The Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) will launch a new initiative to encourage community cleanups and recycling at its 2025 FlexForward® Conference in New Orleans next month, aiming to spread the effort across the organization’s member companies nationwide.
The initiative—called FPA FlexImpact—will be held on November 4, when volunteers will go to a local park designated by the city of New Orleans. Crews will remove litter from the park for about three hours in the afternoon and before the conference’s official welcome reception later that evening. (The three-day conference runs from November 4–6.)
FPA hopes that some of its member companies will hold similar cleanup events in their communities, “amplifying our collective impact and commitment to environmental stewardship,” according to a statement from FPA’s Environmental, Health, and Safety Committee (EHS). For example, the committee is chaired by Cindy Haven, senior director of environmental, health, and safety at ProAmpac, which intends to organize cleanups across its facilities.
The EHS will create a social media campaign for FPA members to encourage followers and consumers to look at small actions that they can take to keep the environment clean, the committee also says. It intends to publish an impact report assessing the amount of trash picked up, with a focus on the percentage of film collected.
“Plastic films consistently rank among the top five most littered items found during cleanup efforts,” EHS said in a statement. “As stewards of flexible packaging, it’s important that we demonstrate our commitment to responsible end-of-life material management. Together, let’s show what environmental stewardship looks like—in New Orleans and beyond.”
The November 4 initiative is considered the inaugural event, with future community actions designed to recognize the value of flexible films and the stewardship of the flexible packaging industry, says Kyla Fisher, FPA’s director of regulatory affairs and sustainability.
Inspirations for Event
The cleanup idea originally was proposed by FPA’s Emerging Leadership Council (ELC), notes Emily Patten, FPA’s director of membership and meetings.
“They were really the mastermind of it,” Patten says, adding that the EHS Committee eventually took over the planning for FPA FlexImpact.
While the EHS Committee is the event host, the Flexible Film Recycling Alliance (FFRA) is sponsoring the kickoff in New Orleans. FFRA works to promote a circular economy for flexible films by ensuring effective collection, processing, and re-use of films, according to its website.
Fisher notes that the FPA event was inspired by previous cleanups hosted by the PLASTICS Industry Association’s Future Leaders in Plastics (FLiP) Community Impact Task Group and by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste’s All Together Global CleanUp.
Both organizations will have representatives at FPA’s event in New Orleans.
Thomas A. Barstow is senior editor of FlexPack VOICE®.
How to Participate in FPA FlexImpact
- To organize a cleanup at your facility: Contact Kyla Fisher at kfisher@FlexPack.org to receive planning resources and support materials.
- Attendees of the conference in New Orleans who want to participate there: Email FPA@FlexPack.org with the subject line “Register for FlexImpact.” Organizers will add the event to your conference registration.