The Consumer Goods Forum announced the release of the Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability (GPPS) to enable the consumer goods industry to better assess the relative sustainability of packaging. The aim of the GPPS 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.
The GPPS 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 Wal-Mart Stores, Target and Tesco, and 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 (EUROPEN) with ECR Europe and similar work on metrics for packaging developed by GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). Use of the GPPS is free of charge from the project website- click here to access.