Allison Berg - North America Sustainability Manager, Paper & Packaging at DS Smith

Allison Berg is sustainability manager for DS Smith North America, where she manages the delivery of the company’s Now & Next Sustainability Strategy, which focuses on closing the sustainability loop through better design, protecting natural resources by making the most of every fiber, reducing waste and pollution through circular solutions and equipping people to lead the transition to a circular economy. Allison is passionate about bringing positive change to communities who are underserved and are directly impacted by climate change.

Allison Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss:

• Circularity and circular design metrics
• DS Smith’s nature focus area and biodiversity targets
• Bundling low ROI projects like water with higher ROI projects for leadership buy-in
• Advice and recommendations for sustainability professionals

Allison’s Final Five Questions Responses:

What is one piece of advice you would give to other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? 

Get your hands on as much as possible. Sustainability is such an evolving large field ranging from reporting and regulations, carbon water waste projects, circularity, community engagement, safety, biodiversity, etc. The more that you can get your hands on, the better. My role at DS Smith, managing our sustainability strategy specifically for North America, has allowed me to get my hands on a lot of different topics that maybe you wouldn't if you're in a company that's a bit more siloed. If you have the opportunity to do something random, like you're focused on water and someone says, "do you want to pick this community piece up?" Go ahead. If you're open to it, you might as well try. Especially in the job markets, they're really looking for multifaceted people that could do a lot of different varieties of things. That'll put you one step ahead if you’re doing all sorts of different things. 

What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? 

Scope 3, because it's such an evolving field that everybody is currently trying to sort through, us included. It'll be really interesting to see that legislation as well. I know the SEC and scope 3 conversation was around recently and didn't really happen here in the US, but it's happening in Europe, so it's only a matter of time before that'll make its way over here. That, and I would say 2030 sustainability goals. I'm really looking forward to when 2029, 2030 comes around. All these companies have these big 2030 goals. Are they going to hit them? And if they don't, what are the consequences that we're going to see from these companies if they do not hit their established targets? I'm definitely looking forward to the next six years or so. It should be interesting. 

What is one book you'd recommend sustainability leaders read? 

I do a lot of different nonfiction reading at work between reports and standards and regulations and so on, so I'm typically a fiction reader. However, I highly recommend sustainability professionals if they haven't really done so already, to watch An Inconvenient Truth, which is the documentary by Al Gore back in 2006. That documentary in particular is what inspired me to do what I do now. I was hooked the second I watched it. It was really inspiring the way Al Gore presents, he's an amazing presenter. I highly recommend watching that. I know he's done an updated Inconvenient Truth in the last couple of years as well that's more with the times, but I highly recommend it for those who have not seen it yet. 

What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? 

Recently I joined the International Society of Sustainability Professionals, the ISSP. They have a lot of interesting resources as well as a new certification called the SEA and the SEP, the Sustainability Excellence Associate and Professional. They have a lot of interesting tools. I would also say relevant industry associations. For example, for me being in the pulp and paper industry, our main trade association, the American Forest and Paper Association, they have a large sustainability component as part of what they do. I assume other relevant industry associations will also have some sustainability component as everybody, including trade associations, have some sort of sustainability goals at this point. Those could be interesting resources as well. 

Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at DS Smith? 

I am on LinkedIn, Alison Berg, PMP if you'd like to find me. To learn more about DS Smith specifically, dssmith.com/sustainability is where you can find some updates on how we're doing on our sustainability strategy.