Products of Change in 2022

The next chapter

Above: The Products of Change team, Rob Hutchins and Helena Mansell-Stopher. Below: RECOUP is a leader in the continued developments of plastics recycling and resource management.

Like a chapter yet to be written, the New Year stands before us; blank pages brim full with potential, intrigue, and the chance for yet more adventure. The old saying suggests that we write the book we would like to read, and that is exactly what Products of Change has been doing these past few months, setting out the plot of its next story. As the platform comes into its second year, and the Products of Change membership into its third, we begin to see the narrative for the coming year take shape; and we can reveal that this year, it is most certainly all about ACTION. Over the last year, our members have been working together to build on our guidelines on gaining parity on our legal language and requirements as an industry. We’re very excited to tell you that this report will be complete by the end of January, while Phase Two is already underway. Meanwhile, our sustainable packaging guidelines are nearing completion each day, and will be followed by a series of webinars run by packaging experts spanning governing bodies, retailers, and those in between in March this year. As well as fuelling our own work streams across the likes of toys, fashion, plastics, packaging, sports, gaming, legal, net zero, publishing and retail – which will all continue through 2022 – we have also been extending our partnerships outside of the industry. Products of Change is proudly working extremely closely with RECOUP, leaders in the continued developments of plastics recycling and resource management, to keep all of our members informed on all legislative changes globally. RECOUP will also be attending our packaging webinar series in March, by which time they will have their updated guidelines from the UK government. Products of Change is also an affiliate member of WRAP, an organisation that works closely with governments, businesses, and communities to deliver practical solutions to improve resource efficiency around the world

With the New Year comes not only a new chapter for the Products of Change story, but a new adventure for the whole industry, one brimming with potential to continue to drive real change. The POC team puts pen to paper to lay out the plot of this year’s narrative.

across plastics, food, and textiles. We are working very closely with the team to accelerate their work in fashion across their Textiles 2030 agenda. What with fashion being the largest licensed category globally for our industry, working closely with organisations within the fashion space provides a great opportunity for us all to drive real change. It’s why we are also extremely proud to announce that Products of Change has been asked to be an advisor on the committee of the United Nations Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network – and we have some very exciting plans on that front that we will announce in the coming weeks. The New Year also brings with it a new look Sustainability in Licensing Conference as we prepare to deliver our first inperson SILC live at the Royal Geographical Society on 22 June. We will be dual-casting the event for all international partners that cannot physically be there, as well as making all content available on-demand. We must say, we have a fantastic line-up of experts ready to wow us with their future forecasting and technologies, and we are looking forward to announcing more over the coming weeks. As well as being a year of action (oh, and our POC Advisors are also now extremely busy working with licensors and licensees to help set their sustainability goals for the year and beyond), 2022 will also be a year of expansion. In fact, we will be hosting our first Products of Change meeting in Australia and New Zealand in February, during which Coles Retail and Piping Hot (the Australian sustainable fashion brand) will showcase their journey in sustainability to date. More information will be released at the end of this month. On top of that, four new territory ambassadors are due to join the platform in March this year, further extending our reach across Europe. Saving one of our best announcements until last (who are we kidding, we love all of our announcements), we will be firing up our educational track once again this year, with not only our first Sustainability 101 workshop slated for 9 March this year, but the launch of our digital educational certification series at the end of March, too. We are very much looking forward to welcoming the industry to complete Module One when it launches very soon. Trade shows, of course, are back on the map and the full Products of Change team will be out and about, walking the aisles and singing from the sustainability song sheet. Please do get in touch to meet up, as we would love to share your sustainable journey and inspire everyone to help transform the industry together. The potential for us all to write an entire new book on the future of this business is incredibly exciting, so here’s to a 2022 filled with more action, more adventure, new partnerships and plenty of working together to tell the best story that we all can.

Below left: POC has been asked to be an advisor for the UN’s Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network. Below: POC is an affiliate member of WRAP. Below centre: The first ever in-person Sustainability in Licensing Conference will take place at the Royal Geographical Society on 22 June.

To find out more about Products of Change – and how your company can get involved – check out www.productsofchange.com. You can also contact Helena Mansell-Stopher (helena@productsofchange.com) or Rob Hutchins (rob@productsofchange.com) directly for further details.