Steve Davies

Director - Communications & Public Affairs, NatureWorks LLC

Davies leads marketing & public affairs globally for NatureWorks LLC, a company formed with the mission of bringing to market a broad family of naturally advanced, renewably sourced materials. He is responsible for the company's cradle-to-cradle strategy, including feedstocks sourcing and strategy and product recovery strategies, and for managing the company's industry and stakeholder relations, external communications and media relations.

Previously as NatureWorks' global marketing director, Steve was responsible for market development with Ingeo plastics in rigid and flexible packaging, food service-ware and durable goods, and with Ingeo fibers in apparel, personal care, home and garden.

When not wearing a NatureWorks hat, Davies has twice served (2011, 2014) as Industry Chair of the SPI's Bioplastics Council, a group formed in 2009 with the mission of promoting the development of bioplastics as an integral part of the plastics industry.

Separately Steve has also served as co-chair of the Washington based (BIO) Biotechnology Industry Organization's biobased products working group 2011-2013.  In BIO and SPI roles, Davies was involved in formulating industry input to the US Department of Agriculture's 2014 Farm Bill and BioPreferred program, and regularly works with industry in advocating for federal policies that promote the long term growth of the biobased products industry.  He speaks regularly on behalf of SPI, and has represented the European Bioplastics Industry Association, of which NatureWorks is a longstanding board member, in North America.

Rethinking Polymers – A Circular Economy Perspective

Hear from the company that's arguably been a leading agent of change in the polymers & materials industries over the last decade. With 'synthetics' increasingly challenged from a circular economy perspective, hear a broad perspective on how the polymers industry is rethinking where its materials come from, how they're made, how they perform, and where they go when the consumer is done with them. With experience spanning some 3 decades in the polymer & fibers industry, Davies grounds the discussion in the context of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's recent circular economy blueprint for rethinking the future of plastics