Jill Park: Sustainability’s star on the up

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A lot has happened on the environmental front over the past year. Wrap launched the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment, this time basing its targets on reducing carbon impact. The Global CEO Forum packaging project, chaired by Tesco’s Sonia Raja, has worked to address the issue of standardisation of sustainability metrics, carbon included. And then there was the government’s Packaging Strategy.

But how does all this translate to the packaging industry? To find out more about how packaging suppliers are meeting the green needs of their customers – and what those customers expect of them – we’ve undertaken our first-ever Packaging and the Environment survey.

It has thrown up some surprising figures. Just 17% of packaging suppliers claim to have a full understanding of carbon footprinting, for instance, even though 43% expect to have to measure the carbon footprint of a pack in the year to come. It’s a knowledge gap that gives cause for concern.

But sustainability is not just about carbon, and Asda’s soon-to-launch Packaging Scorecard is one of the bigger examples of how a retailer is tackling the gamut of environmental concerns – read the story so far here. Innocent, meanwhile, is as known for its environmental commitments as it is for its smoothies, and we speak to the company’s head of packaging to find out what’s next.

Thankfully, all this good work is not being hidden from the consumer. As Innocent, and the brands in our green advertising feature reveal, packaging reductions have become a key sales tool for big brands.

Elsewhere, Incpen director Jane Bickerstaffe and Design Bridge’s sustainability guru Helen Hughes give their views on the most important environmental issues of the moment. And we meet the top brass at waste management group Greenstar as they plan to open a giant new recycling facility in London.

The industry needs to promote its environmental credentials, and clearly this is happening. As the economy strengthens, let’s hope that the trend continues – and that the industry’s understanding of the pressures it is under continues to improve.

Jill Park is features editor of Packaging News

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