Sustainable Plastics - August/September 2021 - 17

Q&A
Melissa Steiner,
Kimberly Paxton-Hagner
and Stephanie Jackson:
the third generation of
the Paxton family to lead
the business
other solutions. But we had to
help people see the value of this
kind of work across our whole
organisation and not just one
area. This kind of work is about
looking at all parts of what we
do: who we partner with, how we
treat our employees, is our product
impacting the planet? It's
about aligning our values within
our whole business. Which is the
protection of the planet, people
and our communities.
Kimberly Paxton: Once we
knew our customers were also
seeing the need for CSR, Kwik
Lok approached it in the way it
always does. Find a good, reliable
solution and continue to
search for new solutions that
are needed for the future. We
would not just greenwash. We
needed to follow the science
and find solutions that match
customer needs. But we are
committed to going beyond
customer needs to address the
global climate crisis that's here
with us.
Importantly, we knew we
needed to make strides in sustainability
as a company, beyond
just our products. So, we
looked inward as well as outward.
It is why we set a goal to
achieve zero waste and reduce
our carbon footprint by 20 percent
by 2025.
Other areas of focus included
reducing water use and minimizing
negative impacts on water
habitats at all our facilities
worldwide.
This goes beyond Kwik Lok.
All manufacturers need to look
at their equipment and processes.
For example, our facility
in Japan was able to repurpose
more than 80 tons of scrap material.
We decreased energy
use by 12 percent in our Yakima
and Indiana facilities. We also
looked at improving our machines
and on some, we have
reduced power consumption by
50 percent.
What advice do you have for
others trying to broaden minds?
Kimberly Paxton: Don't just
sell to the person that runs the
bakery line. Communicate with
their customer who is choosing
to buy their bread on the shelf
versus another bread. Show how
consumers are supporting products
from companies that think
about their impact on the world.
Position your company as helping
others move forward faster
in their sustainability journey.
You also have to prepare your
sales team and give them what
they need to address different
concerns and highlight how you
can help customers achieve
their goals - from plastic to carbon
reduction to composting.
Don't push your clients in a direction,
just give them the information
they need to understand
the impact of their choices.
How did you make the business
case that this would help Kwik
Lok grow to the next level?
Stephanie Jackson: We did
not try to reinvent the wheel, but
rather linked arms with people
who already have been thinking
about this. When you meet
skepticism, ask " Do you want to
be at the front of the pack or be
at the end of the pack? Because
it is happening. " No one wants
to be the last one to get this.
Kimberly Paxton: We all need
to innovate for a new tomorrow.
We gave employees permission
to try and fail. As our CEO says,
" Fail fast. Figure out what didn't
work and let's build off that and
get up and do it again. "
Were there any major missteps?
Kimberly
Paxton: No major
misstep comes to mind, but I
think it would have been a misstep
if we held onto the idea the
Eco-Lok, or any solution, was
the end-all-be-all.
We knew that Eco-Lok was
going to be an important solution
and a great step forward for
the company and the industry.
It is made with renewable plantbased
resin and uses up to 20
percent less petroleum-based
materials when produced. It's
an important step forward.
But we also knew that every
solution is going to have a life
cycle. Businesses always have
to be creating and looking for
the next solution and we need
to be making everything we do
better over time.
There was a point in time
where we thought Eco-Lok was
going to be the magic bullet for
everybody. But the fact of the
matter is that closures need
to accomplish a lot of different
tasks under a lot of different environments
with a lot of different
customer requirements.
That is why we introduced
Fibre-Lok in European markets
this year, a home and commercially
compostable cardboard
solution for bag closures for
those that have plastic elimination
as their top priority.
And beyond that, there's also
the environmental side of it.
How are we going to solve the
continued on page 18
August/September 2021
17
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