The Packaging Revolution: Industry's Responsibility & the Innovations That Could Mitigate the Waste Crisis with Wes Carter
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Nate Hagens
4.8 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 23 July 2025
⏱️ 100 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Packaging is an unavoidable feature of modern life. It's so embedded in our products and systems that even the most environmentally-minded consumers struggle to avoid it entirely. Yet packaging accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste, contributing to widespread ecological harm and growing threats to human health – highlighting the urgent need for an overhaul of packaging materials and industry practices. So how are some industry leaders reimagining materials, systems, and supply chains in ways that align with the realities of our finite planet?
In today's episode, Nate is joined by Wes Carter, president of Atlantic Packaging, to discuss the pressing need for radical transformation in the packaging industry, and how his company has become a leader in sustainable packaging innovation. He emphasizes the role of industry in addressing the plastic pollution crisis, especially given the outsized role of plastic packaging in damaging human and planetary health. He also shares his personal journey towards environmental stewardship and the significance of personal healing and spiritual growth in driving systemic change.
How can leaders working within these systems drive outsized change – before ecological limits force change upon us? What could other industries learn from the rapid innovation of packaging systems and technology? Ultimately, does the real transformation go beyond technology and into our expectations and values for what it means to lead fulfilling and meaningful lives beyond a consumer culture built solely on comfort?
(Conversation recorded on May 28th, 2025)
About Wes Carter:
Wes Carter is the founder of A New Earth Project and the third generation leader of Atlantic Packaging. Atlantic is the largest privately-held and most technical resource in packaging in North America, supporting major consumer products packaging needs across virtually every manufacturing vertical. Atlantic specializes in optimizing packaging through technology and comprehensive programs to drive sustainable value. Today, as the president of Atlantic Packaging, Wes is the driving force behind the company's sustainability initiative and its commitment to making real and lasting change. He launched A New Earth Project in January of 2020 to be the inspiration driving this movement into the future.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | as we transition packaging to mimic nature, first and foremost, it will help alleviate the waste |
| 0:05.3 | crisis. But I also believe because packaging is ubiquitous, it is a potent symbol of what our |
| 0:12.5 | values are as human beings. The packaging says, we don't value life. We don't value nature. We're a |
| 0:19.5 | throwaway society. But as we shift to more sustainable |
| 0:22.9 | packaging, it's also a shift in saying, we value life and acknowledging how important the |
| 0:30.7 | natural world is for abundance, for happiness, for all the things that humans desire. So this |
| 0:36.3 | transition is spiritual in nature and can be seen |
| 0:39.6 | through that lens. You're listening to the Great Simplification. I'm Nate Higgins. On this show, |
| 0:48.2 | we describe how energy, the economy, the environment, and human behavior all fit together and what it might mean for our future. |
| 0:56.0 | By sharing insights from global thinkers, we hope to inform and inspire more humans to play |
| 1:02.0 | emergent roles in the coming great simplification. |
| 1:10.0 | Today I'm joined by Wes Carter, one of the leading voices, if not the leading voice in the movement towards sustainable packaging. |
| 1:19.5 | We talk not only about the state and logistics of the packaging industry, but also about his personal journey driving ecological reform within it. |
| 1:29.2 | Wes Carter is the third generation leader of Atlantic packaging, which is the largest privately |
| 1:34.8 | held and most technical packaging company in North America, supporting major consumer product |
| 1:41.4 | packaging needs across virtually every manufacturing vertical. |
| 1:45.6 | Today, as president of Atlantic packaging, Wes is the driving force |
| 1:49.7 | behind the company's sustainability initiatives and its commitment to making real and lasting change. |
| 1:56.5 | He is also the founder of a new Earth project, which is a strategic collaboration between |
| 2:02.4 | outdoor enthusiasts and global packaging suppliers. Their mission is to rid the world's oceans, |
| 2:08.7 | lakes, and rivers of plastic pollution. In this episode, Wes and I explore the inescapable |
| 2:15.4 | role of packaging in modern life and what it takes to make that |
... |
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