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In addition to the conference sponsors, SC Johnson & Son, Inc, other corporate attendees included Nike, Starbucks, General Electric, Toyota Motor North America, Inc, and Microsoft Corporation. Mr Droppo’s co-presenters on the panel for “Leveraging the Supply Chain for Competitive Advantage” were John A Delfausse, vice president, global package development, Estee Lauder Companies, and John Frey, director, corporate environmental strategy, Hewlett-Packard Company.

Mr Droppo’s presentation, titled “The Eco-Advantage,” focused on the role sustainable packaging plays in protecting the environment and the ways Curtis Packaging, which was founded in l845, has converted its operations to 100 percent clean, renewable energy. The organization is a Green Power Partner of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the conversion represents 85 percent wind power and 15 percent hydroelectric.

“The benefit to the environment,” Mr Droppo said, “is the equivalent of not driving 6.2 million miles per year, planting more than 480,000 trees, and offsetting more than 7.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year.”

In addition to the company’s commitment to renewable energy, Mr Droppo told attendees Curtis Packaging is a member of the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), a nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging responsible management of the world’s forests.

“We are also a member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition,” he noted, relating a client success story concerning the packaging for an Estee Lauder product, Origins-Modern Friction.

“We developed an ecofriendly stock for the product’s package,” he said, “that is 100 percent recycled and composed of 75 percent postconsumer waste.” Subsequently, the package received the prestigious Gold Award from the Paperboard Packaging Council.

Mr Droppo’s presentation also included estimates of savings achieved when postconsumer recycled fiber is used in place of virgin fiber. He mentioned that a project using 286,000 pounds of paper, with a recycled percentage of 50 percent, is equivalent to preserving 1,372.8 trees, or leaving 55 barrels of crude oil or 972,400,000 BTUs unused. Curtis continues to be recognized for its advanced technological capabilities and, as Mr Droppo said, “The benefits of our continuing commitment to environmental initiatives are shared by our clients, their customers, and the community itself.”