DS Smith has confirmed the appointment of John Melia, Strategy Development & Innovation Director, Recycling Division, as Chair of the Confederation of Paper Industry (CPI) Recovered Paper Council.
Melia (pictured left), who has more than 25 years of expertise in operations and strategic planning, will head up the Committee that advocates for a legislative and regulatory system that helps to drive a more sustainable paper industry. CPI is the leading trade association working on behalf of the UK’s paper-based industries, promoting paper’s value as a uniquely renewable and recyclable resource. Its initiatives include launching the ‘Paper and Board Recyclability Guidelines’ in 2019 to help retailers and brands design sustainable packaging that can be reprocessed in paper mills.
He joined DS Smith’s UK Recycling Division as Managing Director in 2019, before becoming Strategy Development & Innovation Director for European recycling activities in July 2021. His role includes delivering quality and service improvements through strategic planning, recyclability, and innovation development. John will offer his industry expertise and work with CPI with a focus on recyclability and separate collection streams for fibre-based packaging.
Melia said, “As a leading sustainable packaging company, we need to work closely with associations and alliances such as CPI and 4evergreen, collaborating with institutional and industry stakeholders and clarifying guidelines for producers. I’m looking forward to working together with other industry experts to advise and help establish a system that ensures the circularity and high quality of fibre throughout its value chain from producers to recyclers.”
Recently, Melia was also elected to represent the Pulp Producers, Paper and Board Manufacturers & Recyclers Segment in 4evergreen’s steering group, which provides strategic direction to the alliance and oversight of its activities. 4evergreen is a cross-industry alliance, hosted by Cepi (the Confederation of European Paper Industries), bringing together stakeholders from across the fibre-based packaging value chain with the goal of optimising the circularity and environmental performance of packaging.
