Speaker Interview with Kiril Dimitrov, Flexible Packaging Platform Lead, Nestlé and Tais Santos, Senior Packaging Specialist, Nestlé.
You’ll both be speaking about Delivering sustainability at scale: the move from plastic to paper in KitKat multipacks. Can you give us a few insights about your presentation?
Overall our presentation focuses on what it really takes to move from concept to industrial-scale reality when replacing plastic with paper. Ultimately, it’s a story about balancing sustainability ambition with operational excellence.
As regulations evolve what was your biggest packaging development challenge and what do you see as the biggest challenge facing paper and packaging professionals right now?
One of the biggest challenges has been navigating evolving regulations—particularly with paper, where recyclability expectations differ significantly across regions and are still being clarified. Translating regulatory requirements into clear design criteria, while keeping projects moving at pace, has been complex.
Where do you see the industry going over the next 5 years?
More broadly, for packaging professionals today, the challenge is keeping sustainable solutions in the agenda. It’s no longer enough to have a technically viable alternative—we need solutions that are cost-effective, supply-secure, and truly circular within existing infrastructure.
What are you most looking forward to at Specialty Papers Europe?
I’m really looking forward to connecting with others across the value chain who are tackling similar challenges. Events like this create a great space to share learnings, understand the latest material innovations, and explore how we can accelerate the transition to more sustainable packaging.
It’s also a great opportunity to showcase what’s already possible at scale and hopefully inspire further collaboration.
