Audience:
Open industry. All apparel and footwear industry professionals, regardless of AAFA membership, are encouraged to participate.
Description:
Packaging EPR laws are forcing apparel and footwear brands to rethink how they classify every box, bag, and label. In this webinar, RLG’s EPR compliance and packaging data experts will demystify Covered Material Categories (CMC) and show how your choices drive both risk and cost. You will see how CMC definitions shift across jurisdictions, walk through real-world classification scenarios, and learn tactics to streamline data management. Leave with practical strategies to map packaging materials correctly, minimize EPR fees, and submit defensible reports with confidence.
Attendees of this webinar will learn:
- How different Covered Material Category choices affect EPR obligations, fee levels, and compliance risk for packaging.
- Actionable methods to select the correct CMC for packaging components across jurisdictions with differing EPR rules.
- Practical CMC mapping tactics to streamline data, lower packaging EPR fees, and improve the accuracy and defensibility of reports.
Speakers:
Kristen Kelly
Environmental Compliance Coordinator
Reverse Logistics Group
Kristen is an Environmental Compliance Coordinator at RLG with a background in sustainable development, ESG reporting, and environmental policy. She holds a Master’s in International Development, specializing in Environmental Politics and Social Impact in the Private Sector. Kristen is passionate about making sustainability, circular economies, and EPR laws more accessible and actionable for diverse stakeholders.
Rebecca Schwartz Altholz
Commercial Development Manager
Reverse Logistics Group
Rebecca Schwartz Altholz is a Business Development Manager at RLG. She works with prospects and customers to provide expert knowledge on the EPR laws for producers. Rebecca engages with producers to understand their responsibilities for reporting under the US’s packaging EPR laws and ensuring that all deadlines and regulatory requirements are met. Rebecca has her Master’s in Sustainability Management from Columbia Climate School.
AAFA Host:
Conor O’Brien
Sustainability Policy Specialist
AAFA
Conor O'Brien joined AAFA's policy team in 2024 as its Sustainability Policy Coordinator after completing his Masters in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University. Prior to joining AAFA, Conor worked for several years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Boston, where he engaged with RCRA compliance, state coordination, climate adaptation planning, and environmental justice application. Initially trained as a chemist at Princeton University, Conor combines scientific research with policy analysis and application to provide holistic approaches to sustainable resource usage in pursuit of a more circular economy. Conor supports the work of the AAFA Environmental Committee and AAFA Product Safety Council by engaging with public and private stakeholders on issues of sustainability, product safety, and chemical management germane to the apparel and footwear industry.
Unable to join on March 23?
Register for the webinar to receive an email containing the direct links to access the recording and the PDF version of the presentation. The email will be sent 1-3 business days after the webinar.
CONTACT | QUESTIONS
Stephanie Paendong