Speakers
Exclusive Insight From a Variety of Voices
The speakers below are confirmed for 2025.
Steve Alexander, President and CEO, The Association of Plastic Recyclers
Steve Alexander serves as president and chief executive officer of the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR, the Voice of Plastic Recyclers®), a Washington, D.C.-based trade association whose members represent more than 95% of the processing capacity for post-consumer plastics in North America. APR serves the plastics recycling industry by providing technical and educational solutions with the goal of creating a greater supply of quality material for recycling and enhancing the quality of the existing supply stream. Steve is also the president of Resource Recycling, Inc., a publishing and conference management firm that produces the Plastics Recycling Conference, among others.
Steve Alexander
Kate Bailey, Chief Policy Officer, The Association of Plastic Recyclers
Kate Bailey is the chief policy officer for the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), the only North American organization focused exclusively on improving the recycling of plastics. Kate leads APR’s advocacy in U.S. states to drive significant new legislation to increase plastics recycling, improve material quality and expand recycled content markets. She is also actively engaged with U.S. federal agencies and the UN global plastics pollution treaty to scale up plastics recycling as a solution to both reduce plastic waste and carbon pollution. In her previous role, Kate successfully worked with governments, consumer goods companies, NGOs and other stakeholders to pass several leading local and state-level policies to improve recycling, including Colorado’s Producer Responsibility for Packaging program in 2022. She is based in Colorado.
Kate Bailey
Andrea Bassetti, Senior Analyst, Plastics Recycling, Americas, ICIS
Based in San Francisco, Andrea Bassetti conducts research and analysis of recycling markets at ICIS. Her role includes, but is not limited to, data collection and analysis on recycling supply. Together with her team, she focuses on maintaining a deep understanding of global recycling incentives and trends to provide a comprehensive overview of the market to clients and partners. Her focus is on the Americas market, conducting this work in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Andrea Bassetti
Nina Bellucci Butler, CEO, Stina Inc.
Nina Bellucci Butler is CEO of Stina Inc., a mission-based research and technology company. She delivers unbiased guidance on navigating the role plastics play in sustainability. She has testified before the U.S. Congress, served as a subject matter expert for XPrize, and presented to the OPEC Secretariat as well as on other global stages such as the World Bank, a United Nations Summit, the World Plastic Summit in Monaco, the World Petrochemical Conference, the Global Plastic Summit, the World Circular Economy Forum, the Nat Geo Circular Economy Forum, and the Plastic Recycling Conference dating back to its inaugural event. Her team conducts critical research such as the Annual Plastic Recycling Study, develops online resources such as CircularityInAction.com and leads multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the Plastic Squeeze Tube Recycling Project. Nina has volunteered on several expeditions including the Ocean Plastic Recovery Project: Katmai Clean Up, and now serves as their advisor.
Nina Bellucci Butler
Aly Bryan, Ventures Investor, Closed Loop Partners
Aly Bryan is an investor on the Closed Loop Ventures Group team – the seed and pre-seed investment division of Closed Loop Partners focused on catalyzing innovations in the circular economy. She supports sourcing, diligence, transactions and portfolio management.
Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Aly was an engagement manager in McKinsey & Company’s sustainability and energy practices. She has deep expertise in cross-value chain innovations and cutting–edge technologies supporting circular business models in advanced manufacturing, textiles, building products and consumer goods. Aly has supported companies ranging from early- and growth-stage startups to Fortune 50 enterprises with a focus on operations, investment and top-of-house strategy.
Aly Bryan
Sarah Coulter, Americas Program Director, Accelerating Circularity
Sarah Coulter has spent more than a decade creating successful sustainability programs from the ground up, including the past four years with Accelerating Circularity. She is a supply chain sustainability generalist with extensive experience in program design and development, research and writing, standards and certifications, claims and labeling, building hybrid business models, technical design and management, and forging strategic partnerships.
As a speaker, panelist, and facilitator, Sarah has shared her knowledge with diverse audiences worldwide. She holds a BFA in art history from the University of Kansas and an MS in sustainability management from Columbia University.
Sarah Coulter
Jessica Franken, Director of Government Affairs, Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART)
Jessica Franken, SMART’s director of government affairs, has 25 years of experience in government relations, public policy and advocacy. She has worked on Capitol Hill and represented industries including recycled textiles, nonwoven fabrics, healthcare packaging and electric vehicles. Jessica has been a leading advocate for sustainability policies, helping organizations advance environmental goals by promoting textile recycling, waste reduction and circularity.
Her work includes developing position papers, legislative strategies and government submissions. She has authored over 150 policy articles and successfully testified before state legislatures, securing victories on trade, taxation, manufacturing and labor policy.
Jessica holds a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University, where she earned the Alexis de Tocqueville Award for excellence, and a Bachelor’s in government and politics from the University of Maryland. She is also President of The Franken Group, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in strategic advocacy and policy development.
Jessica Franken
Ellen Fry, Project Specialist, Accelerating Circularity
Ellen Fry has spent more than a decade working in material and textile research and development for various brands in the U.S., including adidas and Tory Burch. She holds a BA in textiles, apparel and design from the University of Northern Iowa. Fry currently serves as Accelerating Circularity's U.S. project specialist and resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Ellen Fry
Constanza Gomez, Co-Founder & CEO, Sortile
Constanza Gomez is the co-founder and CEO of Sortile. She is an industrial engineer and computer science major with an MBA from Columbia Business School. She spent over four years researching Latin American retailers, where she developed a passion for sustainable fashion and supply chains. In August 2021, along with Agustina Mir, she co-founded Sortile and is currently on a mission to divert textiles from landfills.
Constanza Gomez
Marissa Heffernan, Associate Editor, Resource Recycling
Marissa Heffernan started working for Resource Recycling as a staff reporter in January 2022 after spending years as a reporter at daily newspapers in southwest Washington and Arizona. She is also the Policy Now editor and loves discussing legislation.
Marissa Heffernan
Dan Holtmeyer, Managing Editor, Resource Recycling
Dan Holtmeyer is a writer, editor and photographer in Northwest Arkansas, where he oversees Resource Recycling's national publications focusing on the recycling industry. His career in journalism, in both reporter and editor roles, has stretched from Nebraska to Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota and here in the Natural State. Prior to joining Resource Recycling, Dan managed the recycling program of a local regional nonprofit, connecting stakeholders, collecting data, and supporting public education and outreach.
Dan Holtmeyer
Elena Mantagaris, Senior Advisor, Canadian Initiatives, The Association of Plastic Recyclers
Elena Mantagaris has over 25 years of experience establishing partnerships with governments and stakeholders to advance large-scale projects subject to regulatory review and public scrutiny in the plastics recycling, energy, mining and transportation sectors. Prior to working with APR, Elena led the Plastics Division for the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada representing members across the full plastics value chain including resin producers, converters, recyclers and brand owners.
Elena Mantagaris
Joel Morales, VP Polyolefins Americas, Chemical Market Analytics by OPIS
Joel Morales joined Chemical Market Analytics by OPIS (CMA) in March 2013 to cover polyethylene and polypropylene in North America (NA). He is currently the service leader of three market advisory subscription services: The Global Plastics and Polymers Report, the NA PE Report and the NA PP report. He has brought a wealth of industry knowledge to CMA through multiple stints along the plastics value chain. He began his career with Solvay Polymers, which later became Ineos, in technical services before he moved into field sales. He then moved into resin distribution for Muehlstein and then United Polychem as a product manager selling PE and PP resins. In his most recent role prior to CMA, Joel was a purchasing manager for Silgan Plastics, a major blow molding and injection molding plastics converter. Joel graduated from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering and a minor in psychology.
Joel Morales
Roberto Ribeiro, Research and Analysis Executive Director, Global EO & Derivatives, Chemical Market Analytics by OPIS
Roberto Ribeiro is a seasoned chemical and petrochemical expert with over 30 years of experience. He is now the research and analysis executive director and global leader for PET and ethylene oxide and derivatives at Chemical Market Analysis by OPIS, responsible for market analysis, insights, price discovery and forecasts.
He joined CMA and its predecessor company, IHS Markit, in April 2021. Previously, he was president of Townsend Solutions, a petrochemical-industry strategic consulting firm. Prior, Roberto was in a series of strategic planning, business development, M&A, and sales and marketing leadership roles from petrochemical manufacturing companies, all now part of Eastman, Shell, Braskem and LyondellBasell.
Roberto holds bachelor’s degrees in accounting and finance and business administration from São Paulo University (Brazil). He also holds a master’s degree in oil and gas from Universidad Austral (Argentina), and has participated in a series of professional development courses with Harvard Business School, New York University and MIT.
Roberto Rebeiro
Scott Saunders, General Manager, KW Plastics
Scott Saunders has almost 40 years of experience in the recycling industry and over 29 years of experience in plastics recycling. He is general manager of KW Plastics, Recycling Division, headquartered in Troy, Alabama. KW is the largest recycler of HDPE and PP in North America and processes in excess of 500 million pounds annually of HDPE (#2) and PP (#5) scrap material streams into post-consumer resin. KW supplies blow molding and injection molding customers. Scott has been active in The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) since 2000, serving on the Supply Committee, Market Development Committee and APR Board of Directors. He was Chairman of the APR Board from 2010-2011 and 2014-2018, Vice Chairman of the APR Board from 2012-2013, and is a current APR board member. Scott joined ISRI in 2018 and became Chair of the Plastics Division in 2022.
Scott Saunders
Colin Staub, Associate Editor, Resource Recycling
Colin Staub is an associate editor at Resource Recycling, Inc., reporting on the municipal, plastics and electronics recycling sectors for the company's three trade publications. He first joined the publication as a staff reporter in 2017, and works out of the company's Portland, Oregon headquarters.
Colin Staub
Scott Trenor, Technical Director, The Association of Plastics Recyclers
Scott Trenor is technical director at The Association of Plastics Recyclers (APR). He is leading efforts on APR programs in design for recycling, recyclability testing protocols and global harmonization of packaging design protocols. Prior to joining APR, he was involved in R&D and sustainability at Milliken & Company and Kraton Polymers, giving him 20 years of experience in the polymer industry. His experience includes the discovery, development and commercialization of novel polymers and polymer additives as well as in technology acquisition and licensing. Scott earned his Ph.D. in macromolecular science and engineering from Virginia Tech in 2004.
Scott Trenor