2021 Market Trends Podcast Series: Sustainability

Host:

Welcome to M. Holland’s 2021 Market Trends Podcast Series. At the end of every year, M. Holland’s market managers take time to reflect on the previous 12 months and anticipate the year to come. What drove their market segments? What can the industry expect to see in the coming months?

Typically, we share these insights and predictions in a blog, but this year we decided that a podcast format is more fitting. Listen over the next few weeks as these market managers give us an insider’s look at the plastics industry.

2020 accelerated a lot of things, but perhaps one of the biggest challenges was a new focus on the importance of sustainability. Lindy Holland, Sustainability Market Manager for M. Holland, shares some of the key takeaways from last year, including new developments in consumer packaged goods and 3D printing, and what lies ahead for 2021 and beyond.

Lindy Holland:

Hi, my name is Lindy Holland Resnick. I am on my 15th year with M. Holland Company. I have served in various roles, including work in operations, various commercial units and strategic business development. Currently my role at M. Holland Company is our Sustainability Market Manager. And now, really what I’m focused on is executing as part of a values-based organization on our mission of purpose and moving our company forward with material solutions that support consumer expectations and brand goals for improved environmental impact and corporate citizenship.

Host:

As you reflect on 2020, what stands out to you as a key learning point in sustainability?

Lindy Holland:

I think the key learning point for me is that the global pandemic has only emphasized the urgency behind sustainability-led business principles. At the start of the COVID pandemic, many were questioning if this would pause industry emphasis on sustainable investment and R&D work. And really what I see today is people shifting at evolutionary speed to understand how accountability and ESG —environmental, social and government’s metrics — protects their business for sustainable future growth. Sustainability in itself is a large part of a much greater sum. And really, what I’ve seen is that expedited urgency in 2020. And I’m thrilled to see it.

Host:

Have you found that a specific area or vertical is leading that charge?

Lindy Holland:

At the heart of it is consumer products goods companies, and really understanding the value of their products. Many of the majors really serve in diverse spaces with diverse materials and whether it be single-use type products, or multi-use, really just understanding, taking a step back and understanding what their products mean, what the values are they represent and how they can improve moving forward, knowing that ultimately, they serve the consumer, and the consumer is looking for different things today than they were, say, 30 years ago.

Host:

Was there a materials application that really won the year for you?

Lindy Holland:

Really, what was most exciting for me, as I’ve already touched on, is the emphasis in consumer products goods as well as the benefits of flexible packaging and the work being done in flexible packaging. I was blown away at the ingenuity and advancement that’s taking place in those areas.

But really what won the year for me is a process more so than an application. And 3D printing is really kind of what took me by total surprise and what I’m more excited about than most things. The carbon footprint of additive manufacturing versus subtractive manufacturing, the ability and performance of bio-based materials in 3D printing, how we can successfully incorporate post-consumer and post-industrial content into 3D filament. You know, 3D printing for me has a blue sky that I think we’ve just begun to scratch the surface.

Host:

Putting 2020 behind us and looking ahead to 2021, what are you most excited about from a sustainability perspective?

Lindy Holland:

What new products and upcoming retail seasons look like and how consumers will respond. I’m enthusiastic and excited to see what trends today’s consumers are going to define in understanding being value-based, weighing that with environmental performance. That’s one area that I’m particularly excited about.

I’m also enthusiastic to see what this generation’s thinkers are creating in the way of waste management, clean energy and really broad social introspection. I think a significant narrative that has come forward in 2020 is this understanding of inclusion and equity and diversity. It’s an important area of creating a sustainable business.

Lastly, what I’m really excited about is kind of the collaboration with organizations emphasizing their paths and responsibility. I see people crossing borders and crossing walls and really trying to work together to create value for all stakeholders within a value chain, as well as shareholders. And I think that the future is bright because people are asking questions of themselves and of their companies that have not traditionally been asked before.

Host:

Thanks, Lindy, for sharing all those great insights, and thank you for listening. Continue to tune in to learn what 2020 meant and what 2021 will bring from markets including Healthcare, 3D Printing, Wire & Cable, Electrical & Electronics, Flexible Packaging, Rotational Molding, Color & Compounding, Automotive, and Sustainability. All episodes can be found on the News & Insights page on the M. Holland website. We’ll see you next time.