containers and packaging - global reporting initiative · sustainability topics for sectors: what...

Sustainability Topics for Sectors: What do stakeholders want to know?

CONTAINERS AND PACKAGING

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This table shows a list of topics identified as relevant by different stakeholder groups. They can be considered as stakeholders’ suggestions or requests for topics to be monitored or disclosed by organizations.

Additional information about the project can be found at https://www.globalreporting.org/reporting/sector-guidance/Topics-Research/Pages/default.aspx

13 – Containers and Packaging

20 Topics

Manufacturers of metal, glass or plastic containers. Includes corks and caps.

Sustainability Category

Topic Topic Specification (if available)

Explanation Reference(s)1 Constituency

Environmental Packaging materials

Type of materials in contact with food

The packaging materials chosen to protect and transport food must comply with existing regulation, such as the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations (EU Regulation 1935/2004) and equivalent FDA requirements in the USA. Material specific requirements must also be taken into consideration, especially for plastics: 2002/72/EU and its 5 amendments and FDA CFR 21 specify the exact amounts and types of additives that can be used to manufacture the plastics, each one having been tested and approved for food use. Additives used in materials for food contact are placed onto positive lists, in these and other regulations. In order to ensure that any migration from the necessary additives used in the manufacture of plastic are kept within tightly regulated limits, migration requirements for the finished plastic

603 Civil Society Organization

https://www.globalreporting.org/reporting/sector-guidance/Topics-Research/Pages/default.aspx




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packaging must also be met. The supplier of packaging materials and packaging must deliver appropriate compliance documentation, such as Safety Data Sheets and Food Contact Statements. The issue of food contact materials is important as it affects food safety and therefore can also affect the health of consumers.

Plastics use and management

Plastic, a valuable material, can generate significant positive, or negative, impacts on economy, environment and society. Plastic should be treated as a resource and managed judiciously. A disclosure on management approach for plastics, including governance, strategy, risks, opportunities, considering: opportunities for product redesign, increasing recycled content, implementing reclaim and/or reuse which could attract economies, brand loyalty, investment, employee goodwill, and; risks to the business, stakeholder health, environment and society (including reputational/social license to operate, regulatory, investor, insurer, and liability risks) for plastics that are directly harmful to stakeholders, or indirectly through plastics being wasted/littered. Performance indicators regarding the types and volumes of plastics being produced, used, collected and/or distributed downstream; the portion that is made of post-consumer-recycled, bio-based, biodegradable, compostable, and/or oxobiodegradable material; the ratio of expected life-span of plastic products in contrast

353, 367 Civil Society Organization



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to the duration of their intended use; these volumes broken down by end of life disposition. Most of this disclosure can be captured through the existing GRI framework (e.g. GRI G3 EC9, EN1, EN2, EN22), but commentary is needed to ensure disclosers appreciate the materiality of plastic; other questions can be added to the framework. Refer to the Plastic Disclosure Project (www.plasticdisclosure.org) for more details on the suggested questions. PDP will align its questions to GRI G4 once finalised to assist organisations in disclosing to PDP and GRI easily. Plastic can have significant positive, or negative, impacts on the economy, environment and society: Economics: There are significant cost savings available to organisations that treat plastic as a resource (e.g. through redesign, use of recycled content, reclaiming, etc.) and risks of increased direct costs (regulation, liability, cost of capital, insurance) to organisations that do not lead in this area as well as indirect economic costs to impacted industries (e.g. food production, tourism) Environment: Plastics that are wasted or littered become extremely harmful to the environment, which will have a material effect on biodiversity and the global food chain, both nearby and far outside the local area of operations Society: Some plastics are harmful to stakeholders during manufacture, use and/or disposal (e.g. due to phthalates, BPA), impact the wellbeing of society (e.g. effect of litter on community spirit and their interest in



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sustainability). While a valuable invention, which benefits society in many ways, the negative impacts associated with society's growing use of plastic are not fully recognised. Roughly 85% of plastic used in products and packaging is not recycled, and most plastic produced in the last 60 years still remains in the environment today. Discarded plastics persist in the environment for dozens or hundreds of years, accumulating across the globe, often out of sight of the producers and users. The direct physical impacts of plastic are significant to the organisation in increased costs or missed opportunities, and related economies (e.g. over $1.2bn in annual damages to ocean-related industries in Asia-Pacific), the environment through harming habitats and species, and to stakeholders health when exposed to the chemical ingredients; and are magnified if fragmentation of the plastic occurs, making it available for ingestion to additional species, who adsorb the chemical ingredients and/or the toxins carried on the plastic. These negative impacts could be avoided and turned into positive impacts, if plastic was treated as a resource to be managed judiciously (e.g. the US economy lost $8.3bn worth of plastic packaging in 2010) - "It is not good business practice to throw away valuable resources".

Packaging materials sourcing and use

Wood-based products from responsibly managed forests

Sourcing of wood based products (paper, furniture, etc) from responsibly managed forests. The following sections of the GRI reporting guidelines

185, 569 Civil Society Organization



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may be used by a reporter to mention FSC related activities, those are: - Profile - Commitments to External Initiatives: 4.12 externally developed economic, environmental, and social charters, principles, or other initiatives to which the organization subscribes or endorses. - Environmental Impact: EN 26: Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts of products and services, and extent of impact mitigation. - Product: PR3: Type of product and service information required by procedures and percentage of significant products and services subject to such information requirements. The above indicators are mostly not quantitative and a reporter may find difficult to integrate FSC related information. Ideally there would be a quantitative indicator related to certification scheme or initiative regarding the supply and the final product within the GRI guideline. In order to ease the reporting of FSC related activities, we propose to include two indicators related to supply and final product content. The wording could follow the Food Processing Supplement and worded as follows: “Percentage of purchased material by volume and weight which is verified as being in accordance with credible, internationally recognized responsible production standards, broken down by standard”. This topic reflects significant impacts, risks and



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opportunities for an organization itself and its stakeholders as well as requires active management or engagement by the organization. By buying FSC certified products, companies provide incentives for responsible forestry and can enjoy their purchases knowing it has not contributed to the destruction of the world’s forest or even come from companies involved in human rights abuses. Almost everything made from wood and other forest products are available with the FSC label. Finding FSC products becomes easier everyday. Literally every day, more FSC products become available. This topic is relevant for all 52 business/industry activity groups. These simple steps can be followed by companies to find and buy FSC products: 1. Check the FSC marketplace at marketplace.fsc.org (in January 2013, the marketplace is still a beta version) Please note this database will currently only search for manufacturers and distributors, not retailers. There are only a few exceptions where retailers are also certified. To find products carried by your local retailer, please contact them directly. We are working on including other search options to this database in the future. 2. Ask your retailer Chances are, they will carry FSC certified products. If not, let them know you would be interested in certified products. Not all certification systems are equal and only



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FSC guarantees that the product has been made from environmentally and responsibly managed forests. By asking for FSC certified products, you show that there is a demand. This is an important and simple way how you can help FSC to make a difference.

Percentage of total material comprising cardboard and paper material from recognised forest certification schemes (FSC, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes PEFC, Canadian Standard Association CSA, Sustainable Forestry Initiative SFI, Malaysian Timber Certification Council)

153 Financial Markets & Information Users

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of packaging

Packaging represents up to 60% of environmental impacts of products, depending on sector and markets. To date, this issue does not comply with GRI standards in many reports. Packaging is often not accounted for in sustainability reports in compliance with GRI standards, although it can account for a significant amount of product impacts. Eco-Emballages has published guidelines with 5 simple rules to help reporting on packaging issues. This could be used for packaging specific guidance that should be available to companies. These 5 rules includes : the definition of packaging (often reduced as a part of household packaging, with no information of significance of impacts compared to products and missing information on transport and industrial packaging), packaging reduction actions (often listed as simple actions, with no information on significance or completeness, or reduction targets), recycling (as an additional part of

113 Business



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packaging sustainability commitment often not mentioned in reports), consumer awareness (to help identify reduced packaging products or for better sorting), and indicators (in general no comparable or understandable indicators are given, although standards exist). Packaging accounts for a significant amount of products environmental impacts. For some sectors like beverages, it can represent more than 50% of the environmental impacts. But so far, very few sustainability reports provide relevant, exhaustive and comparable data and indicators. Even for sectors where packaging has reduced environmental impacts compared to products, packaging is a major focus for stakeholders. It is therefore necessary that the issue is correctly addressed, especially when it is necessary to explain that it is a non-material issue, when stakeholders expect action plans. Eco-Emballages is the French non for profit compliance scheme for household packaging recycling accredited by the French Ministry for Ecology. A benchmark of reports has been performed to assess the way packaging is taken into account in sustainability communications. Based on the results, GRI standards, packaging standards and experts input, Eco-Emballages has published a guidance for packaging and sustainability communication.

Life Cycle Assessment is standardized in the ISO framework in the ISO 14040-44 standards.




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There are 3 parts to LCA: 1. The first step of LCA is LCI, life cycle inventory. This is the complex part, since all the material and energy streams have to be quantified, from cradle to cradle or to grave. Performing this task the correct definition of the functional unit (e.g. one litre of water; 1 kg of product) and the boundaries are crucial. Having done this, the rest is a complex compilation of material and energy usage, and emissions to soil, water and air, calculated per functional unit. The environmental performance of two equivalent systems can as such then be compared on an inventory basis. However, the complexity of the compilation means this is a task for experts. 2. The second phase is the assessment. Depending on the assessment methodology, aspects such as, Resource depletion, Global Warming, Ozone depletion, Acidification, Eutrophication, Eco toxicity, Human toxicity, land usage and noise are set up, and the inventory coupled to these. This coupling and especially the weighting of the aspects with each other, is a political issue, depending on the priorities set by the user of LCA results and society generally. At present the main focus is on Climate change measured by global warming and simplified into Carbon footprint. Even so, the results are very difficult to interpret and subject to debate.



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3. The third phase in the process is a peer review, where the methodology and results are verified by independent experts. WPO welcomes environmental measuring of different delivery systems including packaging on a LCA basis. The studies made should be scientifically sound and compare equivalent systems. Studies on packaging alone are misleading and should not be supported. Environmental labelling and claims should have a LCA base. Eco efficiency and tools including the social element should in the future be developed to assess the performance of whole product delivery systems.

End of Product Lifecycle Degree to which products (on average) can be recycled calculated as a percentage of all materials used Degree to which products (on average) can be recycled calculated as a percentage of all associated material costs


Social Product labeling and traceability

Ingredients, production and nutritional information

Pre-packaged foodstuffs must comply with compulsory harmonised standards on labelling and advertising. The details that must appear on packaging include the name under which the product is sold, a list of ingredients and quantities, potential allergens (products which may cause allergies), the minimum durability date and conditions for storage. In many countries, nutritional information is also required. To ensure the safety of the domestic and global food supply, government regulations and brand protection demands from customers are on the rise. To address these growing




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requirements, food processors up and down the supply chain have introduced traceability systems. Product labelling and traceability is important for food safety and for health concerns for consumers.

Packaging design

Recyclability, reusability, energy recovery or composting

Packaging should be suitable for material recycling, energy recovery or composting, or for reuse Thus Annex II to Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste lays down "Essential Requirements" which all packaging placed on the market within the European Economic Area must comply with. The Directive states that one of the essential requirements is that Packaging should be suitable for material recycling, energy recovery or composting, or for reuse if reuse is intended.

158 Business

Sustainable packaging technology

Examples of Packaging Technologies contributing to sustainability goals are: Eco Inks (Aroma-free Ink, and Soy Ink), and biodegradable plastics that decompose due to microorganisms in the ground or compost Developing or improving packaging technology could lead to the achievement of certain sustainability goals and certain needs of consumers.


Other Corporate governance

Gender participation on governance bodies

GOVERNANCE / EUROPE: boardroom lady boom: is it possible without quotas? On 22 June, the CapitalCom agency published its 2011 survey into the boardroom gender mix of CAC 40 companies, with fairly encouraging results: the proportion of women on the board has doubled in recent




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years, from 10.5% in 2009 to 20.8% in 2011. In January, the French parliament adopted legislation imposing quotas for the proportion of women on the board of major companies. Under the measures, the development of female board membership is mandatory and gradual: 20% for listed groups, public companies of an administrative, industrial and commercial nature by January 2014, rising to 40% by January 2017. The law also stipulates that companies with no women present on their board must appoint at least one within six months of it being on the statute books (voted on 13 January 2011). In France, some 2,000 companies are affected (the 650 largest listed firms and companies with more than 500 employees and those generating sales in excess of €50bn). In terms of sanctions for noncompliance, appointments that run counter to the parity principles are to be declared null and void and attendance fees are to be temporarily suspended. At the European level and at the instigation of the Vice-president of the European Commission, Viviane Reding, the European parliament will decide in March 2012 on whether to adopt common legislation on this matter (a mandatory proportion of women in decision-making positions of 30% in 2015 and 40% in 2020). This will depend on the level of improvement seen based on the selfregulation of European companies, in accordance with the equality initiative adopted by the European Commission in December 2010 and the European



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parliament resolution of 17 January 2008 calling for the Commission and member states to promote a balance between women and men on company boards, particularly where member states are shareholders. Europe as a whole illustrates the degree of hesitation between a soft-law approach and conventional legislation (quotas in this instance), but it is clear from the experience at national level that the second method tends to get much better results.

Food contact material

Adherence to international and national regulations

The packaging materials chosen to protect and transport food must comply with existing regulation, such as the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations (EU Regulation 1935/2004) and equivalent FDA requirements in the USA. Material specific requirements must also be taken into consideration, especially for plastics: 2002/72/EU and its 5 amendments and FDA CFR 21 specify the exact amounts and types of additives that can be used to manufacture the plastics, each one having been tested and approved for food use. Additives used in materials for food contact are placed onto positive lists, in these and other regulations. In order to ensure that any migration from the necessary additives used in the manufacture of plastic are kept within tightly regulated limits, migration requirements for the finished plastic packaging must also be met. The supplier of packaging materials and packaging must deliver appropriate compliance documentation, such as Safety Data Sheets and Food Contact Statements.




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The issue of food contact materials is important as it affects food safety and therefore can also affect the health of consumers.

Noxious and other hazardous substances

Adherence to international and national regulations

Noxious and other hazardous constituents of packaging Thus Annex II to Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste lays down "Essential Requirements" which all packaging placed on the market within the European Economic Area must comply with. Noxious and other hazardous constituents of packaging should have minimum impact on the environment at end of life and is one of the essential requirements of this European Directive.

158 Business

1 All references can be found at https://www.globalreporting.org/reporting/sector-guidance/Topics-Research/Pages/default.aspx




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References

All references can be found at https://www.globalreporting.org/reporting/sector-guidance/Topics-Research/Pages/default.aspx

113 Eco-Emballages, 2012. Packaging and Sustainability Reports, Paris: Eco-Emballages.

153 European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS) and Society of Investment Professionals in Germany (DVFA), 2010. KPIs for ESG - A Guideline for the Integration of ESG into Financial Analysis and Corporate Valuation, Frankfurt am Main: EFFAS.

158 European Organization for Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN), 2005. Introduction to the CEN Standards on Packaging and the Environment, Brussels: European Organization for Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN).

185 Forest Ethics, n.d. Model Forest Resources Policy. [Online] Available at: http://www.forestethics.org/model-forest-resources-policy [Accessed 27 March 2013].

353 Kershaw, P., Katsuhiko, S., Lee, S., Samseth, J., Woodring, D., & Smith, J., 2011. Plastic Debris in the Ocean. In United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNEP Year Book 2011 (pp. 20-33). Nairobi: United Nations Early Warning and Assessment.

367 MacKerron, C., 2011. Unfinished Business: The Case for Extended Producer Responsibility for Post-Consumer Packaging, Oakland: As You Sow.

389° Natixis, 2011. Strategy Note Equity Research - Strategy/SRI: Monthly review June 2011, Paris: Natixis.

569 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), The WWF Guide to Buying Paper, 2010.

602 World Packaging Organisation (WPO), 2008. Position Paper Packaging Technology, Naperville: World Packaging Organisation (WPO).

603 World Packaging Organisation (WPO), 2009. Position Paper Packaging and Food Safety, Naperville: World Packaging Organisation (WPO)

604 World Packaging Organisation (WPO), 2011. Position Paper LCA - Life Cycle Assessment, Naperville: World Packaging Organisation (WPO).

° Resource available on request and/or for a fee.


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