Press Releases

30/06/2010 Consumer Goods Companies Tackle Packaging and Sustainability

The Consumer Goods Forum initiative releases global framework measurement system for trading partners

Paris, 30th June, 2010.

The Consumer Goods Forum is delighted to release the first report from its Sustainability workstream.

The report, A Global Language for Packaging and Sustainability, delivers a common framework and measurement system that trading partners can use to help them make better, more informed decisions about packaging and sustainability.

Paul Polman, Unilever CEO and The Consumer Goods Forum Board Co-Sponsor for Sustainability, said: “Our industry has a responsibility to review the packaging it uses and to ensure that any negative impact arising from its production or disposal is minimised. Packaging spans the entire value chain and is a shared responsibility for all trading partners. To be able to address this responsibility effectively trading partners need to have a common way of talking about packaging and sustainability. This project delivers that language and will enable more informed dialogue.”
 
Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco CEO, who co‐sponsors this programme with Paul Polman, added: “This the first of many planned outcomes from the Sustainability workstream in the Consumer Goods Forum. It’s an important first step, and future work will build on the foundation it provides. We look forward to many more successful projects emerging from this programme, which will assist our industry in this very important area.”
 
Some 84 stakeholders have contributed to the project, including manufacturers, retailers, packaging converters, trade associations, academics and consultants. with core input from ECR Europe, The European Organization for Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN), the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC).
 
Pilot projects using the measurement system are currently underway, with the first results expected by the end of the year.


For further information or to obtain a copy of the report, please contact

on the project:
Julian Carroll, EUROPEN; email packaging@europen.be, telephone: +32 2 736 36 00
Katrin Recke, AIM; email katrin.recke@aim.be, telephone: +32 2 736 03 05

on The Consumer Goods Forum:
Sabine Ritter; email s.ritter@theconsumergoodsforum.com, telephone: +49 221 9 47 14 423.

About the Consumer Goods Forum

The Consumer Goods Forum is an independent global parity‐based Consumer Goods network.

It brings together the CEOs and senior management of around 650 retailers,manufacturers, service providers and other stakeholders across 70 countries.

The Forum was created in June 2009 by the merger of CIES ‐ The Food Business Forum, the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI) and the Global CEO Forum.

The Consumer Goods Forum is governed by its Board of Directors, which includes an equal number of manufacturer and retailer CEOs and chairpersons. Forum member companies have combined sales of EUR 2.1trillion.

The Forum provides a unique global platform for thought leadership, knowledge exchange and networking between retailers, manufacturers and their partners on collaborative, non‐competitive issues. Its strength lies in the privileged access it offers to the key players in the sector as well as in the development and implementation of best practices along the value chain.

It has a mandate from its members to develop common positions on key strategic and practical issues affecting the consumer goods business and to focus on non‐competitive collaborative process improvement.

With its headquarters in Paris and its regional offices in Washington, D.C., Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai, The Consumer Goods Forum serves its members throughout the world.

This press release and the report can be downloaded below.

 

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