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- The Week in Low Carbon Commerce - Nov 20, 2023
The Week in Low Carbon Commerce
November 20, 2023
Happy Monday!
The theme this week seems to be working the ref. In this edition:
The third round of negotiations for a global plastics treaty
The food industry worries about the EU’s deforestation rules
The cattle industry advocates for new math for methane emissions
Plus news about Amazon, P&G, Unilever, and a few interesting new jobs.
For those in the U.S., have a happy Thanksgiving!
Keith
P.S. Did you get a reaaally early preview of this week’s newsletter overnight last week? Sorry for that — some developers running tests got a little handsy with the “publish” button.
What’s Hot
🌎 Delegates met in Kenya for the third round of negotiation of a UN global plastics treaty, a process begun by a 2022 resolution to develop a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2024.
Oil-producing nations including Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran have lobbied for voluntary downstream “waste management” and against any clauses restricting production, arguing that no pollution is created at the point of production. Canada and the EU are among the delegates supporting curbs to plastic production.
The Business for Plastics Treaty (endorsed by more than 35 leading retailers and brand owners), has also called for a more comprehensive approach, including a plan for phasing out problematic plastics and funding for after-use collection and treatment of plastic.
Two more rounds of negotiation are planned for next year.
[Link]
🌳 The FT covers food industry pushback against the timeline for enforcement of new EU rules against deforestation. The rules are scheduled to take effect in late 2024 and will require companies to prove their goods have not been produced on recently deforested land.
According to the FT, food manufacturers and retailers want to add clauses to their contracts with traders to assign liability for fines for non-compliance, which could reach 4% of annual sales turnover.
[$ Link]
🐄 Fast Company dives deep on National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) campaigns to convince regulators and consumers to adopt GWP*, an industry-friendly approach to calculating methane emissions that critics describe as a “get-out-of-jail-free” card.
[Link]
🗑️ AMERIPEN, a nonprofit focused on U.S. public policy guidance for packaging, released a white paper titled Minding the Gap: Consumer Awareness of Packaging & Food Waste Reduction.
The paper summarizes Michigan State University’s (MSU) School of Packaging research on the role packaging plays in reducing food waste.
[Link]
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Retailers
📦 Amazon announced that European deliveries of Amazon-sold items and 3P items fulfilled by Amazon are delivered in 100% recyclable paper bags, envelopes, and boxes, or ship in product packaging (SIPP).
Amazon also highlighted that the number of products participating in SIPP grew by more than 50% in the last year.
By the way — we’ll have more on SIPP (formerly SIOC) and other vendor- and seller-facing Amazon programs during the Nov 28 workshop on Winning with Amazon on Climate.
[Link]
Brands
♻️ P&G announced a national test of its Holy Grail 2.0 digital watermarking technology is planned for France. Digital watermarking is being evaluated as a way to improve sorting of both rigid and flexible packaging to keep valuable materials in useful circulation longer.
[Link]
🍦 Unilever has granted the ice cream industry free, non-exclusive licenses to 12 reformulation patents. The patents allow reformulated products to remain stable at warmer temperatures, reducing last-mile energy requirements by around 25%. That’s cool!
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Don’t miss…
November 28 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
Amazon programs like the Climate Pledge Friendly badge and Compact by Design are emerging as effective ways to grow traffic and conversion, even while reducing costs. And in 2024, Amazon will begin asking suppliers for even more climate-related data.
Join us November 28 @ 11am-12pm EST for an overview of Amazon’s vendor- and seller-oriented climate initiatives and playbooks for maximizing the commercial benefits of participation.
Deals and funding
📦 IDA, based in Paris, raised $2.9M in seed for its AI-driven ordering system for food retailers, which it claims can increase sales and reduce food waste.
[Link]
From the podcast
We all know someone who wears, or has worn, “many hats.”
Emily Fultz has worn many hats.
She’s worked for renowned companies like Starbucks, Campbell Soup, IRI, and Clorox in roles spanning brand management, shopper marketing, category management, omnichannel sales, and more.
Today, she’s VP, Marketing and Sustainability for The Humble Co., a pioneer of plastic-free oral care products.
If you want to know what it’s like to move from commercial roles into sustainability or from big CPG to an emerging brand, this episode is for you.
Emily shares insight about her career trajectory and how she and the team at The Humble Co. are raising the bar in their category.
Featured jobs
Check out all of the jobs (or post yours) on the Decarbonizing Commerce Career Board.
