In the industrial world, the concern par excellence that occupies the agendas of companies and organizations, and that everyone talks about, is sustainability, or any of its synonyms. In the packaging sector it could not be otherwise. Since the recent publication of the Law on waste and contaminated soil in April of this year and the Royal Decree on packaging and packaging waste to be approved, after having the results of the public information process to which it was submitted in October 2021, responsibility in the management of our packaging becomes a matter of national interest and mandatory compliance.

The integration of regulatory changes will affect the structure of many organizations and to anticipate these changes, you need instruments to fight with.

On the other hand, since 2018, the annual report on social responsibility and sustainability of companies, organizations and public administrations has been decreed as mandatory. The main objective of this new regulation is to support responsible practices in organizations so that they become a significant engine of the country's competitiveness and its transformation towards a more productive and sustainable society and economy. It is a way for organizations to make society aware of their actions and their commitment to certain principles and to a more sustainable way of organizing and managing themselves. Also linked to the Sustainable Development Goal that the United Nations set out in 2015 to protect the planet, fight against poverty and try to eradicate it to make a fairer world, with an Agenda 2030 on sustainable development with 17 basic objectives.

RETHINKING PACKAGING  

The Packaging Cluster, a key figure in the packaging sector with more than 130 associates from the entire value chain, launches the second edition of the RETHINKING PACKAGING course: Circular economy and sustainability, with the aim of continuing to train companies through modern tools and adapted to the demands of the industry.

Through the 20 hours of hybrid learning, teams from the packaging, design, marketing or manufacturing areas will be able to update themselves on the keys to ecodesign, Life Cycle Analysis or current policies, in addition to interacting with companies in the sector.

And since people are always the consequence of a movement or any project being successful, people and their talent, in this case, the differential value of training is not so much the content, but rather its teaching team made up of professionals trained and knowledgeable about the reality of companies:

• Julia Gassol  is an Industrial Engineer from the ETSEIB (UPC) and has an MSc in Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability. She works as a project manager in the area of circular metrics at Inèdit, executing projects that accompany companies and institutions in their transition to the circular economy, at the organizational, product and packaging levels.

• Elisabet Amat  is a Telecommunications Engineer (UPC) with a specialization in Environmental Studies and Industrial Ecology (UAB). She has more than 15 years of experience working as a consultant and researcher specializing in Life Cycle Analysis and Circular Economy with national and international projects for both private and public clients.

• Paul Earnshaw  has been working for the multinational TESCO for more than 8 years, he has been responsible for different areas of the company such as food, home, and currently in packaging as a senior packaging manager, leading strategic packaging projects with global organizations such as AVON, United Biscuits, P&G, PepsiCo, Danone and Hershey.

• Montse Castillo, In addition to being the director of the Packaging Cluster training plan, she was the promoter of the first edition of the course in 2021. Montse is a Chemical Engineer from IQS-URL, a doctor in Environmental Chemistry from UB and a master's degree in Industrial Company Management from IQS -URL. In 1999 he joined the food industry, leading the area of packaging and sustainability, and in 2012 he founded RepaQ with the aim of offering the market consulting services in packaging materials and processes and acting as a bridge between technological developments and industrial implementation. of new packaging.

This course starts on September 20 with which to analyze the regulatory context of the industry, the diagnosis of the circularity of packaging, current sustainable strategies or how to communicate circular packaging.

SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP  

In a complementary way, the Packaging Cluster presents training in BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY, with which to investigate the bases and management of business sustainability, the importance of intangibles, the new paradigm of the circular economy and how the citizen company can be achieved .

Two interrelated sectors that are at the forefront these days will come together, such as energy and packaging, with associates from the Clúster de l'Energia Eficient de Catalunya and the Packaging Cluster. Both will share theoretical knowledge and discuss the different practical cases of the participants, so that what they have learned is applied in a practical way. The 10 hours of training that begin in November will be led by experts such as:

• Daniel Ortiz, Bachelor of Business Sciences and MBA from ESADE. He graduated in Philosophy from the University of Barcelona. He has developed his professional career in the public, private and non-profit sectors, always with a collaborative vision, oriented towards social innovation and impact generation. He has been general director of the Institut Català del Crèdit Agrari (ICCA), of the Department of Economy and Finance of the Generalitat.

• Alfred Vara, Head of the Prevention and Resource Efficiency Department at the Catalan Waste Agency, he has a degree in Chemistry from the University of Barcelona and an EMBA from IESE Business School. He began his professional career in the private sector at the BASF chemical group. Since then he has accumulated more than 20 years of experience in the planning, development and implementation of public policies for the protection of the environment aimed at both the business and public administration spheres, always from a perspective of pollution prevention linked to business competitiveness.

A proposal aimed at leaders of organizations seeking to define their purpose or future entrepreneurs of new social business models, eager to learn.

Keep training and learning about packaging with the Packaging Cluster at: https://www.packagingcluster.com/training-plan/