Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Do your green credentials stack up? Photo of Tim Price DS Smith Recycling

March 14 2016 08:06 Do your green credentials stack up?

As consumers become more aware of the ethical and environmental impact of their purchasing decisions, businesses need to be more transparent and accountable for their waste management and recycling. Businesses that get it wrong face serious fines and damage to their brand reputation. Those that get it right can reduce waste, reduce environmental impact and open up new revenue streams for the business. So, how do your green credentials stack up?

At DS Smith, we improve your legislative compliance, your company’s reputation and your environmental impact by helping you to avoid landfill, and reducing the direct and indirect cost of all forms of waste.

We don’t consider used materials to be waste. Ever. Used materials are resources that can be reused or recycled to the financial and ethical benefit of your business. When we say we’re aiming for zero waste, we mean it.

Sources
1 ‘The Future of Sustainable Packaging to 2018’ Smithers Pira, August 2013
2 ‘Scaling Disruptive Innovation in Sustainable Packaging’, Forum for the Future, June 2014
3 ‘Scaling Disruptive Innovation in Sustainable Packaging’, Forum for the Future, June 2014
4 Waste Crime Consultation, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK Government, 2015
5 UK Government, 2015 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/business-falls-foul-of-all-3-producer-responsibility-regimes)
6 European Union business news and information (http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/italy-waste-court.yzv)
7 General Motors (http://www.gm.com/vision/waste_reduction_.html)
8 Nike (http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/report/content/chapter/waste)
9 http://www.novelis.com/en-us/Pages/evercan_consumers.aspx
10 The Hershey Company (http://www.thehersheycompany.com/social-responsibility/shared-goodness/pdfs/Hershey2014CSRReport.pdf)
11 Unilever (https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2015/15-01-30-Unilever-achieves-zero-waste-to-landfill-across-global-factory-network.html) Consumers are more aware than ever of the ethical and environmental impacts of their purchasing decisions, so businesses need to be more transparent and accountable for their recycling and waste management.

Businesses that get it wrong are facing serious fines and damage to their brand. But those who get it right can reduce waste and environmental impact, whilst creating new revenue streams and boosting their brand reputation.

So how do your green credentials stack up?