SPEAKER INTERVIEW

Renata Massion, Sustainability Manager, Cruz Foam

Dr. Massion spearheads Cruz Foam's initiatives in responsible sourcing, life cycle assessment, and environmentally conscious disposal strategies, and supports the development of cutting-edge packaging foam that embodies a new frontier in sustainable materials. She will be speaking at Foam Expo North America and Adhesives & Bonding Expo on June 25 during the conference session “Fostering Eco-friendly Supply Chains with the Implementation of Sustainable Packaging”.

We are witnessing a growing trend where traditional packaging materials are being substituted with new solutions. Do you anticipate these alternatives gaining increasing popularity in the United States?

Yes, we are snowballing toward a turning point in sustainable packaging. Consumers, legislators, and companies themselves are demanding more sustainable practices - a large part of which includes switching to more sustainable packaging than just single-use materials that sit in landfills for 500 years. The sustainable packaging market is projected to grow to approximately 476 billion by 2031 and we anticipate that number will only continue to grow.

Your mission includes designing foams with the full life cycle in mind. How does Cruz Foam ensure the circularity of its materials?

At Cruz Foam we take our inspiration from nature. The Cruz Foam team strives to embody circularity in every part of our process. Beginning with sourcing, we have strict material incorporation guidelines. We strive to use landfill-bound ingredients and we have been able to achieve a formula that is made of 70% upcycled food waste. In manufacturing, we use existing extrusion equipment which negates the need for any new capital equipment. At disposal, Cruz Foam can be reused or composted, providing valuable nutrients back to the soil. From sourcing to disposal we are proud to give ingredients second and third lives, ultimately avoiding the landfill.

Why is it fundamental to increase the infrastructure for compostable products?

Using organic waste to make materials and subsequently returning those materials to the earth is an essential part of how we need to rethink our society in accordance with environmental boundaries. By increasing infrastructure for composting, we can strengthen our ability to create circular systems.

How important are certifications when producing circular materials?

Certifications are vital to ensure that circular materials are in fact, circular. It’s an unfortunate reality, but greenwashing is rampant in our industry and can dilute the impact of truly circular materials. It is imperative that certifications exist to create a baseline definition for circular products. Additionally, certifications must truly address the root of what it means to be circular. For example, composting certifications based on lab testing are wonderful but there also must be appropriate field testing to ensure that compostable products seamlessly integrate into real composting environments.

TIME magazine included Cruz Foam and its Cruz Cool cold chain packaging solution in the prestigious list of Best Inventions for 2023. Where do you anticipate new innovative ideas emerging within your industry over the next two decades?

We are constantly amazed by the new and sustainable innovations we see every day and it gives us genuine hope for the progress we will see in the coming years. In the next two decades, we hope to see a general societal shift that allows for more reuse, composting, and proper waste management. In the packaging industry specifically, we anticipate significant improvements in materials meaning almost everything can be reused, then composted, or genuinely recycled.