The Chemicals of Concern Policy Summit is a science-driven multi-stakeholder convening on U.S. and global chemical policy.

• April 22: Technical day targeted for packaging value chain representatives, NGOs, and scientists.
• April 23: Open Session also including U.S. policymakers, regulatory agencies, and media

Presentations and panels will be recorded. Small group break-out sessions on Day 1 will be held under Chatham House Rule.

The mission is to educate and advance work on chemicals of concern as well as accelerate adoption of safe and sustainable alternatives and non-plastic substitutes. The Summit brings together stakeholders across the entire materials and packaging ecosystem—including government regulators, policymakers, NGOs, scientists, alternative materials producers, and industry participants.

The summit will offer deep education on the human health impacts of chemical pollution alongside the current best practices in chemical management. It will serve as a platform for cross-sector learning, alignment, and collaboration—helping prevent regrettable substitutions and ensuring that alternative materials do not introduce new or similar hazards.

OPLN (Ocean Plastics Leadership Network) was launched in 2019 with an expedition to the Sargasso Sea, bringing together 165 industry executives and environmental NGOs to confront the plastic crisis firsthand. Since then, OPLN has served as a neutral convener to facilitate collaboration across sectors.

APLN (Alternatives to Plastics Leadership Network) is a sub-network of OPLN focused on alternative and non-plastic substitutes, including materials such as seaweed, cellulose, chitin, PHA, PLA, bioplastics, cork, algae, flax, hemp, silk, wool, and traditional materials like paper, aluminum, and glass.

Approximately 350,000 chemicals are marketed globally, and the pace of chemical innovation far exceeds the capacity of existing regulatory systems to assess risk. Two primary approaches dominate the current landscape:

• A hazard-based approach, often championed by environmental groups, which restricts or bans chemicals based on their intrinsic properties.
• A risk-based approach, typically favored by industry, which considers both hazard and exposure.

This summit seeks to explore how these paradigms can be bridged in the development of safe, scalable materials.

The work will focus on three primary product categories:

• Food contact materials
• E-commerce packaging
• Personal hygiene and household goods

The guidelines will help inform U.S. policymakers and regulatory agencies, global treaty negotiators, and international chemical conventions, including the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, by providing a synthesized view of stakeholder concerns, innovation trends, and safe design practices. They aim to:

• Inform the development of safer alternatives
• Encourage innovation grounded in precaution
• Prevent regrettable substitutions and new hazards

Stakeholder submissions will be collected by June 6, 2025. These submissions will be reviewed and synthesized by OPLN into a multi-stakeholder policy brief, to be released on July 10, 2025. The brief will present collective findings and sentiment on chemical safety in alternatives, with an appendix featuring the full submissions from participating organizations.

Participants in the process will include:

• Traditional substitute producers (paper, aluminum, glass)
• Alternative material innovators
• CPGs
• E-commerce platforms
• Petrochemical companies and packaging converters
• Scientists and researchers
• NGOs

Recipients of Outputs:

• Supranational organizations
• Policymakers
• Global Treaty Negotiators
• UNEP

Three formal advisory groups are guiding the effort:

• Independent Science Board – Provides scientific oversight and ensures data integrity
• Supranational and NGO Board – Aligns guidance with treaty goals and the latest environmental research
• Private Sector Stewardship Committee – Ensures that the guidelines are actionable and applicable within industry

These groups help shape the summit’s programs and review the final guidelines before their public release.

The summit is designed for leaders and experts across sectors, with specific focus focus across days. Relevant attendees per day include:

• Day One (April 22): Packaging value chain NGOs, scientists, alternative material producers, upstream and midstream industry participants
• Day Two (April 23): Day 1 Participants, Policymakers, regulatory agencies, and the media

In 2024, at the encouragement of global leadership across the stakeholder spectrum working on the Global Plastics Treaty, OPLN was asked to initiate a conversation around how plastic alternatives and non-plastic substitutes could be integrated into the treaty framework. In response, OPLN convened 45 organizations—including global brands, government agencies, international NGOs, and scientists—for a summit at Atlantic Packaging’s headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This launched a year-long, collaborative process that culminated in the creation of the Harmonized Safety and Sustainability Criteria (HSC)—a science-based set of principles for evaluating the safety and sustainability of plastic alternatives and associated chemicals of concern, as well as their supporting systems, services, and technologies (collectively referred to as “products and systems”).

The HSC was presented during INC-5, the fifth negotiation meeting of the United Nations’ legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, at a side event in Busan, South Korea, and then sent to all negotiators participating in the global treaty process.

Throughout its history, OPLN has prioritized experiential learning for leaders across the value chain. Whether taking stakeholders to the Atlantic Garbage Patch to see the crisis firsthand or facilitating visits to implemented Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Deposit Return System (DRS) in Europe and Canada, OPLN aims to connect stakeholders directly with real-world innovation and implementation.

In the case of alternatives and non-plastic substitutes, Atlantic Packaging is one of the most innovative solution centers in the U.S. Hosting the event at this facility enables participants to engage directly with a wide range of next-generation materials, explore their potential, and understand the packaging systems they integrate with. Hands-on exposure, factory tours, and live demonstrations provide an unmatched learning experience.

The following hotels are recommended for summit attendees

• Embassy Suites by Hilton Charlotte Ayrsley
• The Ballantyne Charlotte

Following the summit in Charlotte, the APLN will host a series of initiatives throughout the year to continue building momentum, driving submissions, and strengthening alignment:

• Six multi-stakeholder webinars will be held to support the work initiated in Charlotte and provide space for collaboration, clarification, and dialogue ahead of the submission deadline.
• The submission deadline for stakeholder contributions is June 6, 2025.
• The multi-stakeholder report will be released on July 10, 2025, and sent to U.S. policymakers and negotiators involved in the global treaty process.
• A side event will be held in Geneva during INC-5.2 to present the findings of the Chemicals of Concern Policy Summit to international stakeholders.

Finally, APLN will host an in-person gathering in Burlington, Vermont, at the See Change Conference on September 18–19, 2025, to further advance the work, reconnect stakeholders, and explore next steps as a global community.