when you think a box shipping 30 garments, imagine that same box being used to ship over 400 garments in its lifetime, and then when it meets its end of life, we can recycle that material. And guess what? Make more topped up demand that's needed. Yep. Only needed not to keep filling unnecessary products in the pipeline, but recognizing what we need and that's all we need to make.
Cory Connors:it's an amazing and bright future Yes. For sustainable packaging. It is. And I think you and I are kindred spirits. we're both very excited about this potential. Yeah. for the future. So how do people get in touch with you when they're ready to sign up for
Nancy Justice:your programs? listen, you can reach out to me in so many different ways. PAC Retail Accessories is one of three divisions of pac group.com and just a little bit about PAC Group. They're very focused on the circular economy. We're an Australian based company. Oh. But we have over 110 operating sites across the globe. Wow. So we're focused in three areas, which is, Design. So we have a research development to make sure that products that are designed are using the most sustainable type of products. Recycle content, post-consumer recycle content. The other division is recycling. We actually own our own, a lot of our own recycling facilities. And we work with major brands across the globe to collect anything from p e t bottles, milk jugs, and recycle those materials and use 'em in a lot of different industrial applications. Wow. And then the third segment is retail accessories. Packed retail accessories. And you can get in touch with us@packedretailaccessories.com. Nancy Justice packed group.com. and, we'd love to talk to you about what your problems are and how we can possibly solve those with reuse solutions.
Cory Connors:So, thank you so much, Nancy. This has been awesome. Oh, thank you. And I, congratulations again on your award. Oh, thank you very much. this is, incognito. We're not supposed to be talking about this yet. That's why we're in a room by ourselves here. Sure. but the announcements tomorrow Yes. are you excited for the big presentation?
Nancy Justice:yeah. I mean, we've got our whole team here. Yeah. And, most of them just came in today and we're super excited. We're gonna celebrate a little bit in downtown Seattle tonight. Not too much. not too much. But, but yeah, it's, it is an absolute great honor for the recognition and we know we've got more work to do, so we're looking forward to. Keep on going with what we're doing and hopefully expanding and yeah, solving
Cory Connors:problems. Well done. I wanna thank a few people before we close up, but thank you so much. Yes. thank you Green Biz. Thank you John Smia and team for hosting us here. thank you. US Plastics, p and Crystal Bayes, and team. it's been an exciting adventure, this whole thing, so Oh yes. Looking forward to more. thank you Lance Aurora for sponsoring this podcast and be sure to subscribe. Stay tuned for more.
