First Global Sustainable Packaging Measurement System Released

September 13, 2011

The Consumer Goods Forum has released the Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability (GPPS) to enable the consumer goods industry to better assess the relative sustainability of packaging.

Consumer Goods Forum logo The goal of the protocol is to help companies reduce the environmental impact of their packaging by providing a common language to address a range of business questions about packaging sustainability either within a company or between business partners. That common language consists of a framework and a measurement system. The framework entitled A Global Language for Packaging Sustainability was first published in June 2010. The metrics presented in the most recent protocol publication deliver the measurement system.

The GPPS is part of the sustainability work stream at the Consumer Goods Forum, which is sponsored by two of the organization's board members -- Philip Clarke, CEO of Tesco and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever.

“Tesco is a responsible retailer and understands that packaging is important to its customers. We're working hard with our suppliers to minimize the impact of our packaging on the environment,” Clarke said. “Having a common language will allow us to have the right conversations with our diverse supply chain. We can then work with suppliers to reduce the environmental impact of packaging whilst making sure it still does the essential job it needs to do to protect the products we sell.”

“One of the strengths of this project is how it has brought together so many companies and organizations from across our industry to work collectively on developing this common language,” Polman said. “Now we need to put the language to work. We are already doing so in Unilever and we are seeing the benefit.”

The Protocol was designed collectively by a diverse group of retailers and manufacturers aided by packaging material suppliers and packaging manufacturers and led by a steering team that included representatives from retailers Walmart, Target and Tesco, and manufacturers Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé and Unilever.

It is based on earlier packaging sustainability guidelines developed by the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment with ECR Europe and similar work on metrics for packaging developed by GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition in the United States.

Use of the protocol is free of charge from the project website. The Consumer Goods Forum will offer a free webinar presenting GPPS 2.0 on Oct. 4.

The Consumer Goods Forum, founded in June 2009, is a global, parity-based industry network driven by its members. It brings together the CEOs and senior management of more than 650 retailers, manufacturers, service providers and other stakeholders across 70 countries and reflects the diversity of the industry in geography, size, product category and format.

Headquarters in Paris, The Consumer Goods Forum also has offices in Washington, D.C., and Tokyo.

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