Tom Schneider elected WPO President

During its first board meeting of 2011 at Interpack in Dusseldorf, Germany, the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) elected Thomas L. Schneider, CPP, as WPO's new President for 2012-2014. Tom was elected by unanimous vote of the WPO Board.

Tom served on the IoPP National Board as President and Chair in 2004 and 2005 respectively. He is a member of the IoPP College of Fellows and is also an Honorary Life Member of the Institute.

Since 2004, Tom has been an active member of WPO and served as one of its Vice Presidents for the last two years. Tom worked closely with WPO's current president, Keith Pearson, to help grow WPO's membership. Tom has spoken at several international conferences, including one in Beijing and, most recently, in Mumbai.

In 2009, Tom became Vice President, Sustainability, of the newly-formed Executive Committee for WPO. Tom also wrote two key white papers: "Packaging as a Sustainability Tool" and "The Case for Packaging."

His involvement in WPO has provided an opportunity to share his insight into the worldwide packaging community with IoPP, its board, and members.

"The opportunity to develop relationships with packaging leaders from almost 50 other countries is a special experience for me," said Tom.  "These relationships that I have developed, with IoPP's support, provide every member of the Institute with a potential link to the latest technologies, materials, and package designs in every corner of the globe." 

According to Patrick Farrey, Executive Director, IoPP, the Institute has been well-represented at WPO meetings by Tom since 2004.

"Through his participation in WPO, we have expanded the global network of IoPP in a variety of ways," said Farrey.  "Tom was integral in executing IoPP projects such as the translation and distribution of IoPP books in Spain and Mexico, the launch of a student chapter in Beirut, Lebanon and cooperative efforts in producing a sustainable packaging conference in Hangzhou, China. We are proud of Tom's leadership and look forward to supporting him during his term as WPO President."

For the last 15 years Tom has been President of Houston-based Industrial & Shippers Supply, a 57-year old value-added distributor of packaging and labeling systems and supplies. He also recently completed nine years directing a package testing laboratory, also based in Houston.

For more information, contact IoPP at info@iopp.org.

About WPO
Founded in 1968 on the occasion of the second Japanese International Packaging Exhibition, the World Packaging Organization is made up today of member organizations from 42 countries. Many members are packaging institutes; other significant members are national or regional trade organizations that promote their countries' packaging products. In recent years, WPO has focused on packaging in developing nations.

With headquarters in Stockholm (Sweden) the entity promotes projects and actions aligned to its main slogan "Better Quality of Life Through Better Packaging for More People." With that mission in mind, WPO encourages the development of packaging technology, science and engineering; stimulation of international trade; and the advancement of packaging education and training. The President, Keith Pearson, is based in South Africa. For more information, visit www.worldpackaging.org.