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Wrap has secured 28 brand and retailer signatories for the long-awaited second phase of the Courtauld Commitment (CC2), which moves away from weight-based targets to focus on sustainable resource use.

New targets for the Commitment, which was first launched in 2005, have been published today along with a list of big-name signatories that includes the likes of Asda, Tesco, Unilever and Nestlé.

CC2’s three principal targets focus on carbon impact reduction and an objective has been set to meet them in 2012, based on 2009 data. The targets are:

• A 10% reduction for grocery packaging
• A 4% reduction for household food and waste
• A 5% reduction for product and packaging waste in the supply chain

Wrap head of retail Richard Swannell told Packaging News: "The combination of the three targets gives us a broader ability to reduce environmental impact, as well as create cost savings for businesses and consumers."

Swannell said that rather than a full lifecycle analysis for every product on shelf, which would have been "very expensive and difficult to carry out", the carbon impact measurement was based on "an estimate of the carbon impact of the materials, effective recyclability and recycled content".

He said: "This is not a carbon label, but an indication of the carbon impact based on data that has been published across Europe to create a level playing field."

He added that the data would be updated on an annual basis.

While the percentage reduction targets are different for the three areas, Swannell said that in terms of carbon savings they all represented about one million tonnes of carbon. "Our level of ambition is the same for all three areas," he said.

Big-name signatories
The strong list of high-profile signatories will surprise some after recent speculation that only a handful of brands would support the scheme.

Among retailers, Sainsbury's, Morrison’s, Waitrose and the Co-operative all appear, although one notable exception is Marks & Spencer. In the big brands, Reckitt Benckiser and Procter & Gamble do not appear although names including Heinz, Mars and Danone do. Click here to read comments made by CC2 signatories.

Swannell said the targets were "Wrap targets" and not for individual signatories. "The sector is helping us deliver them and we are going to work on an implementation plan that works for them and fits best with the strategy.

"Some things will be require the involvement of the whole sector and other areas will focus on individual products," he said. "Packaging is one of the most innovative industries we have worked with and we want to promote that."

Courtauld 3
Wrap is already looking beyond the 2012 targets and to a possible Courtauld 3.

"There's quite a lot of consensus that we need to move towards products and look at the big resource hotspots like carbon," Swannell said.

"We are going to work out how a follow on agreement might work, but we need to be quite flexible about what it might look like."

Click here for the latest news on Courtauld 2.

Industry reaction
Initial reactions from the packaging industry have been cautiously positive. Packaging Federation chief executive Dick Searle welcomed the inclusion of products' impact but warned the initial focus on packaging would play to the national media's anti-packaging stance. Click here to read more...

Chris Dow, managing director of Closed Loop Recycling, said that brands, local authorities and central government would need to work together to bolster the UK's recycling infrastructure if the targets set out in CC2 were to be met. Click here to read more...

Packaging News news editor Simeon Goldstein, meanwhile, described the move away from weight as "the end of the beginning" in packaging's quest to be seen as an environmental solution rather than a problem. Click here to read more...

Finally, sector trade bodies including Incpen, the Food and Drink Federation and the British Retail Consortium have also voiced their support for CC2. Click here to read more...

Packaging News wants to hear your views on the latest version of the Courtauld Commitment. Leave your comments below or write to packagingnews.editorial@haymarket.com

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