Retailers and Manufacturers join forces to drive global change in packaging

In the context of The Consumer's Goods Forum Global Packaging Project (GPP), leaders from many of the world’s largest consumer goods companies and major retailers have approved a suggested set of common definitions and principles for packaging in the framework of sustainability.

This common language will support a global discourse on packaging environmental, economic and social impacts. Manufacturers and retailers want to work together in order to develop packaging solutions to help achieve agreed sustainability goals. A common way of measuring environmental and sustainability improvements on packaging that can be used across the world ins now needed: inconsistent measures between different actors in the packaged goods supply chain intended to improve packaging’s contribution to sustainable development risked leading to unnecessary complexity, added cost and suboptimal environmental, economic and social results.

We need to find." Collectively there was recognition that i The next phase of the project is to validate the output of the project; the principles for packaging and sustainability and a set of agreed indicators and metrics, within real business situations.

The definitions and principles adopted by the GPP reflect the guidelines on packaging and sustainability produced by ECR Europe and EUROPEN, the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment. The metrics to be tested are adapted from those developed and recently released by the US Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). The Forum is targeting approval of the final report and deliverables in November 2010.

The GPP is supported by packaging manufacturers, industry and trade associations from Europe and North America and a number of academic institutions.