Erik Gonring

Novolex

Erik Gonring was named Director of Sustainability for Novolex in 2019 where he focuses on supporting a growing portfolio of brands and products designed for the circular economy. With foodservice packaging products that cover the spectrum of paper, plastic, compostable and recyclable options, Erik is tasked with expanding Novolex’s sustainability program and supporting related communication, partnership and industry engagement efforts.

Erik has spent the majority of his career working in the foodservice supply chain. Prior to Novolex, Erik held a variety of roles spanning sustainability, public affairs, executive, supplier and industry communications with The J.R. Simplot Company and their largest customer, McDonald’s Corporation. With a background that includes change management consulting, Erik brings a unique ability to build support for critical opportunities inside organizations, and bring them to life through aligned, organizational execution.

Erik is a graduate of Purdue, holding an MBA from the Krannert School of Business. In his second year of Purdue’s MBA program, while working in Sustainability and Public Affairs for McDonald’s USA, Erik convinced the Dean to establish Sustainability as a focus area in Purdue’s business school programming. Erik also holds a B.S. in Public Relations and Marketing from Marquette University. A former elite triathlete and lymphoma survivor, Erik has also been active in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee for the past 15 years.

Novolex™ develops and manufactures diverse packaging and food service products that touch nearly every aspect of daily life for multiple industries ranging from grocery, food packaging, restaurant and retail to medical applications and building supplies. The Novolex family of brands provide customers innovative paper and plastic solutions while investing in research and development to engineer more sustainable choices for the future. With more than 10,000 employee families, Novolex operates 60 manufacturing plants in North America and Europe, including two world-class plastic film recycling facilities.