Hardware Podcasts

116 - International Sustainable Packaging Superstar, Lara Botta from botta.it

People of Packaging · 21 Mar 2022 · 33m

What this episode covers

Lara Botta, who leads business development and innovation at Botta Packaging, a family-owned corrugated box manufacturer in Milan founded by her grandmother in 1947, explains how the company pivoted from traditional box production to sustainable packaging solutions. She details the development of free digital tools, including a palletization optimizer and a simplified Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) calculator, to help customers reduce waste and carbon footprints. Botta highlights specific product innovations like the 'Eccosleeve' paper sleeve and paper-padded envelopes, which replace plastic in e-commerce logistics, and discusses the company's strategy of using 'frugal innovation' to compete with larger multinationals.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Botta Packaging
Products
Eccosleeve
Also
Conai, Lux Pack, Cosmoprof

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • EMS@C-LEVEL · 8m

    BONUS - iNEMI VP of Technical & Project Operations Grace O'Malley at APEX 2023 - EMSNOW & SCOOP On Location

    Grace O'Malley, Vice President of Technical & Project Operations at iNEMI, explains how the organization transitioned its famous roadmap from a static print document to a dynamic, real-time online platform to better serve the electronics manufacturing industry. She details how the pandemic accelerated collaboration on advanced packaging, smart manufacturing, and sustainability initiatives, including the development of an 'eco-impact estimator' tool. O'Malley highlights the industry's shift from simple material substitution to holistic lifecycle analysis, emphasizing the need for validated data on critical resources and carbon footprints across the entire supply chain.

    Sustainability & circular productsDesign for manufacturing & NPI
    4 chapters

  • How I Built This · 43m

    Making garbage useful with Tom Szaky of TerraCycle

    Tom Szaky, co-founder and CEO of TerraCycle, recounts his journey from a Princeton dorm room to building a multimillion-dollar recycling enterprise. He details the early pivot from selling worm poop fertilizer in reused soda bottles to solving the broader waste crisis by partnering with brands like Stonyfield and Clif Bar to collect non-recyclable packaging. Szaky explains the economics of voluntary funding for waste management and introduces Loop, TerraCycle’s reusable packaging initiative, which aims to make traditional recycling obsolete by enabling infinite reuse of containers from brands like Tide and Häagen-Dazs.

    Starting a product companySourcing & supply chain
    9 chapters

  • How I Built This · 40m

    HIBT Lab! Too Good To Go: Lucie Basch

    Lucie Basch, co-founder of Too Good To Go, explains how she pivoted from a career at Nestlé and Nisle to fighting food waste by creating a platform that connects restaurants and grocery stores with consumers to sell surplus food in 'surprise bags.' She details the decision to collaborate with four Danish founders rather than compete, the early bootstrapped challenges of building an MVP with WordPress and a crashing app, and the strategy of using high-quality brands like Eric Kæser to validate the model. Basch also discusses the company's growth to 17 countries, its mission-driven fundraising with B Corp VC Bliss, and its expansion into industry partnerships like Nestlé to address shelf rotation and date labeling.

    Starting a product companyValidation & product-market fit
    8 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 33m

    Founder Feature: Woo Pailet of LOO

    Woo Pailet, co-founder and head of marketing for LOO, explains how a four-person founding team created a plant-based, flushable wipe brand with fully recyclable packaging to combat microplastic pollution. She details the rigorous R&D process, including GD4 compliance testing for flushability and the selection of natural plant pulp fibers, as well as the challenges of finding manufacturers willing to produce a novel format. Pailet discusses the company's bootstrapped financial model, their strategy of destigmatizing wipes through premium design and targeted sampling in New York City, and their upcoming participation in Expo West.

    Starting a product companyMaterials & manufacturing processes
    6 chapters

  • Product Startup · 23m

    126: What Makes a Consumer Product Invention Great

    Mark Maybury, CTO of Stanley Black and Decker, explains that great consumer products must solve genuine human pain points while being environmentally and socially responsible. He details how Stanley Black and Decker evaluates pitches based on scalability, value creation, and team humility, highlighting examples like bio-based lubricants and eco-friendly packaging. Maybury outlines the company's innovation ecosystem, including the Techstars accelerator and Stanley Ventures, and shares five secrets of innovation: observe, listen, think outside the box, experiment with purpose, and collaborate.

    Industrial & consumer product designDesign for manufacturing & NPI
    7 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by People of Packaging. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.