CPMA Sustainability & Innovation Forum

The color pigments industry’s sustainability conversation is changing. What began several years ago as an effort to understand emerging expectations is increasingly focused on implementation and how companies can respond to regulatory and customer demands while identifying practical opportunities for innovation, collaboration and business value.

That shift was a central theme of the Color Pigments Manufacturers Association’s (CPMA) third annual Sustainability & Innovation Forum, held September 1 at Penn Color’s Global Technology Center in Hatfield, PA.

Bringing together leaders and stakeholders from across the color value chain, the Forum explored the forces shaping sustainability strategies today and where the industry goes next.

Several key themes emerged throughout the event:

• Regulation and customer expectations continue to shape sustainability priorities, with requirements increasingly interconnected across global markets and supply chains.
• Sustainability can create opportunities for innovation and business value, extending the conversation beyond compliance.
• Circularity requires a value-chain approach, bringing together technical, regulatory and market considerations.
• Technology and innovation are expanding the tools available to industry, including AI, data, bio-based materials and energy solutions.
• Collaboration across the value chain is increasingly important as expectations and potential solutions continue to evolve.

When CPMA launched the Sustainability & Innovation Forum three years ago, much of the conversation centered on understanding sustainability expectations and what they could mean for the industry. This year, the discussion focused more heavily on implementation: what companies can do today, where innovation can help advance sustainability goals, and where collaboration across the value chain is necessary to make meaningful progress.

“As sustainability expectations continue to evolve, collaboration across the value chain will be critical to advancing practical, innovative, and sustainable color solutions and is a key priority for CPMA and its members,” said CPMA Executive Director Robert Helminiak.

Regulatory and Market Drivers Shape Sustainability Priorities

Regulatory developments and downstream customer expectations remain significant drivers of sustainability priorities.

Bryan Franey and Jessica Hunt, partners at Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox LLP, examined the evolving regulatory and ESG landscape and key compliance considerations in North America. Nikola Juhasz, Global Technical Director of Sustainability at Sun Chemical and Co-Chair of the CPMA Sustainability & Innovation Committee, provided a global perspective, including the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and sustainability considerations for inks, coatings, and color materials.

The Forum also brought downstream perspectives into the discussion. Anurag Raj, Customer Sustainability Business Partner at PPG, and Annebelle Klein, Environmental Policy Counsel, Government Affairs at the American Coatings Association, discussed sustainability priorities within the coatings sector. Laura Stewart, Executive Director of the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), shared trends, challenges and opportunities for PET recycling and circularity in plastic packaging.

These perspectives reinforced a central takeaway from the Forum: regulatory requirements, customer expectations, and downstream market developments are increasingly interconnected across the color value chain.

Technology Expands the Sustainability Toolkit

The Forum also explored how technology, new materials and energy trends are expanding approaches to sustainability.

Jessica Benoit, GTM Lead – Amazon Connect & AI Solutions at Amazon Web Services, discussed consumer sustainability trends and the role technology can play in bringing sustainability initiatives to scale. Anders Lier, CEO of Energi.AI, and Amalie Goperod, Managing Director of CEMAsys US, examined how AI and data can support carbon calculations and decarbonization strategies.

Laura Benavides, Director of Marketing & Sustainability at Integrity BioChem, discussed bio-based solutions, while Frank Lacey, President of Electric Advisors Consulting, examined emerging trends reshaping the energy market.

Together, these discussions highlighted a growing range of tools available to companies as they move from setting sustainability goals to evaluating and implementing practical solutions. 

Continuing the Conversation

Insights from the Forum will help inform the ongoing work of the CPMA Sustainability & Innovation Committee, including future education, stakeholder engagement, partnerships and events.

CPMA thanks Committee Co-Chairs Tom Farrell, VP of Sustainability at Penn Color, and Nikola Juhasz, Global Technical Director of Sustainability at Sun Chemical, for their leadership in helping advance CPMA’s sustainability initiatives.

As the sustainability landscape continues to evolve, CPMA will continue bringing together stakeholders from across the color value chain to share perspectives, explore emerging solutions and identify practical opportunities for progress.

To learn more about CPMA and its sustainability initiatives, visit www.pigments.org.