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Agenda

Registration and welcome refreshments
Chair's opening remarks
SESSION 1 - MARKET TRENDS
Pulp, paper and packaging industry outlook and the geopolitical factors impacting them
Changing market drives M&A and European paper packaging consolidation
The European paper packaging market continues to witness notable M&A activity, including two recently announced overseas megadeals. We examine how changes to Europe's competitive landscape and consolidation drivers affect M&A activity and incentivise further consolidation. We also analyse trends shaping M&A strategies and their implications for companies in the sector.
Natasha Valeeva (PhD) | Senior Analyst Packaging & Logistics, Rabobank
Implications of new EU regulations including PPWR, EUDR, SUPD on the paper market and potential solutions
Although the PPWR exempts paper and board from many bans and limits, other regulations and indirect effects might have their impact on the paper industry. The PPWR will revolutionize the entire packaged products and packaging industry. What at first glance appears to be a change of material reveals major system changes on closer inspection – particularly in the area of transport packaging and single use sales packaging. Not only will the recycling and recyclate requirements also have a significant impact on food packaging, but completely new cycles and hygiene measures will also have to be implemented to ensure the quality of the raw materials. This raises many questions, such as the availability of the necessary recyclates, the requirements for reusability in some industries and packaging scenarios or the recycling rates in individual countries. Solutions must therefore take in consideration effects like increased reusable packaging or new barrier materials influencing recyclable paper packaging concepts.
Peter Désilets | Managing Director, pacoon Sustainability Concepts GmbH
European Commission keynote
Networking break
SESSION 2 - RECYCLING & RECYCLABILITY
Insights from the recycled packaging paper industry - a key player in the value chain
  • Clarification on acceptability of novel paper grades
  • Collection and sorting - understanding how methods are evolving and what the supply chain needs to know
  • How is consumer behaviour evolving?
  • How to close the loop and achieve greater standardisation at European level?
Zdenek Musil, Managing Director, Euro Waste, s.r.o
in conversation with Martin Zahlbruckner, CEO, delfortgroup AG
Evolving the paper converting process for high barrier paper packaging applications
Adapting paper for high barrier packaging can be greatly enabled through the application of functional layers customized to address the specific needs of wide range of barrier packaging requirements. Paper converting technology landscape for barrier functionalisation is rapidly evolving and the delegates at PRIMA will greatly benefit from the participation of leading barrier paper convertors.
Moderator
Abhijit Bhattacharya, Team Leader & Expert Fiber-based Packaging, Nestlé Research
Speakers
Pieter Cools, Research Manager, Core R&D, Amcor
Erik Jan Troelstra, Manager R&D, Flexible Packaging, Royal Vaassen
Dr. Dirk Kaczmarek, Technical Account Development Lead, Mondi Group
Networking lunch
SESSION 3 - DECARBONISATION & SUSTAINABILITY
Decarbonisation: promises versus actions
Many companies and organisations set goals and targets around 2020 to deliver by 2030 in line with the Green Deal ambitions 'fir for 55' on CO2 reductions. It is now mid-term - the ideal time to take stock and provide an outlook for the remaining five years and highlight the actions needed. On a company level, strategies and commitments to reach carbon neturality by 2045/2050 have been well publicised; however, the tactical, operational and investment decisions needed to reach carbon neturality commitments are currently being challenged and reviews of the timelines for delivery are being updated, as you will hear from our expert panel.
Moderator:
Ulf Tillman, Senior Business Intelligence Consultant, ResourceWise
Speakers include:
Jori Ringman, Director General, The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI)
Fabio Peyer, Growth & Sustainability Director, Flexible Packaging, Mondi AG
Outi Marin,
VP Sustainability Center of Excellence, Smurfit Westrock
From global trends to paperisation: brands' actions towards sustainable and circular packaging in a complex market. Obstacles, opportunities, responsibilities and surprises!
The drivers for the transition from plastics to fibre-based packaging solutions are well addressed and widely known. Both plastic waste and microplastics as well as climate topics are interlinked to economy. The regulatory development, and the EU as the forerunner in it, is advancing circularity, emphasising the importance of packaging design and well as recyclability at scale. On the global level, the UN Plastic Treaty works to address the same topics, though facing headwind and geopolitical turbulence in the global economy. The signals regarding circularity in Asia and in the US are partly miscellaneous.
Still, there are strong, globally leading brands advancing the development. What are the drivers for change? What are the differences between global markets? What kinds of packaging solutions are viable? The versatile role of packaging is to please the consumer in addition to being functional and efficient. 80% of the change is relatively easy - hear from the internal influencers who are helping to drive through the challenging 20%.
Moderator:
Hanna Kalliomäki | Chief Sustainability Officer, Paptic Ltd
Networking break
SESSION 4 - INNOVATION & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Bioeconomy in practice: breaking silos to build circular innovation ecosystems
Facing regulatory pressure and high sustainability targets, paper and packaging players must rethink innovation. How can industry, startups and investors align to accelerate circular, bio-based innovation in fibre-based materials? This panel explores cross-sector collaboration as a key to sustainable transformation and how partnerships help turn ambition into action.
Moderator:
Dr. Anne Lamp, CEO, traceless
Speakers include
David Walker, Senior Partner, UB Forest Industry Green Growth Fund (UB FIGG)
Nadja Rinder, Head of Innovation, Development and Sustainability, delfortgroup AG
CEO keynote panel
  • The European paper industry is now part of the EU Clean Industrial Deal - a far cry from a decade ago! What does this shift mean for brand owners and agencies concerned about the environmental impact of printed advertising?
  • With over 70% of paper in Europe now recycled and more than half the energy used for mills coming from renewable sources, do you believe customers and policy makers are underestimating the sustainability credentials of fibre-based solutions?
  • We've seen major efforts across the industry - from fibre certification to decarbonising production - yet many sustainability narratives still default to digital or alternative fossil-based packaging. What responsibility does the paper industry have in helping society rethink those assumptions
Moderator:
Marco Eikelenboom, CEO, Sappi Europe
Speakers
Susana Alejandro, President and CEO, Saica Group
Saverio Mayer, CEO Europe, Smurfit Westrock
Tobias Bäärnman, EVP Strategy and Sustainability, Sweden Country Manager, Stora Enso
Gerald Prinzhorn, CEO, Prinzhorn Group
Chair's closing remarks and end of day one
Networking dinner

Download Agenda:

PRIMA-2025-Agenda-8-7