“How is everyone feeling this morning?” asked ISRI Convention Chair Stephen Moss to a packed closing session hall. “This marks the final general session of ISRI ever.” Moss’s words embodied the anticipation and energy in the air. With 6,794 attendees – the second consecutive year of setting a new record – ISRI2024 was a great convention to retire the brand with a bang.
ISRI Past President Brian Henesey took to the stage and presented the 2024 Design for Recycling® Award to the REMADE Institute for its programmatic research to support implementation of Design for Recycling® (DFR) principles in manufacturing.
“The REMADE Institute is honored to receive the 2024 Design for Recycling® Award from ISRI, an industry trade organization leader, founding member of the Institute, and a longtime partner of ours,” said REMADE CEO Nabil Nasr. “Together with our members, REMADE is dedicated to accelerating the nation’s transition to the Circular Economy. Nowhere is that more important than right at the beginning in the design phase. Circular design is a vital area of research, and this award recognizes that and raises awareness of the critical role that circular design plays in the race to net zero by 2050.”
The ISRI Young Executive of the Year Award was presented to Zach Mallin. “I am truly honored to receive the award of ISRI’s Young Executive of the Year. This award is unique and is appreciated to the utmost,” said Mallin. “Earning this recognition reinforces my drive and commitment to the industry and my fellow young executives. This experience will continue to motivate me to promote and advocate for our industry and our trade association. Moving forward I wish to drive my fellow young executives to dedicate their time to our cause and to move our professional careers in a positive way to impact our industry. I cannot thank my peers and colleagues enough for this prestigious award, and I look forward to growing our careers within our industry.”
After the awards were presented, former FBI hostage negotiator and bestselling author Chris Voss took to the stage. “I’m in the trust business…people trust me, and I had to learn to do it in unconventional ways,” said Voss. He presented the case of people being addicted to “yes,” especially when trying to lock down a sale. “As soon as someone is trying to get you to say ‘yes,’ you know there is a hook.” Voss argued that it is better to get people to say “no” as that makes people feel safer and gives them the feeling that they have time to think.
In addition to the yes/no paradigm shift, Voss gave examples from his extensive experience as an FBI negotiator, including a kidnapping in Haiti and a complicated case in the Philippines where many doubted his technique. Both were resolved with the victims returning home safely, largely due to empathizing with the kidnappers and using his “no” technique.
After Voss, Michael Maslansky, CEO of maslansky + partners came on stage to make an announcement with a magnitude that hadn’t been seen in the industry since 1987: ISRI’s new name and brand. “The blue bin went from a sign of progress to a sign of a broken system,” Maslansky said as he explained that research for the rebranding started 12 years ago on that same Vegas stage. One of the big takeaways was that messaging at the time was inner-focused, leaving people outside of the recycled materials industry at a loss for all that the industry does. Words like scrap conjured images of junk instead of the valuable and sustainable materials that it truly is. The goal of the rebrand is to tell a story of what matters to outsiders, especially when those outsiders are the ones writing laws and the people living in the communities our facilities are in. The biggest shifts are from industry to impact, inputs to outputs, and process to outcomes. With that Maslansky revealed the new name: The Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) along with a new color palette that highlights the power, innovation and personal impact of recycled materials.
Shortly after, Colin Kelly was introduced as the first chair of ReMA. “Let us embrace the opportunities that lie ahead…reimagining the future for generations to come,” said Kelly. “It’s not just about changing our name; it’s about changing the world.”
“How is everyone feeling this morning?” asked ISRI Convention Chair Stephen Moss to a packed...