On September 25-26, Sealed Air Corporation, hosted its first SmartLife sustainability event where they demonstrated the leadership of the newly combined company in food safety and security. The exclusive two-day event, called Sustainable Futures, was hosted at Sealed Air's Packforum in Paris and featured leading sustainability experts from the food and beverage industry, retail and non-profit organizations who addressed three of the most challenging sustainability issues in the food industry - namely food safety, food waste and food access.

Moreno Dezio, President of Sealed Air food business in Europe, opened the event with a call to action on the need for collaboration and innovation across the supply chain to understand the scale of the challenge and work that is needed for a sustainable food supply chain. Speakers included industry experts from Tesco, Mars, INCPEN and World Wildlife Fund speaking on topics ranging from sustainability trends, food safety and food waste prevention to sustainable packaging and hygiene solutions.

"This was an opportunity for industry and sustainability experts to look across nearly every step in the food production and consumption chain for where our collective technologies and solutions can add sustainable value through waste prevention, improved operational efficiency, reduced risk and by safeguarding human health," said Mary Coventry, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Sustainability, Sealed Air.

The event featured a keynote speech by Dominic Waughray, Head of Environmental Initiatives at the World Economic Forum (Switzerland). Highlighting such realities as the fact that there will be three billion new middle class consumers in the world by 2030, he presented a dynamic platform for discussion on the reality that sustainability has moved well beyond the sphere of policy into the realms of daily business. A continuing theme of the event was highlighting the prominent role that industry now plays in advancing the sustainability agenda on the world stage.

Alexis Morgan, Global Water Roundtable Coordinator at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the global conservation organization, highlighted efforts between Sealed Air and WWF as an example of a partnership that is resulting in benefits to climate change and water conservation. He went on to stress the importance for ongoing collaboration between civil society, public, and private sectors for stronger, more efficient supply chains that address broad societal needs and solve the shared challenges of food security, energy, water, and biodiversity.