Fall 2025 Conference

The following activity on 10/22 is available only to members of the Paper Recovery Alliance/Plastic Recovery Group and Paper Cup Alliance groups (PRA/PRG and PCA) of FPI. (This is separate from standard FPI membership.) To verify your company’s membership in the group, please check the list on our website. If your company is not a member of the PRA/PRG and you would like more information, please contact us. 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22 

8:00 am – 5:00 pm: Paper Recovery Alliance/Plastics Recovery Group and Paper Cup Alliance Meeting 

No scheduled evening function 

CONFERENCE EVENTS 

The following activities are included with your conference registration, with the exception of the Board of Directors meeting. This is for the current Board of Directors only. Please note specific categories for the breakfasts on Friday morning, and contact us if you have any questions. 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23 

8:00 am – 5:00 pm:  Registration

8:00 am – 12:00 pm: Board of Directors Meeting (current Board members only) 

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Welcome Lunch 

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm: General Session:

State of FPI/Industry/Government Relations
Natha Dempsey, Ashley Elzinga, Carol Patterson – FPI

EPR – From the Consumer Perspective
Suzanne Shelton, ERM Shelton Communications

Suzanne Shelton is a senior partner at ERM Shelton, the nation’s leading marketing communications agency entirely focused in the sustainability space. She regularly counsels C-level executives at Fortune 1000 organizations on how to best define and leverage their sustainability approaches to drive business results. She currently serves on the board of BioLogiQ, and recently served on the board of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the executive advisory board of Cyclyx. She is also a member of the Exceptional Women Alliance. Ms. Shelton offers insights and inspiration on conference stages around the country, guest writes for Trellis, and directly manages a team of leaders who, collectively, have made the company a success story since 1991.

Packaging Trends in the QSR Industry
Ben Coley, Editor, QSR Magazine

Ben Coley is the editor of QSR Magazine, published by WTWH Media, where he covers the entire scope of quick-service news, including growth, operations, menu development, technology and more. He previously worked for The Dispatch newspaper, where he primarily covered county government and business and wrote for Davidson Living Magazine. He also has sports writing experience from the Goldsboro News-Argus and The Daily Tar Heel. Ben Coley is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill.

QSR/FPI Packaging Awards

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Reception and Dinner 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24 

8:00 am – 9:00 am: Egg Packaging and Food Packaging Tray Divisions Breakfast Meeting
(converters of egg packaging or food packaging trays)

8:00 am – 9:00 am: Supplier Division Breakfast Meeting (raw materials or machinery suppliers)

8:00 am – 9:00 am: Breakfast for All Other Attendees 

9:00 am – 11:00 am: General Session:

Tariffs/Anti-Dumping
Joshua Morey and John Hermann, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

As familiar with complex legal frameworks and governing global commerce as he is with each client’s industry, operations, and products, Joshua Morey advocates for and defends the interests of domestic businesses in a wide range of international trade matters.  With a particular focus on antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, Joshua is passionately committed to solving his clients’ trade and supply chain concerns, addressing unfair trade practices, and formulating beneficial policies and legislation to help his clients compete and thrive.

Joshua represents clients, industries, and trade associations across a broad spectrum of sectors, including agriculture, metals, fabricated products, and consumer goods. His counseling and advocacy are informed by the immersive understanding he develops about the goods and markets at the heart of his efforts.  Joshua’s multifaceted practice includes representing domestic industries in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings before the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission and corresponding federal appellate litigation.

Serving as chair of Kelley Drye’s International Trade practice, John Herrmann’s practice combines a mix of law, economics, domestic politics and international relations. John guides domestic businesses and business coalitions on the use of antidumping and countervailing duty laws and has a successful track record of helping major U.S. industries address injury caused by unfairly traded imports. John’s clients include U.S. producers of aluminum, steel, and other metals, as well as chemical and agricultural products.

John also advocates for clients before Congress and the Executive Branch, drawing on longstanding relationships formed while serving in the administration of President George W. Bush, including work at the White House on the National Security Council staff. John worked as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Trade, Energy and Environment, where he was responsible for advising the President on international trade and investment issues and for the international aspects of energy and environmental policy.

FPI Semi-Annual Member Meeting

Members will receive a financial update and hear how FPI is progressing with its key focus areas for 2025. All are welcome to attend.  FPI requests that at least one person per member company remains to participate in this session.

11:00 am: Adjourn 

* Please note speakers and schedule are subject to change.