Graham Packaging Names Richa Desai as Director of Sustainability

Graham Packaging has named Richa Desai as its new director of sustainability. In this role, Desai will support and drive company-wide sustainability initiatives including the development of goals, policies and programs that promote efficient, cost-effective products, technologies and operations.

Before coming to Graham, Desai served as the director of sustainability at global food packaging company Sabert, where she refined and championed the vision for Sabert’s sustainability platform and integrated sustainability into the packaging company’s business strategy. Prior to that, she served in a variety of roles including sustainability manager at Uponor.

With a global background that includes work in European, Asian and U.S. markets, Desai has experience working on sustainability initiatives for a variety of professional brands in the manufacturing industry. While at Sabert, Desai built the company’s sustainability program from the ground up, including setting its 2025 goals with an aim to design future packaging for circularity. She also is an expert at driving zero waste initiatives across plastic manufacturing facilities while encouraging employee engagement.

“Graham Packaging has a strong sustainability program that I look forward to building upon,” said Desai. “I am excited to help Graham meet its sustainability goals while working on a variety of projects, including everything from increasing PCR content in products, to driving energy waste savings, to working on the HolyGrail 2.0 initiative and more. We will work together to continue to position Graham as not only a packaging supplier but also a true partner that collaborates with its customers to meet their sustainability requirements.”

Desai holds a bachelor’s degree from CEPT University in Ahmedabad, India, a master’s degree from National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, India and a master’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit https://www.grahampackaging.com.