Sustainability | Avery Dennison

Our teams - Avery Dennison — For Flor Peña Herron, “sustainability” is more than a word – it’s a way of living, thinking and working. She’s spent time in multiple departments at Avery Dennison and now specializes in helping to reduce the company’s carbon footprint, and that of its customers. Though convincing businesses to put the environment first can be challenging, she is driven by the opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

Where do you come from originally?

I come from a really small village in Spain, in a region called Extremadura, which is close to the border with Portugal. Since I come from a farming background, I learned as a child that everything can be reduced, reused and recycled just as Mother Nature does.

Since I come from a farming background, I learned as a child that everything can be reduced, reused and recycled just as Mother Nature does.

And how did you come to the Netherlands?

When I was in university, I did the Erasmus program and focused on biochemistry in a lab in Leiden, where I met my husband. After that, I went back to Spain and spent another two years finishing my studies and looking for a job. In 2004, I found one in a sustainability department in the Netherlands, and after that, I found a job at Avery Dennison in 2005 working with customers and helping to handle orders.

Can you tell us what you do at Avery Dennison these days?

Right now, I am in the sustainability department, which is part of marketing. I do many things, but my main focus is the Design for Recycling Guidelines and EcoDesign, which uses specific principles to guide product development. This requires carefully considering the environmental impact of a new product throughout its entire lifecycle, from conception to design, and how it will be treated once it’s thrown away.

My main focus is the Design for Recycling Guidelines and EcoDesign...this requires carefully considering the environmental impact of a new product throughout its entire lifecycle.

Along with R&D, I also go to the associations we belong to and try to guide them in terms of using labels. We learn from them, and from members of our ecosystem, about how we can create labels that meet their needs. It's a mutual collaboration that lets us see what the recycling industry is looking for, and what the brand owners are looking for, so we can try to combine everything together.

The other part that I do is helping with recycling label waste, like the matrix and liner materials, through AD Circular. It’s one way that we’re improving label and packaging recycling while changing the way recycled materials are used, and it moves us closer to a circular economy where everything is continuously reused.

Did you always want your career to focus on sustainability?

Yes. I have sustainability in my background and I’m a biologist. I have two specialties, one is ecology and the other is microbiology, but combined, they focus on how to solve contamination problems in water, soil and all those types of things.

And I also studied environmental science and almost finished a second degree. So yes, my background is focused on sustainability, though I ended up with Avery Dennison by chance.

Does working in sustainability make you feel good about what you do?

Yes – it gives purpose to your work. Sometimes, it’s frustrating because you need to try and convince people to move in the right direction and it can be hard to get decisions made based on sustainability. But I think we are making very good progress.

Avery Dennison is really moving forward, and by working with our ecosystem partners, we can change things for the better and help advance our industry, leading to a more sustainable future.

Avery Dennison is really moving forward, and by working with our ecosystem partners, we can change things for the better and help advance our industry, leading to a more sustainable future.

Do you have any advice for women who want to have a career in the sciences?

Gender should not differentiate you from other people. It’s tough, but it's comforting to do what you really like. So, if you think that science is what is calling you, don't be afraid…if you are comfortable with what you believe and what you want to do, just go ahead. Pursue your dreams.

What's your favorite part of your job at Avery Dennison?

I think I have to say that’s the external contacts. I'm really happy with the advances we have made over the last few years by bringing more external points of view into our internal operations. We are now more proactive instead of reactive, and we’re trying to get more involved with associations, NGOs, governments, et cetera, so we can try to see what is coming, be more open to their ideas and bring them new ideas for innovation as well.

We are in an ecosystem, and if you are not connected with your ecosystem, it is really hard to advance. You need to have feedback from customers, brand owners and consumers to know what you need to develop in the future. You can not change the industry on your own – you must work together with others to create a better and more sustainable future.