From extended producer responsibility (EPR) to reuse, AI-enabled recycling, and California’s SB 54, this conversation explores how policy, innovation, and industry action can accelerate a circular economy for packaging.
Plastic packaging touches nearly every product journey – from the shelf to your doorstep – and it remains one of the world’s most visible waste challenges. In a new episode of the Environmental Law Institute’s People, Places, Planet podcast, host Dara Albrecht talks with Caroline DeLoach, Director of Sustainability at Atlantic Packaging, alongside Daniel Zlatnik from CalRecycle and Dacie Meng from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, to unpack what’s changing and what’s next for sustainable packaging.
🎧 Listen to the episode: Packaged with Care: Plastic Packaging, EPR, and the Circular Economy
What you’ll hear in this conversation
- The current state of plastic production and waste (01:32): Why packaging dominates the waste stream, and where interventions can have the most impact.
- Towards a circular economy (13:07): Moving from take‑make‑waste to systems that prioritize reduction, reuse, and high‑quality recycling.
- International efforts (17:14): How global treaty negotiations and cross‑border collaboration are shaping national and state approaches.
- Innovation & the private sector (21:17): From AI‑powered sortation to closed‑loop reuse, what’s real now and what will take partnership to be able to scale.
- Consumer choices & sustainable packaging (35:19): What brands can (and shouldn’t) ask consumers to do.
- EPR 101 (37:36): What extended producer responsibility means for brands, municipalities, and material systems.
- California’s SB 54 (48:04): Why this landmark law matters beyond California and what its ambition could signal for other states.
- Closing thoughts (01:01:47): Where collaboration between policymakers, NGOs, and industry can move fastest.
Recording note: The episode was recorded June 20, 2025, ahead of the INC‑5.2 negotiating session. For the latest on international plastics treaty developments, please visit UNEP’s website.
Atlantic’s Approach Toward a Circular Economy
At Atlantic, we partner with brands to navigate a rapidly shifting landscape. These partnerships tackle the balancing of performance, cost, consumer experience, and environmental outcomes. EPR frameworks are expanding in the U.S., and implementation details are coming into focus. Brands need practical guidance to prepare product and data systems, evaluate material trade‑offs, and plan for fee structures and design criteria. Caroline and our sustainability team support customers through this transition with clear, actionable steps rooted in systems thinking and real‑world operations.
About Caroline DeLoach
Caroline DeLoach serves as Atlantic Packaging’s Director of Sustainability, advising companies across industries on sustainable packaging strategy, from recyclability and reuse pathways to regulatory readiness and consumer behavior. She brings an interdisciplinary background spanning policy, business, and industrial ecology, with degrees from Georgetown University (B.A.) and Yale School of Management (MBA) and coursework at the Yale School of the Environment. Her work reflects a commitment to evidence‑based decision‑making that advances a circular economy.
If your team is building an EPR‑ready roadmap or pressure‑testing packaging choices across materials and end‑of‑life pathways, Caroline and our sustainability team can help.
Keep learning with Atlantic
- Work with our Sustainability Team: From EPR readiness to reuse pilots, get a plan tailored to your portfolio → Sustainability Program
- Explore circular packaging strategies: Dive into our primers and updates on the evolving EPR landscape and design-for-circularity best practices → Your Guide to EPR and The Recycling Reset Series
- Stay in the loop: Subscribe to Atlantic’s newsletter for policy updates, case studies, and technology spotlights.