Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Weekly podcast – Why hasn’t packaging circularity scaled?

This week: Eduardo Alvarez, a plastics and packaging expert at Dow, talks with Ian Welsh about waste-to-value challenges and the need to move at speed now to stay ahead of upcoming regulation. Cost is clearly a significant barrier, but there are potential solutions to the material problems.

And, at the 2025 Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum USA Ian spoke about extended producer responsibility regulation with Jason Bergquist from RecycleMe.

PPWR: why it always comes back to data

Leontien Hasselman-Plugge, CEO of Impact Buying, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how companies are preparing for the EU's packaging and packaging waste regulation. They discuss how PPWR and EPR are forcing internal collaboration across buying, sustainability and finance teams, and why getting packaging data in order before the August deadline is now a matter of financial urgency.

Weekly podcast – What will it take for offshore wind to scale?

This week: Joël Meggelaars, head of regulatory and public affairs for Benelux at Ørsted, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the state of the offshore wind sector in Europe. They discuss from project cancellations and rising capital costs to the role of contracts for difference in restoring the risk-reward balance and enabling offshore wind to scale.

Plus: at the previous future of food event, Ian talks with US farmers Jocelyn Schlichting and Carla Schultz about the barriers to adopting regenerative agriculture practices and the importance of farmer voice in corporate sustainability programmes.

Host: Ian Welsh

The vicious cycle stopping sustainable fashion, and how it can be broken

Femke Jonkmans, senior innovation associate at Fashion for Good, talks with Innovation Forum's Niamh Campbell about the Price Parity Toolkit, a financing mechanism designed to break the cycle of high prices and fragmented demands. They discuss how premium decoupling works in practice, supply chain alignment, traceability requirements and how the toolkit is evolving.

Weekly podcast – The label on the box: packaging's latest sustainability lever

This week: Monica Gross, ecosystem engagement manager at Avery Dennison, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about the multiple functions of packaging and why labelling is central to all of them. They also discuss connected packaging and the shift from paper to film-based labels.

 

And, Ian talks with Innovation Forum's Lia Da Giau about how reuse, material innovation and waste management solutions are beginning to work together for packaging.

 

Plus: report estimates €25.4tn lost annually through linear economic processes; and, Indian packaging sector reduces dependence on fossil fuel-derived materials, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

Worker voices: how human rights monitoring can work

At the recent responsible sourcing and ethical trade forum, Thomas Radal, global worker engagement expert at Ulula, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about what effective worker voice platform looks like. They explore how companies can embed it into human rights due diligence, from risk mapping to farm-level monitoring.

What does good packaging R&D actually look like?

Caroline Elms, director, global packaging procurement at snack brands business Pladis Global, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about how companies can bring business functions together to deliver better packaging, why cost remains a core challenge and how this can best be addressed.

Weekly podcast – Make America healthy again: rhetoric versus reality

This week: Anupama Joshi, vice president of programs at the Center for Science and the Public Interest, talks with Innovation Forum's Anamya Anurag about the gap between the Make America Healthy Again movement's goals and its policy actions.

Plus: Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Hannah Oborne talk about emerging themes in the food sector, including how sustainability is being reframed around resilience and long-term value.

And, Nike's chemical recycling breakthrough for World Cup kits; chemical recycling versus mechanical methods for elite sportswear; and, debate over whether leather should remain in scope of EUDR, in the news digest.

Host: Ian Welsh

Weekly podcast – Engaging on EU waste regulation? It’s all about the data

Leontien Hasselman-Plugge, CEO of ImpactBuying, talks with Ian Welsh about how companies are preparing for EU plastics waste regulation and why the challenges always seem to be about getting the right data.

 

And, Ian talks with Innovation Forum’s Lia Da Giau about emerging packaging sector trends and best practices more generally. 

 

Plus: why electrical infrastructure shortfalls may impede data centre development and growth of EVs, and cocoa sector price volatility continues, in the news digest. 

 

Host: Ian Welsh 

Regenerative sourcing: Building resilient supply chains through system-level thinking (webinar recording)

Regenerative agriculture practices are proving their potential – delivering healthier soils, stronger farming communities, and more resilient supply chains – but regenerative agriculture isn’t just about improving sustainability scores; it’s about reshaping how supply chains create long-term value.

It’s a system-level approach that builds resilience from farm to brand and helps future-proof raw material sourcing.

This webinar, held in partnership with COTTON USA™, will explore how organisations are building on regenerative standards and frameworks (such as the U.S Cotton Trust Protocol) to embed regenerative sourcing into their core business strategy.

Drawing on insights from leaders working across regenerative materials, we’ll examine the practical challenges and opportunities of scaling these textiles. From climate resilience and social impact to supply chain stability, we’ll discuss how brands can move beyond initial pilot programs, and what must shift in purchasing practices, supplier relationships, and aligning incentives across the value chain.

What we discussed…

• System thinking in action: How regenerative sourcing influences soil health, biodiversity, climate resilience, and farmer livelihoods, while supporting business strategy
• Evolution of the supply chain: Moving beyond material sourcing to align farming practices, partnerships, and internal operations for long-term impact.
• Shared incentives & financing: Exploring incentive structures and financing mechanisms that support farmer transitions.

We heard from:

• Filippa Blomander, raw materials lead, Inter IKEA Group
• Liz Hershfield, executive director of COTTON USA™ and U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol​​​​​​
• Katherine O’Hare, vice president, sustainability, J. Crew Group 
• Larkin Martin, president, Turnrow Farm Services

The discussion was moderated by Ian Welsh, co-founder and chair, Innovation Forum