On a recent visit to my local supermarket, heading down the aisle that holds the chocolate, I saw a chocolate bar I love: KitKat. A multipack that had a new style of packaging, one which happily exclaimed how environmentally friendly it is but only if you do not recycle it at home. It got me thinking. Businesses are doing a lot to talk about green credentials, but products seem to be falling short. Here’s what I think we can do to improve that.
Sustainable packaging needs to be more than recycling at a store.
Something that really irks me is the greenwashing by Marketing departments going on, I mentioned KitKat in my introduction as a snack brand that talks about the ability to recycle, but only if you then take empty packets back to stores. Pringles are another, it cannot be recycled at home and then there are other snack foods that are needlessly wrapped individually in plastic.
Recycling has been commonplace around the UK since the 1960s, I’ve been segregating my glass, plastic, and paper for as long as I can remember and yet we still seem to be stuck when it comes to creating fully, easy to recycle, packaging.
Then you look at other things, like drink bottles made from plastic – still – although easier to recycle, there’s still a serious amount of plastic being thrown away and ending in our oceans and throughout our forests endangering our wildlife.
It’s not just consumable goods that are causing issues, technology is also becoming a major issue. Phones, laptops, and smart watches are all far too quickly reaching obsolescence. Apple and Google, the two biggest names in the phone making industry, still release brand new phones every single year. With all of them having surprisingly short lifespans – 3 years of software updates and only 5 years of security updates.
Yet, all of these organisations will quite happily look you in the eyes and tell you they are good for the environment because it’s made of recycled material, they are planting trees, or use renewable energy to meet their production demand.
For me, this isn’t enough.
What can businesses do to make their eco system better?
A wider embrace of the Circular Economy is needed.
I have spent a good part of the last few years talking to people in the circular economy, finding interesting stories about businesses using initiatives to reduce waste in many sectors – from buildings through to clothing, and even renewable energy. But I notice that this isn’t something that is widely accepted. There are some minor firms that will refurbish a phone, but if you want to reuse a laptop with a single broken part, then you are out of luck – you need to buy a new one.
I was absolutely delighted when I read up on the incoming European Union efforts to reduce waste by bringing in the Right to Repair Bill (which meant that you had the right to spare parts for devices up to ten years after you purchase it). It has been reduced in its impact slightly but it’s still a good step forward.
Ease of recycling
Terracycle, composting, commercial recycling only, and many other excuses from big businesses are really annoying me. I have been pulling apart my cans from my glass and flattening cardboard boxes for years and yet we’re still having to take our carrier bags and batteries into shops? KitKat will sell you 6 multi-pack bars and expect you to drive back to the shop to recycle them!
Investment in infrastructure to make recycling at home easier is a must and this isn’t something just the council or governments should be thinking about. Businesses that are profiting from people purchasing products should be helping with this investment. Working with Governments on agreed methods of recycling at home, reducing plastic, and even innovating in packaging to make products more environmentally friendly.
Collaboration on common connections
USB-C, regular USB, Lightning, HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA. How many other connections can you name that we still use or product cables for? Sustainable product design needs to be more than just what we’re making products out of, or how we are disposing of them, tech businesses in particular need to be working collaboratively to make useful connections that all devices can use – not advancing on your own because you think it’ll increase your sales.
Major tech organisations will tell you that collaboration will reduce innovation in the industry, but think about the other things you can innovate on if you have fewer members of your team focusing on the next best charging port for your phone?
If we all worked together, cables could become a thing of the past quite rapidly as we shift to better methods of wireless charging.
But why is it so hard for businesses to do this on their own.
Profits.
There is only one thing that matters to big business: Shareholders. Investment in infrastructure or innovation in their product design comes at a cost, which harms their bottom line in the short-term. Forgot about the long term success and sustainability of the product. If at the end Q4 the shareholders aren’t reimbursed for their investment then there’s no point in doing business.
Shareholders need to prioritise green initiatives and sustainable thinking in their wants and needs, at least in the short term, for a longer term that is good for the planet and helps businesses build urgency around innovation.
Requirements. Urgency. Push.
Businesses will only act if they are pushed, if there is no urgency from consumers or the government, then they just won’t do it. I’ve seen and experienced this in my own lines of work. Businesses do the minimum that the Government asks of them. More legislation around the creation of at-home recycling and the requirement for spares needs to be spelled out.
Consumers also have a play to part here, forcing businesses with demand consumption – removing the demand for products citing green credentials and businesses will quickly change their tune and invest in initiatives to make it easier to recycle. We all have a part to play to force businesses to rethink. As soon as it hurts income, changes are made.
Is all hope lost?
I don’t think so – newer generations are becoming the consumers of tomorrow and they are not stupid. Many GenZ are environmentally aware and are forcing businesses to change their tune. As these consumers become the main buyers, you’ll see a lot of businesses changing direction to become even greener.
Newer shareholders and C-Suite executives are also environmental thinkers. Looking at the long term impact of products and building plans to reduce this, The KitKat packaging, although annoying, is a step in the right direction and if more organisations made little changes we’d be closer to a less-waste society sooner.
We are heading to a sustainable future and products are being designed with sustainability in mind, we just need to make sure our marketing isn’t over-egging what we are doing. Greenwashing needs to be kept to a minimum and we need to make truly green products and services.