Rob Flores, Director of Sustainability of Berry Plastics Corporation, provided the program for the Carmi Kiwanis Club on Thursday. The global headquarters of Berry Plastics is in Evansville, Indiana.
Berry Plastics started as a small company with one plant in Evansville. Today, they have 123 facilities on four continents. They produce items for several industries including healthcare, personal care, food and pet care. They are the world’s largest producer of duct tape.
Flores talked about environmental issues related to packaging. Plastic is lightweight, can be shaped to best fit packaging and is recyclable. In 2013 over 3 billion pounds of plastic bottles were recycled. In 2012 over 1 billion pounds of plastic bags were recycled.
Flores also discussed bioplastics, a newer technology in plastics; that comes from corn and sugar cane. He is working with the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites hosted at Iowa State University on these new technologies.
In club business, President Alan Saunders reminder the club of the Kelly Miller Circus on April 27.
