Paul Kearns

Paul Kearns is a packaging veteran with over 20 years of experience in the packaging marketplace. He currently serves as the Sustainable Development Manager for Milliken & Company’s Plastic Additives business and is working to help improve the circularity tools for plastic packaging.

After serving in the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Service, Paul began his packaging career with International Paper in Menasha, WI. He has also held marketing roles with Union Camp Corp, Exopack, and served as Sales & Marketing Manager for CON-Pearl NA, a start-up company focused on returnable packaging. Immediately prior to Milliken, Paul was helping BASF become more visible and valuable to the packaging industry.

Paul’s passion for sustainability is evident in his accomplishments. In its early days, Paul was asked to represent the flexible packaging perspective in a small group that eventually founded the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). He also led the effort to publish the first sustainability report for Exopack in 2005 that was complete with goals and provided a solid framework that the Flexible Packaging
Association adopted and recommended to its members. In 2016, Paul led a project for BASF to introduce the first compostable snack bag for major sports venues.

A staunch supporter of sustainability, Paul has been very active with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, the Flexible Packaging Association, the Foodservice Packaging Institute, the Plastics Industry Association and the Association of Plastics Recyclers. He helped the Sustainable Packaging Coalition assemble the Sustainable Packaging Indicators and Metrics Framework that was published in 2009. In addition, Paul
was a contributing member of the team that helped set the Resource Recovery strategies for the Flexible Packaging Association.

Currently, Paul and his family reside in Greenville, SC. Please let him know if you are going to be nearby.