PEFC webinar: on the path to EUDR alignment

Sonoco announced it has earned a Gold Medal rating by EcoVadis for the first time, the leading platform for environmental, social and ethical performance ratings for global supply chains. The rating puts Sonoco among the top 5 percent of manufacturers of paperboard and containers rated by EcoVadis, which monitors sustainability practices across 200 industries and 160 counties on behalf of 75,000 companies. According to Elizabeth Rhue, Sonoco’s staff vice president of sustainability, the Company’s improved rating is a result of a global effort by Sonoco’s more than 300 operations in 34 countries to achieve exceptional levels of corporate responsibility and sustainability.

India generated 26,000 tonnes per day of plastic waste in 2017-18, of that only 60 per cent was recycled and the rest ended up as litter on roads, in landfills or streams. Single use plastic industry is close to Rs 80,000 crore right now and growing. Packaging accounts for a third of India's plastic consumption, and 70 per cent of plastic packaging is turned into waste in a short span. While uncollected plastic waste poses a huge threat to species on land and in water, single-use plastic bags and styrofoam containers can take up to 1,000 years to decompose, said the study released at the world's largest paper fair, PAPEREX organized by Hyve India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Hyve Group Plc, London, last week. Paper, on the other hand, is eco-friendly green product and bio-degradable, it said, adding it was a myth that the paper industries cut trees for production, and consumption of water and energy is high. Paper industry plants more trees than harvested and primary raw material are 100 per cent renewable like wood and agro-residues.

With increasing awareness of companies making misleading environmental claims, there are more and more instances of the media calling out greenwashing. The latest example of this positive trend is the BBC’s More Or Less programme on Radio 4, which investigated a recent marketing claim by Serious Tissues. The company, which produces a range of tissue products, ran a radio ad that stated: “15% of global deforestation is from toilet rolls alone. But switch to Serious Tissues and they don’t cut down trees. In fact, Serious Tissues plant a tree for every roll sold.” Following the ad campaign, a number of Radio 4 listeners wrote to More or Less, taking issue with the 15% figure and asking the team to investigate and find out whether that figure was true. On January 29, journalist Charlotte McDonald presented the results of their findings.