PODCAST: How To Design For Recycling with Kenvue and the Innovation Forum

Oct 11, 2026

Episode Title:How to Design for Recycling with Kenvue and the Innovation Forum

Guests:
Ian Welsh, Co-Founder and Chair of Innovation Forum
David Lickstein, Senior Director and Global Head of Packaging Innovation, Sustainability, and Experience at Kenvue

Summary:

In this episode, Cory Connors welcomes Ian Welsh of Innovation Forum and David Lickstein of Kenvue for a conversation about collaboration, circular design, and the future of sustainable packaging.

Ian previews the Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum USA in Chicago and explains how its intimate, off-the-record format creates space for candid conversations across the packaging value chain. David shares why collaboration among brands, innovators, recyclers, policymakers, and NGOs is essential to achieving systems-level change.

The conversation explores why design for recycling must begin with a deep understanding of the complete product journey, from manufacturing and consumer use to collection, sorting, and recovery. David also discusses how Kenvue is using real-world recovery data and AI-enabled insights to inform packaging design decisions.

Using the redesign of Nicorette lozenge packaging as an example, David explains how Kenvue balanced product protection, child resistance, regulatory requirements, accessibility, manufacturing, sustainability, and consumer experience. The resulting paper-based design uses 85% less plastic while maintaining the safety, portability, and discretion consumers need.

Cory, Ian, and David also examine the opportunities for reuse and refill systems, material science, bio-based feedstocks, dissolvable technologies, and biomimicry-inspired packaging.

 

Key Topics Discussed:

  • How Innovation Forum creates candid, collaborative conversations across the packaging value chain
  • Why sustainable packaging requires input from brands, innovators, recyclers, NGOs, policymakers, and other stakeholders
  • Lessons that the United States and Europe can share about recycling, reuse, and refill systems
  • Why circular design begins with understanding the complete product journey
  • The importance of connecting upstream product-development teams with recovery and material-sorting facilities
  • How real-world recovery data can improve packaging design briefs
  • The role of vision systems, tracking technology, and AI-enabled insights in understanding packaging outcomes
  • Why consumer experience and sustainability must be considered together
  • Opportunities for reusable and refillable packaging models
  • How e-commerce and club-store channels may create new opportunities for refill systems
  • The Nicorette lozenge packaging redesign and the requirements that shaped it
  • How Kenvue developed a paper-based Nicorette package with 85% less plastic
  • The need to balance recyclability with product protection, accessibility, child resistance, regulatory requirements, technical performance, and manufacturing
  • The future potential of bio-based materials, cellulose feedstocks, dissolvable technologies, sensorial textures, and biomimicry-inspired formats
  • Why design for recycling, reuse, refill, and material innovation must advance in parallel

Resources Mentioned:

Contact:

Listeners interested in connecting with David Licksteinew and Ian Welsh are encouraged to reach out via LinkedIn.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dlickstein/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-welsh-91aa232/

Closing Thoughts

Design for recycling is one part of a much broader packaging opportunity. Meaningful progress depends on knowing when to use each available lever, whether that means material reduction, recyclability, reuse, refill, improved recovery systems, or new material technologies.

By grounding innovation in consumer needs, real-world recovery data, and collaboration across the value chain, packaging teams can develop solutions that perform effectively, support circularity, and create better product experiences.

Thank you for tuning in to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors, presented by Atlantic Packaging.

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