Edson Perin
Amid discussions about sustainability, global warming and the Circular Economy, Brazilian executive Luciana Pellegrino has just taken over as president of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO), in addition to holding the position of executive director of Associação Brasileira de Embalagem (ABRE). Luciana gave an exclusive interview to IoP Journal and discussed her action plan, plans for the mandate, sustainability, smart packaging, and public policies. Click here to watch the full video.
Luciana’s selection for the presidency of the WPO occurred during the board meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa. The executive was elected in May this year, unanimously, in a meeting held at interpack. She replaces Australian Pierre Pienaar who led the WPO for two consecutive terms, the first starting in 2018.
Working in the packaging industry since 1996, when she began her journey in the sector at Bryce Corporation USA, Luciana Pellegrino has a degree in Business Administration, with a specialization in Environmental Sciences. She recently completed a Masters in Board Governance. Luciana has worked for over 20 years as executive director of ABRE, a member entity of the WPO. Before assuming the presidency of WPO, Luciana was Senior Vice President of Marketing, one of the roles she has had in her 20 years of experience in the organization.
“I am extremely honored to have been elected by the WPO Board as President. For the past 20 years, I have dedicated myself to supporting and strengthening the WPO because I truly believe that the organization has an extremely important role and positive impact on the global packaging community. The idea is to continue all the very successful projects and actions led by Pienaar in recent years and go further.”
One of the pillars of Luciana’s management as president will be to bring the entity closer to the strategic themes of the market and packaging and consumer goods companies. “This connection with the industry will enable the harmonization of a global vision for the sector, always with the aim of strengthening it and empowering members in their activities in their countries.”
According to the inaugurated president of WPO, “my objective will be, with the support of members of the board and the WPO secretariat, to strengthen strategic partnerships with other international entities, expand participation in global conferences, events and fairs, bringing the voice of the industry packaging, and at the same time focus on strategic areas for the entity and sector such as technology governance and innovation.
And to inaugurate this new strategic planning, the WPO participated, for the first time, in COP28, in Dubai, on December 9, 2023. With the participation of Luciana Pellegrino, president of the WPO, and Soha Atallah, vice-president of Conferences, WPO participated in the panel “The role of sustainable food packaging to ensure food safety”, at the IAEA Pavilion. Luciana talks about this in her interview with IoP Journal (click to watch).
