In this episode, Cory Connors reconnects with his friend Mitch Rovito from Burton Snowboards following a tour of Burton's Vermont facility. Mitch shares his unique origin story — writing a mock cover letter to Burton as an 18-year-old packaging student at RIT — and how that dream became reality. The conversation explores Burton's deep-rooted culture of curiosity and sustainability under founder Jake Burton's legacy and current owner Donna Carpenter, the organic partnership between Burton and Atlantic Packaging's New Earth Project, and the innovative strides Burton is making toward eliminating single-use plastics from its packaging.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Mitch's early passion for both snowboarding and packaging science, and how he discovered packaging through a chance visit to RIT in ninth grade
• Burton's culture of curiosity and innovation, rooted in founder Jake Burton's legacy and sustained by owner Donna Carpenter
• The advantages of being a privately held company in driving aggressive sustainability decisions
• How the Burton–Atlantic Packaging/New Earth Project partnership formed organically through a chance connection with Don Meek in Vermont
• The "We Do This Together" philosophy and open-source approach to sustainability collaboration across brands and suppliers
• Julia Marsh of Sway and the role of inspired, passionate individuals in driving the sustainable packaging movement
• FiberStrap and its application with Ibis Cycles as an example of cross-brand sustainability innovation
• The See Change Sessions event in Vermont — its growth, unique format blending wellness with industry collaboration, and impact on attendees
• Burton's progress from ~6% to ~90% elimination of single-use plastics in retail consumer-facing packaging
• Challenges of building global, omnichannel packaging while navigating evolving EPR regulations across the US, Europe, and beyond
• The Digital Product Passport (DPP) initiative from the EU and what supply chain transparency will mean for brands
• FSC certification, recycled content targets, and managing packaging development 24 months ahead of product launch
• Ongoing challenges with snowboard shrink wrap and the search for viable, scalable alternatives

Resources Mentioned:

• Burton Snowboards
• New Earth Project
• See Change Sessions
• Sway
• FibreStrap
• Ibis Cycles
• Bluesign Certification
• California EPR Packaging Program

Contact:

Listeners interested in learning more about Burton's sustainability initiatives can visit burton.com. For information about the New Earth Project and Atlantic Packaging, reach out through atlanticpkg.com.

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Connect with Cory on LinkedIn here: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-connors/

I'm here to help you make your packaging more sustainable! Reach out today and I'll get back to you asap. 

This podcast is an independent production and the podcast production is an original work of the author. All rights of ownership and reproduction are retained—copyright 2022.