PSI prepares for Chicago conference spotlight

The Paper Stock Industries (PSI) chapter of the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) is preparing to play several roles at the 2022 Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference, which is taking place Oct. 19-20 at the Marriott Marquis Chicago.

PSI will host and moderate two sessions at the event: Moving Materials Revisited, Wednesday, Oct. 19; and OCC/Mixed Paper, Thursday, Oct. 20.

At the freight-focused Wednesday session, Nini Krever of New Jersey-based Wilmington Paper Corp. will moderate a panel that also includes Matt Schrap of Long Beach, California-based Harbor Trucking Association; Karyn Booth of the Washington office of law firm Thompson Hine LLP; and Krissy Van Niekerk from Denmark-based transoceanic container shipping line Maersk.

“Trucking and container shipping began presenting challenges during the pandemic that were exacerbated last year and continued into 2022,” PSI says of its intended focus during the session. The ISRI chapter says it will follow up on its conversation from the 2021 event on the same topic, “looking at what has changed and what remains the same in the areas of trucking and ocean shipping.”

Speakers will offer advice on how to manage transportation-related headaches and provide insights on when the situation might change, PSI says.

Shawn State of Georgia-based Pratt Industries will moderate the Thursday session focusing on old corrugated containers (OCC) and mixed paper. Speakers at the session include John Grinnell of Ohio-based Greif; Sean Davidson from pricing service provider Davis Index; and Jeff Ryalls of Massachusetts-based International Forest Products LLC.

Regarding the state of those sectors, PSI says, “OCC demand continues to rise after record consumption in 2021 and notable containerboard projects are in the works, resulting in historic pricing. This session looks at the dynamics shaping markets for two broadly generated recovered fiber grades—OCC and mixed paper.”

Another PSI member with a visible role at the 2022 Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference will be PSI Secretary/Treasurer Kathy DeLano of Dallas-based Texas Recycling, who will participate in the Commodity Focus: High Grades session, Thursday, Oct. 20.

On the networking side of event, PSI says it will host a reception Tuesday, Oct. 18, from 8:30-10:30 p.m. at event venue Marriott Marquis Chicago, before conference sessions begin the next day. “In addition to being an ideal networking forum, this special event will help raise funds for PSI’s 2023 scholarship program,” the chapter says.

More information about the conference, organized by the Recycling Today Media Group, and its schedule can be found here, while those seeking to register can go directly to this page.