Industry commits itself to acting against the flood of plastic
The Consumer Goods Forum is calling on the consumer goods industry to take a leading role in eliminating plastic pollution on land and in water.
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) is an association of CEOs from the largest multinational corporations such as Nestlé and Procter & Gamble, but also of service providers such as KPMG and McKinsey. Through voluntary resolutions the association wants to drive social and ecological sustainability, health and safety at a global level. The CEOs recently took up the subject of plastic pollution and showed themselves willing to compromise. The CGF board issued a declaration a short while ago that acknowledges for the first time that industry has to contribute to reducing plastic waste. It states that the CGF is committed to a circular economy in which plastic no longer ends up as waste. Emmanuel Faber, CGF board member and head of the food group Danone, explained:
“As the board of the Consumer Goods Forum we are aware of the urgent need for our industry to play a leading role in tackling the plastic waste problem. We commit ourselves to implementing pre-competitive, collaborative measures with the aim of eliminating the pollution of land and water by plastic waste.”
Big words, then, and we hope the goals will be implemented as soon as possible. The worldwide littering of our planet with plastic passes nobody by, not even the big players in business. And consumers want more alternatives to the material plastic and are willing to accept compromises of their own, financially and organisationally. That is shown by our study on German attitudes to plastic.
The throwaway society belongs to yesterday, quite clearly. But what about the supply side? How quickly can manufacturers, retailers, logistics companies and others become more sustainable when it comes to plastic? Sustainability is a relevant economic factor today: to stay attractive and to adapt entrepreneurial and ethical principles to today’s requirements, industry has to act – and the CGF declaration is only a first step. Companies that join in can expect to draw on EU funds: since the EU plastics strategy, the European Union has offered financial support to companies investing money in the development and use of alternative materials.
Packaging design, customer engagement and recycling systems without plastic
The CGF wants to take a leading role in eliminating plastic pollution in future. Peter Freedman, managing director of the CGF, emphasised that what matters now is cooperation between companies, governments and organisations. “It is obvious that the enormous plastic waste problem can only be solved if we all work together – companies, governments, communities and consumers all over the world.” The CGF was founded to promote exactly this kind of cooperation on a large scale, Freedman said. “Our members are committed in particular to cooperating in the following three areas, where we believe the industry can make a unique contribution: packaging design, customer engagement and recycling systems. We also look forward to working with other important stakeholders who play a leading role in these areas and who share our long-term goal of eliminating the pollution of land and water by plastic waste.”
An ambitious goal, given that the packaging industry is influenced above all by the oil lobby and that producing new plastic is still cheaper today than processing and reusing secondary materials.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy vision
In setting its goals, the CGF refers to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy vision. It calls for a circular economy in which plastic no longer ends up as waste but is safely and economically reused, recycled or composted. To what extent the CGF’s good intentions will be put into practice, and whether companies such as Nestlé and Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and the rest really will manage to break away from plastic soon, remains to be seen.