Final Word

GREEN Thinking Thinking 2022 2022 2022 TOP of the AGENDA

Few would argue that the office products industry is a mature sector. And, typically, mature industries employ mature people.

The differential in average age profile between those employed in our sector and most users of business products has probably never been greater. I would hazard a guess it’s at least a generation.

With this in mind, the challenge is to bridge the gap in attitudes and interests between the generations. And nowhere is this gap more evident than in the area of sustainability.

DRIVEN BY THE YOUNG

Most young people – by which I mean anyone under the age of 40 – have an interest in the environment far exceeding that of previous generations. It is this demographic which now makes up the majority of ‘office’ workers. The environmental headlines are sobering:

• By 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans by weight than fish. • 100,000 marine mammals and turtles, and one million seabirds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually. • Producing one tonne of plastic generates up to 2.5 tonnes of CO2. • CO2 and methane are released at every stage of the plastic life cycle; every piece of plastic ever produced is still with us in some form. • Relying on trees to absorb enough carbon emissions to achieve net zero by 2050 would require new forests covering five times the size of India. • Within 20 years, global temperatures are forecast to rise by 1.5℃. • Rising sea levels caused by melting ice sheets and glaciers will submerge the homes of 200 million people within 70 years.

Given those stats, it is hardly surprising that most young people, and more and more older ones, are concerned and want to take action to reverse the trends and change the outcomes. This is increasingly reflected in their buying choices in all vertical markets – including business products.

In the UK, industry federation BOSS formed the Single Use Plastic Forum in 2018. The idea behind it was to help steer our sector through the challenges of a marketplace that was demanding information about the supply chain’s policies and plans regarding more sustainable operations and environmentally friendly products.

The forum was initially launched in response to consumer feedback resulting from the use of blister packs in retail packaging for writing instruments. It quickly became apparent that concerns were not just about single-use plastic, but plastic in general. As such, the brief of the forum was widened.

While demand for environmental information and products with sustainability credentials slowed during the height of the COVID crisis, it has recently accelerated. As one London-based reseller said in October 2022: “Sustainability is now the #1 issue in every client meeting.”

GETTING EVERYONE ON BOARD

Now called the Environmental Forum, the BOSS initiative continues to grapple with a broad range of issues such as standards and definitions, making steady progress ahead of legislation but behind the market.

As resellers face growing demands from their customers for more detailed environmental information about both products and the entire supply chain, they relay this pressure to the next stop in the chain – the vendors.

Sadly, there still appear to be manufacturers that think the sustainability push is merely a ‘phase’ which they can accommodate with a bit of greenwashing and plenty of smoke and mirrors.

I appreciate the complexity – and the cost – of truly sustainable processes and products, but the direction of consumer travel is clear. The pressure is not going to go away and those vendors picking up the baton and really running with it will be the winners. Martin Eames, Director, Product Promotion Services & Chair, BOSS Environmental Forum

Sustainability is now the #1 issue in every client meeting