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There are not many books written by professionals in the plastics industry that do not involve chemistry, and there are even fewer travel notes under the moonlight. But Trent A. Romer's book "Finding Sustainability: The Personal and Professional Journey of a Plastic Bag Manufacturer" (Business Book, June 2021) combines his love for outdoor activities with his family plastic bag manufacturing in Albany, New York The love of business merges into one.

The Clear View Bag Co. was founded in 1961 and was called The Box and Bow at the time. It was founded by Romer's grandparents, Donald and Fulvia Strevell, who sold decorative packaging in the barn behind their home. The business has developed into custom manufacturing of cellophane and polyethylene products.

Like most family businesses, the family is the company's main source of labor. In 2007, Trent's father sold the company to his two sons. Today, the company mainly produces customized plastic packaging and has approximately 70 employees. Trent Romer holds a university degree, including a master of education and an MBA. These degrees, combined with his life-long work experience in the family business, mean that the third generation is very successful.

The cover of the June 2018 issue of National Geographic attracted Romer's attention and made him think about the environmental responsibility of plastic bag manufacturers. The ocean depicted on the cover looks like the tip of an iceberg, but below the surface, you will see that it is a disposable plastic bag. This caused Romer to pause. He said the problem "seems too big to be ignored."

When we see plastic in the environment, those of us who work in the plastics industry cringe. Earlier today, I looked out of the office window and saw a plastic bag blowing through my front yard. A cactus grabbed it and held it tightly until I finished running and picked it up and put it in my recycling bin before anyone could see it and blame the plastics industry.

Romer adopted a "no waste" mentality, which he accepted "wholeheartedly". He took three courses on the online platform created by Harvard and MIT, including circular economy and sustainable packaging in circular economy. He learned that “there is no waste in the recycling system. Reuse, recycling and composting are the three main ways of sustainable development.

There is not much in Romer’s book that I disagree with, but he does mention that some recycled materials “become low-quality or low-function products, such as high-quality plastic packaging being downgraded to hard plastic fences.” I almost No Trex or Azek products are referred to as "degraded recycling." If you have ever seen these amazing decoration and fence products that can be used for decades and require little maintenance, then you must agree that these high-quality products made from plastic waste are the perfect solution.

Romer continued his learning journey by attending Ekoplaza in Amsterdam, where he visited a "plastic-free" supermarket and participated in the EuPC Plastic Strategy Conference in Brussels. He exhibited at Pack Expo, where he began to seek "feedback from the market." Romer is always looking for ways to learn from others so that he can improve his sustainability efforts and "respond" to new challenges that threaten his survival.

In the process, Romer learned three things about sustainable packaging alternatives:

In 2018, Romer applied for Harvard University's Sustainable Leadership Executive Education, a five-day sustainability plan and how to incorporate it into the organization. At Harvard, Romer learned about sustainable development goals, which will help "lay the foundation for our company's new vision."

Romer is also a man of faith, so keeping it as sustainable as possible means "this is personal". He tried to apply the lessons learned on Sunday to his work life for a week. However, he readily admits that his “drive to succeed in our family business and my beliefs feels like a tug-of-war”, noting that he “is becoming increasingly unsafe for our plastic products around the end of life issue. ", "As the anti-plastic narrative grows exponentially, this struggle has intensified.

"Over time, I realized that sustainability is where faith and business meet," he said. "Viewing my work from the perspective of sustainable development helps me practice my beliefs in my daily work. The same lens makes me more confident in my work."

Romer admonished against "ecologicalism", which "drives well-intentioned environmental efforts to the extreme. He wrote that in ecologicalism, saving resources is the most important, while business and quality of life are secondary. "Extreme Environmental requirements, measures and dialogue may reverse the sustainability movement. "

Romer is an excellent writer. Not only will you learn lessons about achieving business sustainability, but you will thoroughly enjoy the way he starts a few chapters with an outdoor episode, starting with a bike adventure in Haleakala National Park on Maui . He truly showed his love for the natural world, which promoted his commitment to operating a sustainable plastic packaging manufacturing business.

I recommend reading Romer's book.

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