Packaging Matters

See Change wasn’t your typical conference. Over a few days in Burlington, conversations built on one another as art and music flowed between sessions and small track cohorts dug deep into big questions. Experts guided, ideas collided, and connections formed in unexpected places. The event may be over, but the energy and insights continue to ripple outward. Read on to see what we found. Learn more about See Change and the other topic tracks here.

The Future of Packaging Gets Built Here

Led by Atlantic Packaging and A New Earth Project, we explored the intersection of sustainability, innovation, and the operational reality in the world of packaging. Built for packaging professionals, brand leaders, material innovators, policy architects, and investors, this two-day experience brought together 60 hand-selected participants for a series of focused work sessions and cross-disciplinary conversations designed to surface insight, challenge assumptions, and build unlikely alliances.

Objectives

Our goals were to:

• See, evaluate, and engage with the most promising new materials coming to market.
• Build connections around the table with material suppliers, buyers, policymakers, and investors who are shaping what’s next.
• Explore answers for the tough questions facing organizations and supply chains; this is where you’ll find peers asking the same ones—and pushing toward real answers.

Topic Guides & Experience Guides

Each track was supported by a curated group of topic guides—individuals with deep, hands-on experience and a unique connection to the subject at hand. Alongside them, experience guides shifted perspectives, leading the cohort through meaningful moments rooted in nature, movement, creativity, or conversation. Working closely with the track facilitator, both topic guides and experience guides help shape the direction of the conversations and ensure the labs stay grounded in real-world insight and a deep collaborative spirit. More TBA soon!

Topic Focus

At its core, the PACKAGING MATTERS track was built on a simple premise: packaging is one of the most visible expressions of a company’s values—and one of the most complex challenges to solve at scale. We approach packaging not just as a product decision, but as a value decision made visible: a reflection of what a company stands for, how it operates, and what it’s willing to commit to.

Together, we tackled the real-world barriers that stand between pilot projects and systemic change—misaligned retailer requirements, fragmented infrastructure, regulatory complexity, internal friction, and cost. Whether the topic is scaling reuse, navigating composting realities, or embedding sustainability into tech-driven operations, each session is designed to move beyond talking points and into actionable progress.

This track built on the transformational work of Atlantic Packaging and A New Earth Project to embed values into operations—not as a campaign, but as a core business practice. If you’re facing tough questions inside your own organization or supply chain, this is where you’ll find peers asking the same ones—and pushing toward real answers.

Across two tightly focused days, we dug into:

• Harmonizing packaging standards across retail channels
• Building scalable systems for circular and reusable packaging
• Understanding the true state of compostable packaging infrastructure in the U.S.
• How packaging is a signal for your brand’s ethics and values
• Harnessing AI, data, and automation across the packaging lifecycle
• Investing in breakthrough materials and technologies
• Navigating the fast-evolving world of EPR legislation

Who Was This Track For?

We are living at a moment of global convergence—where consumer demand, regulatory pressure, environmental urgency, and material science are creating a rare window of opportunity. But solving this challenge requires more than good ideas. It demands cross-disciplinary leadership, trusted partnerships, and operational know-how. In addition to field-leading experts that will share case studies and stories of success and challenge, this track gathered:

• Innovative material suppliers (biomaterials, circular solutions)
• Packaging buyers and other industry experts
• VC’s Investing in material innovation
• Material scientists and leading academic researchers
• Environmental NGOs

Still have questions? Check out the FAQs to learn about hotels, parking, meals, and other logistics.