Gary Cohen is a 40-year veteran of the packaging industry with expertise in food packaging, flexible films, and sustainable packaging. Now retired from the private sector, he serves as the volunteer Executive Director of Tennessee Waste to Jobs, where he applies his packaging knowledge and industry experience to help guide the development of practical, business-centric EPR policy for Tennessee.
A graduate of Babson College, Gary founded Valiant Paper & Packaging, a distribution company that also operated a plastics recycling program. Early in his career, Gary was a founding member of the Coalition of Northeast Governors’ Sustainable Packaging Task Force, where he contributed industry insights to one of the first regional efforts focused on packaging and waste reduction. He later spent 15 years as a Food Packaging Specialist with Unisource and continued this work with SupplyOne until his retirement in June 2025, advising food processors on packaging materials, food safety, process efficiency, and waste reduction. Gary also served five years on the board of the New Jersey Association of Food Protection, helping promote best practices in food packaging and food safety.
Gary and his wife Liz now reside in Nashville, Tennessee. He remains engaged in national EPR policy discussions through The Recycling Partnership’s State Leaders Policy Forum, and his role on the board of the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), where he also participates in NSAC’s SB54 implementation working group. A LEED Accredited Professional, he now leads Tennessee Waste to Jobs, a nonprofit coalition advancing Senate Bill 269′ Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) packaging legislation to strengthen Tennessee’s statewide recycling infrastructure, support Tennessee manufacturers, and reduce the burden on local taxpayers.