Product Of Change Autumn 2024

IN

Breaking new ground with industry reporting

POC Conference: What’s on and who’s there?

A taste of change: Tony’s Chocolonely confronts the cocoa supply chain

Forecasting the future: First of its kind research from POC

Future Positive® is an initiative by Smiley® to become a more conscious and responsible brand through our mission and mantra to make different and make better with our partners and licensees. Corresponding to our partnership with the United Nations to deliver UN-SDG Goal 12: responsible production and consumption we are striking a balance between responsibility and making more sustainable products for you and the planet.

Future Positive® is an initiative by Smiley® to become a more conscious and responsible brand through our mission and mantra to make different and make better with our partners and licensees. Corresponding to our partnership with the United Nations to deliver UN-SDG Goal 12: responsible production and consumption we are striking a balance between responsibility and making more sustainable products for you and the planet.

If you are interested in working with Smiley and creating products that make a difference, please reach out to one of the team. Contact sales@smiley.com.

If you are interested in working with Smiley and creating products that make a difference, please reach out to one of the team. Contact sales@smiley.com.

Over the past year, we have created Future Positive products with the following brands.

Over the past year, we have created Future Positive products with the following brands.

CHANGE IS AFOOT

Hello from Products of Change and hello from me, the new editor!

About a month ago I took the reins from Rob Hutchins and have been working on bringing you this new Autumn issue. Crucially, it is also our Products of Change Conference issue, so you will find it brimming full of content to give you a supplement to some of the fantastic presentations we will be having at the conference. From the UN’s youngest ambassador, the incredible Moksha Roy and her dad telling us about how they work together as a family to drive impact, to Tony’s Chocolonely’s chocolate journey, navigating the complexity of legislation, to some really exciting reports on innovations and sizeable progress from the likes of Dunelm, Primark, and Pure Table Top, that has been made in the industry since we all met this time last year.

Not only is this a special issue because it is coming with us to the conference, but it also contains the full version of our Future Forecast Report. Those of you who saw us at BLE will probably have already picked up a copy (and diligently read it through of course), but it is such an informative piece of work and marks the first of its kind for the global brand licensing industry. It is also available to download under Resources on our website, but for those of you who love a hard copy, it is handily included with your latest copy of POC magazine. While I may be new to POC, it has been fantastic getting stuck in and learning all about what our POC community is achieving and the strides it is making to have real lasting change. The POC Conference will be a-buzz with this energy and anticipation of what’s to come in the industry. Can’t wait to see you all there!

For general enquiries contact: helena@productsofchange.com

For press enquiries please contact the editor: kathryn@productsofchange.com

For advertising enquiries please contact: ianh@max-publishing.co.uk robw@max-publishing.co.uk

CONTENTS

07 NEWS

The latest in sustainability updates from across the industries.

13 NAVIGATING LEGISLATIVE PRESSURES

Discover how the industry is addressing the simultaneous challenges of adapting to numerous legislative changes while transitioning to more sustainable and ethical operations.

16 POC CONFERENCE AGENDA

The packed agenda for the Products of Change Conference, now in its fifth year, returning on 6th November to the Royal Geographical Society London.

20 TONY’S CHOCOLONELY’S SWEET ENDEAVOUR

Find out about how Tony’s Chocolonely is on a mission to end child labour and slavery in the chocolate industry.

24 ARE WE CLOSER TO UNDERSTANDING EUDR?

With the huge changes that will come with the EU Deforestation Regulations, we examine how the industry is preparing, despite potential delays.

26 A LESSON IN CIRCULARITY

Highlighting its work integrating circularity into the fashion business, Primark is working closely with industry partners to make its sustainable steps forward.

28 A FAMILY OF CHANGEMAKERS

Sustainability advocate at age nine, Moksha Roy, and her father, Dr Sourav Roy, talk through what it takes to be sustainable changemakers.

30 COMPETITORS TO COLLABORATORS

The children’s media industry is proving how essential industry collaboration is to make meaningful and widespread positive impact.

32 HONING HOMEWARE

Learn about how Dunelm, Pure Table Top, Fabacus and Dayrize are working on sustainable design and digital product passports (DPP) to future-proof the industry.

34 IN FOCUS: MEPAL

Underlining its sustainability strategy, leading storage and serve ware products company, Mepal, has recently announced its successful certification as a B Corp.

35 BRACING FOR AN EMBOLDENED B CORP

As B Labs tightens its certification process, POC Advisor, Heidi Florence, talks us through how the process will better align with global standards.

36 SCOPING THE FUTURE

POC has been working on a pioneering body of work to develop a comprehensive Scope 3 methodology for the brand and licensing industry.

39 THE FUTURE OF SUCCESSFUL CHARITY PARTNERSHIPS

As part of its work supporting charity partnerships, Louis Kennedy commissioned a research report into what exactly makes such partnerships successful?

40 FUTURE FORECAST REPORT

Read a first of its kind report evaluating where the brand licensing industry currently sits on its journey towards a more sustainable future.

KEEPING YOU UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST STORIES

SCIENCE-BASED TARGETS FOR GIBSONS

The family-owned games and jigsaw puzzles specialist, Gibson Games, is making a bold new commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions year-on-year by aligning with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Home to popular family gaming titles, including Dingbats, Quirk, and Mind the Gap, Gibsons secured B-Corp accreditation in 2023 owing to its ongoing efforts in driving social impact as well as its conscientious approach to product development and manufacturing.

Strengthening that commitment and subject to a final approval by the SBTi, Gibsons aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 5% year-on-year. To achieve this, the team will build on steps it has already taken, that to date include the installation of solar panels and a switch to renewable energy, a zero-to-landfill commitment from its waste removal partner, and improved company vehicle emissions.

“In terms of our Scope 3 emissions, longer term we will continue to produce locally where we can transport products by road or sea, never by air,” explained Kate Gibson, MD at Gibson Games. “And we are regularly in discussion with suppliers to encourage positive decisions regarding waste, materials, and energy.”

Attempts to minimise impact across production include opting for local manufacturing solutions. Gibsons’ recent expansion into the US market, for example, included a “significant decision to manufacture stateside.”

By the end of 2024, all Gibson Games jigsaw puzzles will be packaged in paper bags while the brand’s newest launch, Dingbats, is produced exclusively in Europe.

“As well as becoming a B Corp at the end of 2023, we signed up to the government’s Green Mark scheme and are now working to complete Level 3, which will be the equivalent to ISO14001,” said Kate. “We’re excited to finalise our SBTi targets and continue our roadmap for B Corp re-certification, once the new standards have been shared.”

MAGIC LIGHT PICTURES LAUNCHES SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING GUIDE

Magic Light Pictures, known for The Gruffalo, Zog, Stick Man, and others, has produced a new sustainable packaging guide developed “as a useful tool and resource” for suppliers looking to reduce their carbon footprint.

The new guide spans the entire Magic Light Pictures licensed product and partner portfolio, presenting re-thought concepts for all elements of packaging, from swing tags and kimbles to packaging substrates, environmentally friendly inks, and packaging reuse or recyclability.

The project was led by Magic Light’s product development executive, Hannah McKevitt, who worked with Products of Change Advisor, Mike Swain, to work through meticulous analysis and evaluation before landing on the final concept.

“We understand that sustainability is a journey we are all on together and packaging is one leg of that journey,” said Hannah. “But it felt like an essential place to start as it affects every licensed product we create.”

The project found its origins back in 2021 when Magic Light Pictures first challenged its master toy partner on The Gruffalo, Wow! Stuff to redesign its ‘plastic-heavy’ packaging concept. Magic Light has since then been engaging suppliers and partners on how to reduce their carbon footprint.

“If we are asking our licensees to make sustainable changes to their packaging, we want to make it easy for them,” Hannah continued. “We have worked to pull the correct and most up to date information featuring the latest legislation, in order to keep expectations clear and allow progress to be made in a measurable way.”

SHORE BUDDIES TURNS TIDE ON RPET

Shore Buddies, the plush toy brand known for its use of rPET stuffing, is turning its back on recycled plastic bottles, due to concerns over the release of microplastics caused by a process known as ‘shedding.’

In place, the brand is making a significant switch to upcycled, organic, biodegradable fabrics that are both ‘better for the environment and human health.’

Shore Buddies made a big splash when it launched on the plush toy scene for producing the world’s first mass market stuffed toy, made with 100% recycled plastic bottles. Its approach to recycled content complimented the brand’s own message of ocean conservation, meanwhile highlighting the perils of plastic pollution.

However, citing recent research detailing the ‘invisible impact’ of nanoplastics – tiny plastic particles that are shed from synthetic materials in the wash as well as everyday use – Shore Buddies brand owner, Malte Niebelshuetz is making a ‘rapid and huge pivot’ away from rPET and recycled plastic altogether.

“These tiny particles can be transmitted via the skin from cuddling or touching plastic toys,” said Malte. “So, we have made the decision to phase out all from our toys immediately, starting with an all-new line of Shore Buddies made from upcycled, organic, biodegradable fabrics.”

The aim is to have the first line of newly produced Shore Buddies on the market in time for Christmas 2024.

WHALE RESCUE MISSION AT HEART OF NEW WATERHAUL SUNGLASSES RANGE

The UK eyewear brand, Waterhaul, has teamed with the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) to launch an exclusive collection made from fishing gear recovered during the rescue of an entangled humpback whale.

The collection is the newest chapter in Cornwall-based business’ aptly named Rescue to Recycle campaign, a project that aims to engage environmentalists and conscientious consumers in the message of collaboration and community action.

The plastics used in the new range have been recycled from ghost (abandoned) fishing gear that had entangled a junior humpback whale off the coast of South Africa. Working with the World Cetacean Alliance (who executed the rescue mission) and a local whale watching company (who called the crisis in), Waterhaul has been able to transform the gear into a range with a real story of hope to tell.

Proceeds from this special eyewear collection will now go towards fuelling further marine conservation efforts.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with the World Cetacean Alliance on this innovative project,” said Waterhaul’s Gavin Parker. “This campaign not only highlights the dangers of ghost gear but also showcases the incredible things we can achieve by working together. Each pair of sunglasses represents a piece of our mission to protect our oceans and give waste material a new life.”

With reserves of recovered ghost fishing gear waiting to be processed in recycled plastic pellets, Waterhaul is now approaching brands looking to transform their materials use with a B2B recycled content offering.

The team is urging those looking for recycled plastics with a real story to tell to get in touch today.

ABOVE: Malte Niebelschuetz, owner, Shore Buddies, shows his products on the beaches he is trying to protect.

ABOVE: Kate Gibson, MD, Gibson Games

ABOVE: Waterhaul uses abandoned fishing nets to create its eyewear.

BELOW: Magic Light Pictures’ new guide to help suppliers looking to reduce their carbon footprint,

GROWTH IN REVENUE AND RENEWABLES AT THE LEGO GROUP

In the same first six months of the year that witnessed the LEGO Group grow its revenue to DKK 31bn (€4.1bn), so too has the Danish toymaker made ‘significant advances’ in moves towards plastics derived from renewable and recycled sources.

Detailed in its 2024 first half earnings, the LEGO Group not only delivered double-digit growth on the top- and bottomline (outpacing the rest of the global toy industry) but has seen a notable increase in the amount of resin purchased from sustainable sources certified under the mass balance principle.

In the first six months of 2024 has increased this percentage of resin to 30%. Under the mass balance principle, this translates to an estimated average of 22% material from renewable and recycled sources. It marks a significant increase from 2023 when, for the full year, 18% of resin purchased was certified mass balance, equating to just 12% sustainable sources.

Over the coming years, the company aims to purchase more than half its raw materials from sustainable sources via the mass balance approach, reducing its use of virgin fossil materials.

Through the first half of 2024, the LEGO Group has released over 300 new sets and has grown consumer sales 14%. Its operating profit grew 26% versus last year to a record DKK 8.1bn. At the same time, the company has intensified its focus on greenhouse gas emissions reduction, having launched its new Suppler Sustainability Programme and an annual carbon emissions reduction KPI linked to employee bonuses.

“We are very pleased with our strong performance in the first half,” said Niels B Christiansen, the LEGO Group’s CEO.

“We used our solid financial foundation to further increase spending on strategic initiatives which will support growth now and in the future to enable us to bring learning through play to even more children.”

AARDMAN SETS SCOPE 3 PLANS IN MOTION

Aardman has kicked the process of creating an ‘approved Sustainable Supplier list’ into first gear to help the team take on the company’s next leg of its sustainability journey.

The process will eventually expand to cover licensing and manufacturing partners as the British animation studio continues to explore the best means to integrate its Scope 3 emissions into its annual Environmental and Sustainability Reporting.

Aardman made its commitment to publish an annual E&S report earlier this year, detailing steps taken over the course of the year to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and celebrate its victories along the pathway towards sustainable development. The studio calculates that 14% of its GHG emissions currently sit under Scope 1 and 2, while 86% sit within Scope 3.

“We are at the start of the journey in this area and at this stage we are working on our strategy for engaging with our suppliers to enable meaningful discussion over their environmental performance and reporting,” said Helena Argo, executive producer, third part and commercials and Aardman E&S strategist.

“Our intention is to engage with our top 20 suppliers from across the business and create a framework for how we want to work with them and what shared information we want to have.

“For our licensing partners, this is more complex and a new area to our Scope 3 reporting for 2022. We are still very much working out how to approach this.”

$50BN APPAREL SECTOR ‘MUST BRACE FOR EU LAW,’ WARNS FABACUS

The team took home the Best Sustainable Licensed Product win at this year’s Licenisng Awards but warns the industry ‘must prepare’ for digital product passports

When the industry data specialist, Fabacus, and the ethical clothing brand, Nobody’s Child, were named this year’s Best Sustainable Licensed Product at the 2024 Licensing Awards, it was a win that came with a warning for the $50bn licensed apparel sector.

Triumphant in a hard-fought Awards category, Fabacus and Nobody’s Child have been celebrated for their combined approach to the Digital Product Passport (DPP) – an emerging supply chain transparency tool designed to provide new levels of insight into the sustainability credentials of licensed garments and apparel.

zThe ‘passport’ carries such data as where materials have been sourced and how they have been farmed, how items have been manufactured, and the distances materials and garments have travelled to wind up at retail.

Currently in pilot phase, Fabacus’ DPP has been developed in anticipation of requirements of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) – one of the latest laws introduced by the European Commission under its overarching EU Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan.

Among the ESPR’s many new requirements for products traded across the European market will be the mandatory application of a DPP for all textile and apparel items on the market by 2027. It’s expected that all consumer products will need to carry a version of the DPP by 2030.

Licensed apparel currently accounts for 14.2% of the $356.5bn value of the global brand licensing industry.

“That’s around $50bn in value that is now facing the strengthening legislative demands of the European Union just under the ESPR alone,” said Jonathan Baker, chief commercial officer at Fabacus.

“We’re very proud to have won the Best Sustainable Licensed Product award this year, hopefully this puts this crucial topic higher up the industry’s agenda before it’s too late.”

LUSH CO-FUNDS TIDAL ENERGY PROJECT

LUSH Cosmetics has partnered with Bournemouth University to cofund a three-year PhD studentship to explore the creation of a new tidal energy station in Poole Harbour.

If proven successful, scalable, and with minimal impact on the local environment, the 150kWh energy station would then be used to power operations across LUSH’s own local head office and manufacturing plant.

Based on capturing and storing energy generated by the movement of tides, tidal energy is a reliable and predictable source of renewable energy. Water temperature can be equally beneficial in the cooling of hardware that is generating heat, reducing the need to use more power for a separate cooling system.

The project was cooked up by Adam Goswell, head of R&D and tech innovation at LUSH whose role it is to tackle the technical challenges and issues for the cosmetics company.

“A lot of the challenges we take on relate to our consumption of energy, especially when it comes to technology,” said Adam. “We’ve wondered for a long time what the potential would be if we could harness the tidal power in the harbour to power – or offset –some of the energy we use across our infrastructure.”

Partnering with Bournemouth University, LUSH is now co-funding a PhD studentship for three years to develop this project further. The studentship will commence from January 2025 and will include a stipend of £18,622 each year to support the candidate’s living costs.

“It’s a huge honour to see something like this happen, something I thought we’d never be able to have the chance to attempt,” said Adam. “It’s a great example of rather than just talking about making an impact, we – alongside the university – are invested in making it happen.”

Applications for the studentship are now open and will be decided upon by Bournemouth University with a view to begin in January 2025.

ABOVE: Fabacus take home the Best Sustainable Licensed Product at this years Licensing Awards.

ABOVE: Niels B Christiansen, CEO LEGO Group.

INSET: Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit.

INSET: Poole harbour, the location of a tidal energy exploration project.

DANILO PLANS TO REACH NET ZERO BY 2050

Danilo, an active member of the Products of Change Membership community is set to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. It has already installed solar panels on the rooftop of its Waltham Abbey head office, but is now introducing a series of energy and heating audits. On top of this, the company offers its staff free EV charging.

When it comes to Danilo’s portfolio of products, the team is laying the groundwork for the introduction of digital product passports (DPP), giving customers clear insights into the environmental footprint of its products.

The company tells Products of Change that processes are currently in place to optimise all of Danilo product packaging, and there is work underway on its partnerships to ensure that its products are “as sustainable at the end of their life as they are at the beginning.”

The team has now set a target to reduce its Scope 3 emissions by 42% by 2030, while Danilo is currently offsetting its 2023 Scope 1 and 2 emissions through tree planting programmes in the UK, via carbonfootprint.com.

POC’S RETAIL AMBASSADOR ANNOUNCES FASHION BUSINESS VENTURE

Damian Hopkins CBE, Products of Change Ambassador, has co-founded The Brand Group (TBG) alongside Sunny Malhotra, Simple Approach owner, forming part of the $2bn global fashion infrastructure platform, PDS Limited.

Part of TBG’s portfolio are fashion brands Roksanda, Vivere, and Unhidden. Unhidden is an adaptive fashion brand that strives to make the fashion industry more accessible for people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, founded by adaptive fashion expert, and disability campaigner, Victoria Jenkins.

ABOVE: PDS Limited brand, Unhidden, showcases adaptive fashion.

THE LIGHT FUND SHONE BRIGHT AT BLE

Amid the busyness at Brand Licensing Europe, industry charity, The Light Fund was working hard to raise money through its resale event on the Products of Change stand, and Fuggler’s ‘Knock the Fuggler Teeth’ down game.

The POC resale raised £855 and the Fuggler game raised £2,162, which, with Informa matching the donation figures, amounted to £6,034 for the Light Fund.

The resale was made possible through product donations from: Aykroyds, Dreamtex, Abysse, Rainbow Designs, Penguin Ventures, Danilo, National Geographic, Tactic Games, Bladez Toys, Paramount, and Mattel.

Nicola Webster, Light Fund trustee and social media and community manager for Products of Change, added, “Thank you to all who donated products and came along to buy something from the Light Fund sale at BLE. It was fantastic to speak to so many people keen to keep products in circulation and pick up a bargain at the same time.”

The Light Fund will be hosting its Southern quiz night on Thursday 28 November, with tickets on sale now at lightfund-events.org.

WARNER MUSIC GROUP’S EMISSIONS TARGETS VALIDATED BY THE SBTI

In 2021, Warner Music Group joined a collective of record companies to form the Music Industry Climate Pact, a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and achieve a 50% reduction by 2030 through Science Based Targets.

Warner Music has recently declared that its near-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets have formally been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

WMG has established targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions across all scopes, committing to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 54.6% by 2033 from a 2023 base year. It has also committed to reduce absolute Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and distribution as well as business travel by 32.5% within the same timeframe.

WMG’s primary source of Scope 1 and 2 emissions stem from on-site combustion, cooling, heating, natural gas, and purchased electricity. These emissions represent less than 5% of the company’s total annual emissions. The majority of WMG’s emissions fall under Scope 3.

BELOW: Grateful Dead designs featured on clothing made by I Dress Myself at Forest Green Rovers.

TBG is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainable practices within the retail fashion industry. Damian Hopkins, co-founder of TBG, commented that, “We are always looking at how we can do things in the most sustainable and inclusive way possible, and how we can make a positive impact through the products we are creating.”

Roksanda, a luxury fashion brand and another addition to TBG’s portfolio, has announced a collaboration with Asda’s fashion arm, George, which, together with the British Fashion Council (BFC), has created a capsule collection, raising awareness and funds for the BFC charity. The collection utilises Poeticgem, a sustainable and ethically focused fashion manufacturer, further supporting TBG’s sustainable purpose.

ABOVE: The Danilo team with Stuart the Minion at PG Live.

ABOVE: The Light Fund’s resale event on the POC booth at BLE.

LET’S SMURF ALL TOGETHER FOR THE 17 SDG S

INSET: The Mapping a Sustainable Pathway panel at BLE in full flow. (Left-right) Difuzed’s Jeremy Orriss, Paramount UK’s Michelle Papayannakos, The LEGO Group’s Jakob Max Hamann, The Walt Disney Company’s Anna Halford and POC’s Helena Mansell-Stopher.

As new or revised legislation emerges, few contest the underlying motivations and principles, but many questions arise regarding their practicality and implementation

Never before has the industry faced the simultaneous challenges of adapting to numerous legislative changes while transitioning to more sustainable and ethical operations, all while trying to measure the impact across areas with systems that currently do not exist.

While some large companies have dedicated sustainability and compliance departments, so many businesses are struggling to navigate this new landscape with limited internal expertise.

However, while it may be easy to paint these challenges as too complicated and a struggle for the industry, instead it can be viewed as an exciting opportunity for innovation and to collaborate, discussing and addressing these challenges as one industry.

Jeremy Orriss, director of licensing at Difuzed, begins that one of the biggest challenges is that legislation varies by each territory, “There is no standardisation; it’s the biggest problem,” said Jeremy.

“As a supplier licensee we are looking to ensure that we cover retail and licensor compliance as well as meeting and acting upon regulations, including LKSG Germany, EUDR, CSRD, ESRS, PPWR, EPR and CSDDD.”

All these changes have not come out of nowhere, they have been in conversation for many years, but now organisations’ hands are being effectively forced by legislation written into law. “Legislation to ensure change has been brought in as voluntary compliance seemingly didn’t produce results so we are moving from carrot to stick,” commented Jeremy.

These practices are no longer just ‘nice to do’, they are a must. Jeremy added that this will be a challenge within the licensing industry because it possesses a certain rigidity and reluctance to

NAVIGATING LEGISLATIVE PRESSURES

change the way it does things.

This rigidity is not just limited to manufacturers and retail, however, but also extends to the consumer.

“Consumer demand will rule the market and when people work out the difference between want and need, change will come, but possibly too late,” he continued.

Jeremy also mused over how much impact legislation will have if the penalties are monetary, especially for the behemoth organisations. But it is about normalising the sustainable practices that these legislations prompt and turning the tide on the cultural mentality of sustainability.

Jeremy Oriss was recently a part of the POC led panel at Brands Licensing Europe (BLE), alongside Michelle Papayannakos, director of sustainability, Paramount UK; Jakob Max Hamann, senior manager of business development and sustainability governance, The LEGO Group; and Anna Halford, associate principal council, The Walt Disney Company.

Led by POC founder and ceo, Helena Mansell-Stopher, the panel was titled ‘Mapping a Sustainable Pathway: How the Industry is Adapting to New Demands,’ to which naturally the topic of legislation gravitated.

Jakob began by speaking about LEGO’s commitment to reducing its emission by 37% by 2032, when the company turns 100 years old, which it is getting approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

“The challenging part, I think, is maintaining an ongoing discussion around change management in general. We need to make everyone part of the solution; it needs to be a democratised conversation,” said Jakob.

Anna added that at Disney, that there has been “a tidal wave” of change over the last couple of years. “We have some green claims guidance that we’ve provided to licensees, and there’s training on that guidance. It’s good practice to make sure that people are keeping up with the best practice in that field,” said Anna.

While the legislation may seem restrictive, it can in fact provide a very positive opportunity for those much-needed conversations around sustainability in licensing and can lead to some fantastic partnerships. Michelle explained how Paramount’s Operation Sea Change

saw SpongeBob SquarePants work across a number of eco initiatives, such as Surfers Against Sewage’s beach litter-picking Million Mile Clean in the UK, promoting awareness and engagement on these issues.

Jeremy explained how close to 10% of Difuzed staff is now working on compliance and sustainability, to ensure rigorous adherence to legislation; “It’s the paperwork and the traceability that’s going to be the major issue for us as a company in the middle, because you’re constantly asking for information from the factory side and then passing that through to the retailer.”

The opportunities are to be found among industry collaboration and innovation to achieve collective sustainability goals. “It’s making sustainability more of the priority than the commercial; it’s putting them on a level footing,” Michelle added. “This is a journey we’re all on together, and it gives us a really good open platform to have open conversations and dialogue and hopefully move in the right direction.” ■

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

At the Products of Change Conference on the 6 November, there will be a session on ‘The new business landscape,’ where POC advisors will guide conference attendees through the latest requirements and timelines for legislative compliance.

This will be followed by a dedicated session on EUDR, amid all its uncertainty and proposed delays.

Products of Change has also taken a deep dive into the topic of legislation with its Future Forecast Report (see pages 40-51).

LEFT: Operation Sea Change saw Paramount put its SpongeBob SquarePants brand to good sustainable use.

A FRONT SEAT IN SUSTAINABLE PROGRESS

1 Kensington Gore, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AR

Now in its fifth year, the Products of Change Conference (formerly the Sustainability in Licensing Conference) returns, as the industry’s most dynamic event connecting retailers, brand owners, and product manufacturers. It promises a day brimming with innovation, sustainability insights, and critical leadership discussions, all while enjoying plenty of networking opportunities.

“At this year’s POC Conference, we are so looking forward to showcasing and celebrating all the achievements our industry has made in the last year,” shared Helena MansellStopher, founder and CEO of Products of Change.

“You can expect vital conversations around legislation challenges, circularity, industry collaborations, retailer progress, product and system innovations, and so much more,” she promised.

“We sincerely hope that this year’s agenda will deliver masses of inspiration and food for thought, whether you are a supplier, retailer, brand owner or facilitator on your respective sustainability journey,” Helena concluded.

A STRONG ROSTER OF SUPPORTERS

Testament to the strong appetite and commitment to sustainable change is the impressive list of official supporters for the Products of Change Conference 2024.

POC CONFERENCE 2024 AGENDA

8.30am doors open, 9.30am conference starts

9:40am

Opening Keynote – Moksha Roy

The Conference kicks off with an opening Keynote from Moksha Roy, probably the world’s youngest sustainability advocate at nine years old. Moksha started volunteering for UN Sustainable Development Goals projects at the age of three and is now an ambassador of UN initiatives such as UK Water Week, speaking at climate conferences and events.

Moksha Roy Sustainability advocate & broadcaster

INSET: This year’s POC Conference is all set to be even more engaging than last year’s.

9:50am Tony’s sweet endeavour: Taking the bitter taste out of cocoa

Tony’s Chocolonely is revolutionising the chocolate market. Now 19 years in business and rooted in purpose, Tony’s Chocolonely is not only experiencing significant growth across the market but driving real social and environmental impact while doing it.

Hannah Perry UK&I food service manager, Tony’s Chocolonely

Georgina Savva Trade marketing and events manager, Tony’s Chocolonely

10:10am The new business landscape: How global regulations are shaping the economy of tomorrow, today

With wave after wave of new legislation impacting industries globally, our team of Products of Change Advisors will guide Conference attendees through the latest requirements and timelines for compliance.

Jamie Beck Vice president of sustainability and compliance, Fabacus

James George Products of Change

Andrea Green Products of Change

Michelle Papayannakos

Sustainability director, Paramount

10:30am Marketing with impact: Navigating EU green claims

Join Michelle Carvill and Gemma Butler for an insightful session on marketing with purpose. Discover practical strategies to create impactful campaigns while staying compliant with the latest EU green claims guidelines and regulations.

Gemma Butler

Author and co-founder/director, Can Marketing Save The Planet

Michelle Carvill

Author and co-founder/director, Can Marketing Save The Planet

10:50am-11:15am Networking and refreshments

11:15am Following the paper trail: Exploring the EU’s new Deforestation Regulation

Deforestation is a major driver of both the climate and biodiversity crisis therefore a new piece of legislation, the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is being proposed. Join FSC Trace, DK Books, Carousel Calendars, UPM and The Consumer Goods Forum, as they discuss how businesses of all sizes are preparing for this change.

Didier Bergeret, Director, sustainability, The Consumer Goods Forum

Niina Niemelä Senior manager of sustainability, UPM

Steve Plackett Managing director, Carousel Calendars

Jade Snart

Senior sustainability manager, Asda

Mike Swain

Products of Change

Anand Punja

Chief engagement and partnerships officer, FSC Trace

Nicola Torode Head of operational compliance and sustainability, DK Books

12:00pm Sustainable merchandising: Bravado’s decarbonisation plan

Join Matt Young, president of Bravado, the merchandising arm of the Universal Music Group, as he showcases its ambitious plans as a business, and their sustainability journey so far.

Matt Young President, Bravado

12:20pm Creating a circular future

Primark updates the industry on its latest initiatives to integrate circularity into its fashion business. Discover how they are working closely with industry partners to drive innovation and foster cultural connections through their brand’s voice.

Nicholas Lambert Head of circularity, Primark

12:40pm Partnerships for Purpose

Join Tracey Richardson, head of partnerships at Louis Kennedy, as she presents the latest research on how partnerships can enhance both value and brand positivity.

Tracey Richardson Head of partnerships, Louis Kennedy

12:50pm POC Members Awards

A wonderful opportunity to honour outstanding sustainability achievements, as POC presents the second annual Products of Change Members’ Awards.

1:30pm-2:15pm Networking and Lunch

2:15pm Barriers to sustainability: A cross-sector panel

Join retail, brand owners and licensed manufacturers as they come together for an open discussion on the barriers that they face in implementing and driving sustainable change. POC advisor, James George, will be joined by Asda, LEGO, Poetic Brands, and Bravado.

Anne Bradford Director, Poetic Brands

James George Products of Change

Jakob Max Hamann

Business development and sustainability governance, LEGO

Jade Snart

Senior sustainability manager, Asda

Matt Young President, Bravado

3:00pm Decarbonising the children’s print media landscape

The UK children’s magazine market is extremely influential, but collaboration is key to industry transformation. Hear how companies are putting their competitive differences aside to create an industry standard and a decarbonisation plan for the sector.

Steph Cooper

Education & communications director, Immediate Media

Duncan Shearer

Client services director, Seymour

3:20pm Emissions, possible: Creating the tools for tackling Scope 3 GHGs

Products of Change showcases a pioneering body of work, led by The Walt Disney Company, The LEGO Group, Universal Music Group (Bravado), the BBC, the Jamie Oliver Group, Paramount, Manchester City, and many others. This initiative is focused on developing a comprehensive Scope 3 methodology for the licensing industry and beyond.

Harini Manivannan Managing consultant, South Pole

Sine Møller

Sustainability transformation director, The LEGO Group

3:40pm-4:00pm Networking and refreshments

4:00pm Beyond the home: Dunelm’s holistic approach to social and environmental impact.

In this session, senior sustainability manager, Lisa Ly, and design manager of research, development, and innovation, Jo Seddon, will walk you through Dunelm’s three-pillar sustainability strategy: Our Home the Planet, Our Home in Communities, and A Home for Our People.

Lisa Ly

Senior sustainability manager, Dunelm

Jo Seddon

Design managerproduct research, development and innovation, Dunelm

4:20pm Designed for life: Following ecodesign regulations all the way to retail

One of the new measures to come out of the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is the Digital Product Passport, a digital identity card for products that stores information relevant to sustainability. Join Dayrize, Fabacus and Pure Table Top as they showcase the first homewares DPP and explore its implications for the industry.

4:20pm (Cont)

Jonathan Baker Chief commercial officer, Fabacus

Tanith Sellicks Founder and director, Pure Table Top

Austin Simms CEO, Dayrize

4:40pm Toying with the future: Reimagining plastic for the next generation

Join the Ethical Supply Chain Program (ESCP) as they embark on a journey to develop an assessment framework suitable for companies of all sizes and sectors. The ESCP aims to create a standardised process for Recycled Materials Chemical Safety Assessments (RCSA), which will streamline data sharing and improve both cost and resource efficiencies.

Carmel Giblin President and CEO, ESCP

5:00pm The future of ecofriendly textiles and toys

Join us for an engaging session as we explore the groundbreaking work of a biotech start-up dedicated to revolutionising the textile and toy industries, Bio-Fluff. Discover their new bio-based material that is fully biodegradable, free from plastics and toxins, and vegan-friendly, achieving a remarkable reduction in CO₂ emissions by 75-80%.

Roni Gamzon

Co-founder and chief commercial officer, Bio-Fluff

5:30pm Networking drinks

Grab a drink and enjoy a great opportunity to network with peers while reflecting on a day of celebration and collaboration.

POC Conference 2024 officially ends 7pm

SWEET

ENDEAVOUR

The global chocolate industry is valued at $127.9 billion, with major players like Mars, Mondelez International and Ferrero dominating the market. However, child labour is the bitter taste of cocoa that for too long has been hidden from sight and ignored. Tony’s Chocolonely’s Open Chain ethical sourcing initiative is one answer to bringing it all to light, with the confectionery company’s Hannah Perry, UK food service manager and Georgina Savva, trade marketing and events manager, taking to the stage at the Products of Change Conference to share its mission of ending child labour and slavery in the chocolate industry.

Tony’s Chocolonely is one of the fastest-growing chocolate brands in the world, but it is very much growth with a conscience. The Dutch company, established some 19 years ago, has unsurprisingly been highlighted as a top contender in the chocolate industry, not only for its delicious products, but also for its commitment to ethical practices and fair trade. Disrupting the ‘business as usual’ approach with its steadfast focus on social responsibility, its mission is resonating with consumers, further driving the brand’s popularity, but through the Tony’s Open Chain ethical sourcing initiative, it hopes that its approach will be taken up by others too.

In 2022, the company launched with the commitment to ‘make a positive impact in the chocolate snacking industry’ by working to prevent child labour within the global cocoa supply chain. For the brand, that includes working on-the-ground with farmers and workers, and engaging with their communities to address inequities ‘faced

by millions throughout the supply chain.’ The scale of the issue is vast and reversing it is going to take a hefty dose of supply chain engagement. As it stands, the percentage of children engaged in child labour at the long-term cocoa-growing communities that Tony’s works with (its partner cooperatives) is 4.4%. In stark contrast to this, the cocoa industry-wide average is a staggering 46.5%.

RIGHT: The cocoa industrywide average of children engaged in child labour is believed to be a staggering 46.5%.

RIGHT: Tony’s Chocolonely has enjoyed great success as a brand, but it is a company with a deeprooted ethical mission.

According to its most recent impact report, out of the 31,358 children living in the cocoa communities currently participating in the Tony’s Open Chain partner cooperative, there have been 1,072 identified cases of child labour in the past year alone. And Tony’s isn’t shying from the truth that – as more partner cooperatives join the programme – those numbers will increase before they reduce.

“But before your alarm bells go off, know this: finding cases of child labour in the supply chain means change is happening,” Tony’s explained via its Fair Report. “We want to find the children performing illegal labour. Only then can we work with the families to address the problem.”

Tony’s on-the-ground work to ‘remediate’ these cases will often go as far as obtaining birth certificates for child workers and overseeing their enrolment within the local education system. A case is then considered closed when a child previously engaged in labour has been visited twice to confirm they are no longer participating in illegal work.

But child labour is the symptom of a larger issue here. And that’s poverty; an endemic issue prevalent within – but not exclusive to – the global cocoa supply chain. The issue is, over 60% of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa’s Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana where it is produced by around 2.5 million smallholder farmers. The global cocoa industry, however, is vastly controlled by just eight to ten corporations, creating a stark imbalance in the distribution of wealth across the chocolate sector. Addressing this first and foremost, then, is Tony’s solution to not only driving a positive social impact but an environmental one too.

emissions and “negligible deforestation” tracked and measured through its land use change analysis of the past two decades, Tony’s Open Chain cocoa stands out. What’s more, through the formation of mechanisms like its Open Chain and Living Income Reference Price, Tony’s has established a definitive link between financial growth and real world, positive environmental and social impact.

Paul Schoenmakers, Tony’s head of impact, said, “Progress takes time. To tackle two of the most serious issues in cocoa – child labour and poverty –we need to enable farmers to earn a living income. To do this, farmers need to be able to sell more of their beans at the Living Income Reference Price. This can be achieved by further growth of Tony’s Chocolonely, so that we can buy more of these beans. But we also need more industry players to join Tony’s Open Chain and pay the higher price.”

And there’s the real rub – price. What Tony’s needs to achieve its impact goals is commercial success. And as it just so happens, it’s coming.

In January this year, Tony’s reported an overall year-on-year growth of €28million (23%) taking its turnover to €150.2 million. Meanwhile, the same report showed the largest annual increase in Tony’s Mission Allies to date with six new partners joining the Open Chain initiative at the time as the report’s publication.

“As an impact-led company that wants to drive change across the whole industry, we must prove that ending exploitation of West African farming families can come in parallel with good returns for shareholders, impactful careers for employees, and care for our planet,” says chief Chocolonely, Douglas Lamont.

“Interventions that focus on cocoa productivity to move out of poverty alone are not having enough positive impact on cocoa farming household incomes,” Tony’s states in its Fair Report. “The concept of a living income is crucial in the cocoa sector as it directly impacts poverty alleviation, child labour, and deforestation.”

In short, it’s Tony’s belief that paying higher – above living incomes – to cocoa farmers will reduce levels of exploitation, stemming the need for farmers to ramp up production through illegal forest degradation and involvement in illegal child labour activities.

“Since 2000, formerly dense forests in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have transformed into cocoa plantations, with cocoa production being responsible for 37.4% (360,000 hectares) and 13.5% (26,000 hectares) of deforestation in each, respectively,” says Tony’s. “Meanwhile, stats reveal that Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have witnessed the loss of 80-95% of their forests over the past six decades, with a notable one-third caused by cocoa production.”

But, with notably lower

“Our results this year demonstrate that partnering with others in the cocoa supply chain and balancing the needs of all our stakeholders is both the right thing and the smart thing to do, to build a successful impact company over the long term.”

Sweet thoughts that are being put into action. ■

LEFT: Georgina Savva, trade marketing and events manager of Tony’s Chocolonely will be taking to the stage at the Products of Change Conference.

LEFT: Hannah Perry, UK food service manager of Tony’s Chocolonely will be joining her colleague, Georgina Savva, at the Products of Change Conference to serve up some savvy food for thought.

LEFT: A living income is crucial in the cocoa sector as it directly impacts poverty alleviation, child labour, and deforestation.

LEADING THE WAY IN CALENDAR PLASTIC FREE PACKAGING

Continuing our commitment to reducing plastic, now nearly 88% of our calendars and diaries are plastic free, encompassing most of our wall and slim calendars, and all desk calendars and diaries. Additionally, all Carousel products are printed on FSC certified paper.

• Making progress towards our SBTi target of reducing emissions by 46% by 2030.

• Anticipated enrolment of 70% of our suppliers in Net Zero targets by 2024.

RECOGNITION FOR CLIMATE ACTION!

We were among the four winners at the inaugural Products of Change Sustainable Development Goals Members Awards 2023, recognised for climate action, pioneering innovation, sharing our processes, and being the first in our sector to obtain approval for our science-based targets from SBTi.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR WORK IN REDUCING PLASTIC AND OUR DRIVE TO BE A CARBON NEUTRAL COMPANY – SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS ON ‘WHAT WE CARE ABOUT’

Despite the proposal of a 12-month extension to the EUDR transition, the topic presents more unknowns, and what it means for business is still unclear.

IN THE ARE WE CLOSER TO UNDERSTANDING EUDR? CLEARING

WOODS:

It was a moment of revelation when Steve Plackett, MD of Carousel Calendars, opened a Due Diligence Report from one of his largest, European paper suppliers to find the majority of its pulp had been sourced from trees in Brazil.

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, we hasten to add. A business as eager to comply with incoming EU Deforestation Regulations (EUDR), as this particular paper mill has been, is clearly a paper mill with little to hide.

In fact, it so happens that this is one among a group of major European paper suppliers to have led the collection and supply of transparency data from the very front ever since the introduction of the European Deforestation Regulation last summer, well ahead of it coming its original planned introduction by the end of this year.

“It’s very interesting because you would easily assume that a European paper mill would source its paper from forests in Europe,” said Steve. “But no, there it is in its reported data: 79% of pulp sourced from Brazil.”

We hear so much about illegal logging and deforestation within the region, activity that is quite literally eating up the South American or even African rainforests, yet so seldom are we ready to believe it could find its way into our domestic markets. But the truth of the matter is, the EU is the world’s secondlargest importer of products associated with deforestation. EUDR then, is the Commission’s attempt to reduce its contribution to global deforestation and forest degradation by demanding a level of transparency “unlike we’ve ever seen before.”

“For the European forest and wood sector, the change is less dramatic. We already have the EU Timber Regulation in place, which establishes some requirements for deforestation-free wood sourcing,” said Niina Niemelä, senior manager of sustainability at the European paper supplier, UPM.

“However, the broader impact of the EUDR is significant. This regulation will not only affect the wood industry, but also six other commodities, influencing how operators and traders conduct business globally.”

Among those seven commodities is paper and pulp. And implementing the required levels of traceability and due diligence processes, said Niina, “will be a major undertaking for businesses.”

As an SME, Carousel Calendars’ obligation to start reporting on this level of traceability data doesn’t kick in until six months after the legislation comes into full force on the newly proposed date of 30 December 2025.

The news of the proposed push-back of the EUDR transition period by 12 months, came amid concerns raised from international partners and

ABOVE: There is already the EU Timber Regulation in place, which establishes some requirements for deforestationfree wood sourcing.

RIGHT: Steve Plackett, MD of Carousel Calendars

RIGHT: There are certain regions that the EUDR states are at higher risk of deforestation, such as Brazil.

member countries that further preparations were necessary, most recently at the United Nations General Assembly week in New York.

Alongside the proposed delay, the Commission published additional guidance documents, intended to inform and support industry stakeholders through the upcoming legislation, and encourage a “stronger international cooperation framework,” said the Commission.

It is hoped that the newly published guidance, combined with the transition period extension, will enable companies to adequately phase in their preparations.

So, why is Steve keen to get so far ahead of those reporting requirements as soon as right now? Well, quite simply, Tesco – through which much of Carousel’s business is done – is asking for it.

“While most businesses in the greetings sector will be SMEs, a supermarket giant like Tesco isn’t. And they have reporting obligations that need to be fulfilled,” he explained.

Thankfully, Carousel Calendars is working with the kind of paper suppliers – Sappy and UPM being the largest of them – that are making the collection of data a relatively easier process, with a level of transparency and a minutiae of data “that would have been considered impossible a decade or so ago.”

“It makes it difficult to develop business’ own IT systems that would need to be compatible with the EU system,” sympathised Niina. “The Regulation is partly open to interpretation and the EU Commission has so far not published a clear guidance related to some of its core requirements. So, there is uncertainty about how the Regulation should be applied in practice.”

But that ought not diminish the importance of it. In the past 30 years, between 1990 and 2020, approximately 1.8 million square kilometres of forest has been lost globally, seven times the size of the United Kingdom. Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss, two of humanity’s most pressing threats.

“From the EUDR perspective, our role is significant,” said Niina. “We are part of the supply chain, acting as both an operator placing commodities on the market and a producer of paper. We also sell paper to the market as a trader. UPM monitored already the preparation of the Regulation and initiated implementation measures as soon as the Regulation was adopted.”

The kind of data UPM (as well as the likes of Sappy and all diligent paper suppliers will eventually be supplying) is providing drills down to a groundbreaking level to cover, not only the percentage of pulp sourced from each of their countries of origin, but a detailed list of the tree species processed, as well as first attempts to provide the geolocation of the source.

This is all in line with what the EUDR will require. Additionally, the regulation states that areas deemed to be at higher risk of illegal forest degradation – i.e. Brazil, will be subject to auditing and on-the-ground checks conducted by a ‘nominated authority’.

“This falls under Article 60 in the Regulation – ‘Obligations to carry out checks’”, Steve told us. “But I’ve not heard of a ‘competent authority’ on the matter, yet.”

To this end, there are plenty of unknowns circling the EUDR discussion, thanks to ongoing squabbles across EU Member States and global economies. However, the primary concern for many is simply where all this data is to be stored once it’s been compiled. The IT systems through which the due diligence statements are to be submitted is only now being developed by the EU Commission, which predicts it will be active by as late as 2028.

With the proposed delay, there are fears we could see a watering-down of the requirements, and that those who have already undertaken the necessary preparations will face financial losses at the delay.

“The EUDR is therefore essential to addressing this issue,” stated Niina.

“I recommend that businesses first familiarise

LEFT: Many of Carousel Calendars’ have transitioned to plastic-free packaging, including its entire National Railway Museum range.

BELOW: With forested areas so critically under threat, it is crucial EUDR begins to turn the tide on the crisis.

themselves with the details that the EU has already shared. Then, they should reach out to their suppliers and partners within their value chain to discuss potential solutions. And especially important is to involve IT function in an early stage to ensure the data solutions.”

For his part, Steve’s advice is largely the same, emphasising that the onus really will be on businesses to supply that data.

“Retailers, like Tesco, will be asking you for your due diligence reports,” he stressed. “But it won’t be up to them to tell you whether you need to comply or not. That will be for businesses to know, for businesses to work with their supply chains to collect the right data, and for businesses to provide when retailers ask for it.”

As for what the future of the EUDR will look like, that’s still unclear. But it isn’t lost on anyone that in its current guise, there’s a lot of the same data flying around. Steve predicts that eventually, the collection of data will fall primarily on the paper mills and paper suppliers who will in turn “provide businesses with Due Diligence numbers.

“But right now,” he emphasised,”we really cannot take anything for granted.” ■

DRAWING CIRCLES IN FASHION

‘Circular

by design’ is the objective Primark is working towards, led by its own head of circularity, Nick Lambert. It is an evolving concept that encourages durability, repairability and recyclability.

RIGHT: Primark’s Disney’s The Lion King collection is made from recycled or more sustainably sourced fibres and is designed to be re-loved or recycled at end of life.

Nick Lambert, head of circularity, Primark, speaks with POC ahead of his talk at the Products of Change Conference, about what circularity means for Primark. “Circular design means that we have the future in mind when designing and creating clothing,” explained Nick. Last year, Primark created its Circular Product Standard (CPS), a framework for how the retailer intends to design products for the future, building on Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s (EMF) vision for circular fashion.

report 2023 states that there has been an overall increase of 11% in carbon emissions across its value chain compared to its baseline financial year 2018/19. This is as expected and it is not on its own; as industry grows, the carbon impact is within the retailer’s Scope 3, its partners and suppliers, and cannot be managed as readily as Scope 1 and 2.

This is linked closely with the company’s commitments through its Primark Cares sustainability strategy to give clothes a longer life, protect life on the planet and improve the livelihoods of people.

PROGRESSING TOWARDS CIRCULARITY

As a signatory of the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action by the UNFCCC, Primark has also committed to reducing absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 50% by 2030, against its financial year 2018/19 baseline. It is also a signatory of Textiles 2030, a voluntary initiative led by WRAP, which includes a target to reduce the aggregate GHG footprint of new products by 50%.

Primark’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target has been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), showing that its target is consistent with the global effort to combat climate change. It also sets a clearly defined path for the team to work towards its goal, supported by the latest climate science criteria and recommendations by the SBTi.

Primark’s latest Sustainability and Ethics Progress

The report states that Scope 1 and 2 emissions were reduced across its operations, due to the volume of work and sustainability initiatives that have been implemented. But there was an increase in its Scope 3 emissions from growth in the volume of materials used due to the higher number of products sold in the period, year-on-year. In the short term, this trend is likely to continue. However, in the long term a decline is expected as it increases the use of more sustainably sourced materials across its product range and once the energy programmes being rolled out begin to deliver at scale.

Over the past 12 months, Primark has focused on embedding and scaling up pilot projects, taking on early learnings to understand where it can deliver impact and drive change. And a large part of this is circular design.

Nick explained that the objective is to get buyers and designers to consider a product’s end of life during design stages. “Since launching our Circular Product Standard and pilot collection in April 2023, we have been working with multiple product teams and suppliers to expand and scale the use of circular design principles across several key categories (in particular denim and jersey).

“We have also been working with the Circular Textiles Foundation to help us develop more specific circular design guidelines for each clothing category, with the goal of testing, trialling and

eventually scaling these principles across multiple categories.

“Circular design isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution – what’s ‘best’ for a pair of jeans might look different to a knitted jumper – so we’re taking our time to collaborate with our product teams, suppliers, and partners, like the CTF, to understand how we can adapt these principles to fit a highly diverse clothing range.”

Garments that are mono-material (made from one single fibre), particularly cotton, have great recycling potential and are more adaptable to circular design principles, whereas mixed fibre garments, can sometimes present greater challenges.

The Circular Textiles Foundation is delivering training to more than 600 colleagues across Primark’s design and product teams in its offices in Dublin.

“CTF gives us specialist knowledge, particularly about recyclability, since the organisation works between fashion design, brands, and recyclers,” explained Nick, “Recycling is something of an undefined area at industry level. Recyclability varies between different recyclers, which is something CTF is bridging the gap on.”

Primark’s work with CTF is helping it achieve its three product commitments it set out in its Sustainability and Ethics Progress Report 2022/23 (the latest report is due out in a few weeks):

“Becoming a more circular retailer is at the heart of our Primark Cares commitments – by which we mean helping our customers to keep our clothing in use for longer, designing more clothing to be more easily recycled, and working towards our goal that all of our clothing will be made using more sustainably sourced and recycled materials by 2030,” pledges Nick, adding that “it’s certainly not an easy task, but we hope we can continue to use our scale for good – we intend to keep on collaborating with the industry through key partnerships like WRAP and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to ensure that we’re part of the conversation. Ultimately, we firmly believe that more sustainable (and more circular) fashion could be and should be affordable for all.”

Primark also wants to educate customers so that they are aware of the choices they are making when buying products, and to understand the sustainability-led decisions that went into its production. So it has launched an expanded online glossary on its website, explaining the key terms it uses and

shares information about the minimum percentage content of recycled and more sustainable fibres within its clothing range. This information is also available on its clothing labels.

PROLONGING THE LIFECYCLE

So recyclability begins to address what happens to a product at the end of its life, but what if its end of life can be put off just a bit longer? After confronting that there is no recognised standard for durability across the fashion industy, Primark began working with WRAP, as part of its Textiles 2030 collaboration, to align the industry on this issue.

Inspired by the WRAP Clothing Longevity Protocol, Primark developed an internal wash durability framework. The brand’s denim product category saw 57% of its garments pass 30 washes, the highest across the framework. For socks, 58% passed the enhanced wash framework, which for this category is the equivalent to 31 washes. Last year Primark scaled up its extended durability wash testing to cover 39% of its clothing.

As well as assessing and improving durability, Primark recognised that a garment’s durability and lifespan can be further extended with a little input from the consumer. The company has begun running free ‘Love it for Longer’ workshops in its stores, teaching customers about easy repair techniques.

“These short, educational sessions teach customers about simple repair techniques such as reattaching buttons, mending broken seams, or adding embroidery or patches to their garments,” commented Nick.

Not only are these skills practical and prolong the life of clothes, but they can be a creative outlet and opportunity for personalisation; “at the end of the day, fashion is about creative expression and individuality.”

But when garments do reach the end of their useable life with a customer, Primark offers a textile takeback scheme in its stores across UK, Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands, with the intention of expanding it to all its European and US stores by the end of 2025. With the support of recycling specialist, Yellow Octopus, donated items are sorted and graded to be re-loved, or recycled. As of its 2022/23 Sustainability and Ethics report, 347 tonnes of textiles and footwear have ben collected, 64% of which were resold for reuse, with the rest repurposed or downcycled.

Primark has said it is closely tracking legislative changes as they come in, which will demand greater transparency and design changes. Fortunately, Primark has begun on this journey already, amid this changing landscape. ■

LEFT: Designed to be worn again and again, Primark’s circular denim range can be recycled into new materials once customers are finished with them.

Primark hosts ‘Love it for Longer’ workshops in its stores, as well as textile takeback schemes.

LEFT:

THE WISDOM OF YOUTH

Moksha Roy is somewhat of a child prodigy and a voice of a generation… she’s also a guest speaker at this year’s Products of Change Conference where – at nine years old – she’s been invited to make an audience of adults sit up and pay attention.

By the age of three, Moksha Roy held the distinction of being the world’s youngest sustainability advocate, volunteering for the United Nations to represent its Global Goals initiatives around the world.

Earlier this year, at the launch of the UK’s first Water Week – a collaborative initiative between Products of Change, Wastebuster, and The United Nations – she addressed a room of water industry experts, educators, content creators, and some of the largest children’s media brands in the world. And left them all stunned into silence.

At nine years old, Moksha is both the demographic many are targeting with their brands and products, and a reminder of who we are all acting for today. So, what is your customer asking you to do today to preserve their tomorrow?

Moksha, you delivered a wonderful talk at our UK Water Week event earlier this year and you’ll be speaking again to our audiences at the Products of Change Conference this month. How do you feel when you talk at these events and receive the response you do from people listening?

Moksha Roy: I feel very happy about the fact I’m able to pass on my messages to adults who can bring the changes we all need. I have been doing these since I was three, so I guess I am getting used to speaking to very large crowds. I feel even happier and prouder when adults who

appreciate and encourage me at these events then go back to work to bring the changes needed.

Why are the things you talk about at these events important to you? Why is it important for the world to hear these messages?

Moksha: All my campaigns are my efforts to protect myself and others around me from climate change in one way or another. It’s so important for everyone in the world to understand that we all have to work together in doing small or big things to protect ourselves. We would have bigger changes all around us if that happened. If I can inspire just one adult or child to act now, that can go a long way in impacting hundreds or even millions more.

When you speak, you inspire a lot of people to start changing things for the better. But do you think people are changing things fast enough?

Moksha: I feel empowered to be able to educate children and others about the changes that can help combat climate change. When I speak to other children, I understand that they do not know how their own choices of clothes, food, travel or toys are harming the world. I then explain to them how small changes too can have bigger impacts.   I don’t think we are changing fast enough. Adults are too worried about losing their jobs, houses and cars, even more than their children’s or grandchildren’s futures.

What would you say to other children who wish they could help make the world a better place like you do?

Start today with making a small change no matter how insignificant it may seem. There are 170 actions the United Nations have suggested we all can do to help fight the climate crisis. Children can ask their teachers or parents to find those on the UN’s websites and they can start following the ones that they care about most. ■

RIGHT: Moksha Roy delivers a five minute speach on water pollution and wastage at Water Week 2024.

RIGHT: A family of ‘Selfish Changemakers’

– Left to right: Dr Sourav Roy, Moksha Roy, Dr Ragini Roy.

THE FRUIT NOT FAR FROM THE TREE

Selfish Changemakers is what the extended Roy family call themselves, acting to protect the future of their child, Moksha, by helping – in what way they can – industry and business change for the better through sustainable advocacy. Products of Change catches up with Dr Sourav Roy – father of UN Youth Ambassador Moksha Roy – to learn that the fruit really doesn’t fall far from the tree.

To kick us all off, can you give us some extra insight? Who are the Roy family and what role do you all adopt as a ‘family of changemakers’?

Dr Sourav Roy – father of Moksha Roy:

As a family we transitioned from being award-winning scientists, savvy entrepreneurs, seasoned investors, and business pros to sustainability advocates. We have seen professional success in areas spanning human health, education, technology, commerce, the natural world, chemicals and materials, diseases, food and agriculture, and the arts.

This experience has helped us emerge as sustainability advocates, facilitating the synergy of actions and resources to work with governments, business, and the civil society.

After our daughter was born, we chose to dedicate ourselves to the biggest need of our times. And we did that with one selfish agenda – to protect our child and loved ones from the devastating impacts of climate change.

We lead a variety of programmes including employability programmes, education camps, awareness workshops, policy consultations, and seminars, as well as fundraising campaigns and public advocacy.

You can find out more about our background and advocacy on www.dr-roys.com and  www.moksharoy.com.

As parents, you must be tremendously proud of Moksha. How did this all start for you?

Dr Sourav Roy: We started transitioning towards a more sustainable living over a decade ago. However, it wasn’t until after Moksha was born in 2018 we founded a United Nations CSO, called Centre for Big Synergy (CBS).

CBS is a not-for-profit global facilitator working with governments, businesses, and the civil society to help create and evolve products, practices, and policies that are more responsible and sustainable. So far, we’ve been able to reach over 250 million people in more than 120 countries through our own campaigns and partners.

Moksha was introduced to sustainability and climate change when she was three years old when she asked us to buy her some glitter. We explained that most glitters available in the market are microplastics that harm not only aquatic life and nature, but eventually ends up in our water, food and air.

She was too young for the lowdown, we thought, but she could empathise with nature and was also curious

to learn more. That led to Moksha creating a public service video as part of our Microplastic-free 2030 campaign that aims to educate one billion children and their families worldwide to combat plastic pollution.

How have you seen what you and Moksha do start to resonate with industry and deliver positive impact while making change happen?

Dr Sourav Roy: We’ve always vehemently combated pointing fingers at a certain industry or the people who make decisions in those. We strongly believe these individuals are as much a part of the solution as sustainability champions are.

We think even though the changes they make could seem insignificant, they can trigger cascades to bring bigger changes – be it making their supply chains greener, launching more sustainable products and services, or turning the business on its head completely.

What will be next for Moksha and the family? Where will this adventure of advocacy take you next?

Dr Sourav Roy: We’re rolling out several new initiatives working with governments, UN agencies, and – crucially - businesses that can bring the real change needed. Faster.

A mega SDGs educational initiative for children and young people is underway in about 60 countries, including the UK and we are securing partners amongst responsible businesses right now. This is a great opportunity for businesses to contribute towards discovering the leaders of a sustainable world as well as access future talent, sustainability ideas, and customers. ■

LEFT: Moksha Roy at Water Week in June this year as Youth Ambassdor.

COMPETITORS TO COLLABORATORS

To make lasting, impactful and industry-wide change, cross-sector collaboration is necessary, and one sector which is proving this point is children’s media, as reflected in the Sustainable Children’s Magazine Roadmap. Ahead of the Products of Change Conference, where there will be a session on this very topic, Products of Change speaks to Duncan Shearer, client services director at Seymour, and Steph Cooper, education & communications director, youth & children’s at Immediate Media.

The children’s publishing industry begun its sustainability journey back in 2018, however the unexpected force that was Kids Against Plastic (KAP) accelerated this journey. KAP’s particular criticism was the use of plastic in the covermounted toys. Duncan Shearer, client services director of magazine distribution company, Seymour, commented, “We’ve gone down the road a bit quicker because of Kids Against Plastic and […] their contribution has been positive. We’ve got them around the table now as a stakeholder.”

Kids Against Plastic is a youth-led charity and initiative to educate other kids (and adults) about plastic pollution and the climate crisis, through online resources, work with schools and the KAP Club. KAP’s activism towards retailers, demanding that the sustainability of children’s magazines be addressed, ensured publishers listened and gave the group a seat at the table to discuss solutions.

“We know how important it is to give young people

and young adults a voice,” said Steph, education & communications director, youth & children’s, of magazine publishing company, Immediate Media. Especially since it is children to whom their industry markets; kids are their customers and therefore their voices are crucial.

Together with the Professional Publishers Association (PPA), companies and competitors across children’s magazine publishing, such as Immediate Media and Seymour, came together and created the Sustainable Children’s Magazine Roadmap.

“We have never worked like this before,” said Steph, “My old habit was not to sit around a table with my competitors, and my new habit is we’re still competitors, but now we can sit around a table, and we need to sit around a table,” as this conversation and changes are something that needs to happen.

A ROADMAP FORWARD

The Roadmap begins by setting out the benefits of children’s magazines. “We are a misunderstood category,” asserted Duncan; the “massive benefits that magazines bring to children’s literacy in the UK is seriously underestimated.”

The Roadmap states that, in a survey commissioned by PPA, 66% of girls and 56% of boys regularly engage with magazines.

As reported in the Roadmap: “Recent expert research involving over a thousand parents of 3 to 10-year-olds confirmed that they help to engage reluctant learners with educational content, the toys are beneficial for children with additional needs and families on low income particularly perceive that

RIGHT: Redan is one children’s magazine publisher who embraces the joyful role of children’s magazines, but with sustainability considerations.

RIGHT: Duncan Shearer has long been a supporter of Products of Change.

magazines and the toys are beneficial for their children.”

Research also found that the covermounted toys on children’s magazines were an essential part of this experience, with only 4% of shoppers saying they would prefer a toy not to be included. Without the toy, the product sector would not be viable.

However, room for sustainable improvement for the covermount toy aspect is recognised.

The Roadmap cites the ambition for all covermount toys to be: designed and manufactured with quality and durability as a key focus; produced using acceptable materials to all stakeholders; produced with a lower carbon footprint; be fully circular, so recyclable and recycled at end of life; and integral to the magazine, providing creativity and learning opportunities.

goal and ‘perfect solution’. In the meantime, tangible progress can be made towards the second horizon, progress that may become obsolete as new technologies or innovations develop and knowledge expands, however that does not make them any less worthwhile as part of the transition phase.

Duncan explained that, last year, they did extensive testing with cardboard covermounted toys, but “the overall sales of the category dropped,” said Duncan. Navigating carboard toys that were age appropriate was a challenge as they needed to be constructed, which was not suitable for preschool ages. Further, the durability was significantly reduced.

The Action Plan of the Roadmap recognises the sustainability guidelines for publishers of children’s magazines launched by the PPA in 2021, but intends to build on these, and ensure the Roadmap is a living document that is continuously being improved.

The Roadmap has set out a timeline for change, including Red, Amber and Green categorisation of prohibited, less preferred, and preferred materials and items, supported with SMART objectives which will be continuously reviewed.

Therefore, until another suitable alternative material can be found, the work of the Roadmap is focused on reducing the impact of the plastic toys as much as possible.

This Roadmap also includes: criteria for setting standards at the design stage; creating a framework for measuring “durable, multi-use, relevant and defined benefits”; and the development of an audit process to maintain consistency across the category.

The document notes the progress made so far and the achievements that have been made, such as: 30% recycled plastic content in packaging; elimination of foil bags; engaged publishers to become members of the Recycle to Read initiative; reduced weight of packaging by 22.8% between 2021 and 2022 and reduced toy weight between the same period by 24.4%.

While this is an issue that the children’s media industry is tackling, it is certainly not an isolated one; it’s not just a children’s magazine issue, it is mainly a toy issue. The hope is that these changes that are demonstrated, will be carried across elsewhere too.

“The natural way is for this to be embraced by toys globally, not just toys on the front of magazines. Our journey is a model that can be replicated, adopted, and used elsewhere,” said Steph.

She also added that there were a lot of learnings internally, within their companies. “When you say the word sustainability, it makes people feel different things – it makes some people feel very nervous,” explained Steph, “Sustainability isn’t a bad word, it’s simply a word you need to bring alongside you, and more than that: place it front and centre.”

INNOVATIONS ON THE HORIZON

There is also acknowledgment that, while great progress is being made, we don’t have all the answers yet. There is often this need for a ‘perfect solution’ right now in order to make change, but until there is one, real change stalls. Steph spoke about this as the ‘third horizon’, which is the ultimate

“There might be something else that that comes around, or gets developed, that will help us change the future. But at the moment, that’s not there. We’re working with the PPA, our industry body, and they are funding some level of research to try to look for new innovations in the marketplace with the research institute of Sweden, and that’s going to be one of the things that we’re going to be doing over the next 12 months,” commented Duncan.

CLOSING THE LOOP

The children’s media industry has also been working closely with Recycle to Read, a reuse and recycling campaign for toys. Consumers can rehome or dispose of their unwanted or broken hard plastic toys in collection bins at participating Tesco stores across the country. When they do so, they can be registered and earn Planet Care Points for their school to be in for a chance to win books from a weekly prize draw.

If more of the toys are brought back into the system or ‘loop’, then plastic can still be used for toys, but now using more recycled plastic. Initiatives like Recycle to Read provide a system to repatriate unwanted or broken plastic toys into a loop of reuse.

ICTI, the International Council of Toy Industries, is working on a way to grade this recycled plastic in order for it to safely be introduced into this loop.

The children’s media industry has exemplified that “the sum of your parts is greater than the whole,” said Duncan. For such industry-wide change and the proposal and acceptance of new industry standards, this level of collaboration is paramount.

Join Duncan Shearer and Steph Cooper for their presentation ‘Decarbonising the children’s print media landscape,’ at the POC Conference on the 6 November, for a deeper dive into how companies put their competitive differences aside to create an industry standard and a decarbonisation plan for the sector. ■

LEFT: Harry, son of Duncan Shearer, checking out the set-up of the Recycle to Read initiative in Tesco.

LEFT: Immediate’s Steph Cooper will take to the stage at the POC Conference.

BELOW: This popular medical set covermount from Redan is now made using plastic that contains recycled content, in alignment with the PPA Pledge, marking great advancement from 2022 when Virgin plastic was used. In addition, all Redan’s paper and card items are FSC accredited.

Leading homeware retailer, Dunelm, has been spinning the plates on a number of sustainability initiatives over the last few years as Lisa Ly, senior sustainability manager and Jo Seddon, design manager will be relaying at the POC Conference.

Meanwhile, tableware company, Pure Table Top, has been working with Dayrize and Fabacus on introducing a Digital Product Passport (DPP) across its portfolio.

O HONING HOMEWARE FOR SUSTAINABILITY

With the Eco-design for Sustainability Products Regulation (ESPR) now in force, Products of Changes gets up to speed with developments both sides of the counter.

ver the last few years, Dunelm has had a number of plates spinning in terms of sustainability initiatives, being part of the leading charge of environmental progress in the homewares sector.

Lisa Ly, senior sustainability manager, and Jo Seddon, design manager of research, development and innovation at Dunelm, will be talking POC Conference attendees through the company’s three pillar sustainability strategy: Our Home the Planet, Our Home in Communities, and A Home for Our People.

Dunelm has set itself the target of reducing its carbon emissions by 50% for 2030, and net zero for 2040. “It is most definitely not an easy task, but we have taken great strides to address where the majority of emissions are coming from in each Scope and developing plans to tackle decarbonisation throughout the business,” said Lisa.

It is already taking significant steps towards this target; in FY24, it reduced its Scope 1 emissions by 27%, from a FT19 baseline, representing halfway towards its Scope 1 reduction target.

The company also purchases 100% renewable electricity and is improving its on-site energy generation, such as installing solar panels. Six sites received solar panels in FY24, taking Dunelm’s total of sites with the installation up to 12.

Like with most businesses, Scope 3 takes up the lion’s share of Dunelm’s emissions, which it sources to its supply chain and manufacturing processes, as the highest culprits, followed by the materials used in its products.

Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM).

“For Higg FEM 2023, we have achieved a completion rate of 84.7% among our Tier 1 suppliers and 46% have verified their data. Verification was required from our key suppliers, which account for circa 80% of our purchased goods and services emissions.

“We will continue gathering data from our supply chains through the use of the Higg tools. Greater transparency and data accuracy supports continuous improvement in our Scope 3 reporting and this better visibility enables us to identify additional focus areas for decarbonisation,” commented Lisa.

On the other side of its Scope 3 emissions, is Dunelm’s material usage. For this, it began by focusing on the key raw materials that have the largest carbon and water impact – primarily cotton and timber, but also polyester and metals, Lisa explained; “By switching these raw materials to ‘More Responsible Sources’, as identified in our policies, it will lead to the largest reduction in our carbon footprint.”

Additionally, it is part of Textiles 2030, pledging tangible targets as part of the overall goal to reduce the GHG footprint of new textile projects by 50%, in line with the Paris Agreement to keep global warming below 1.5oC.

In order to address its supply chain emissions, Dunelm has become a member of Cascale (formerly Sustainable Apparel Coalition), participating in working groups and liaising with its homeware suppliers to track and disclose environmental impact data using the

This work on its textiles revolves around designing for circularity and closing the loop on materials. “We started to embed circularity into the business last year, fundamentally rethinking how we approach the design of our products, so that they can be easily reused, repaired, remanufactured or recycled at the end of their life,” said Lisa. In FY24, Dunelm has been educating its commercial teams and suppliers on circular design. Not forgetting about the consumer angle, Dunelm’s Home to Home scheme, through which customers can donate their pre-loved homewares, has expanded to 39 stores, complementing the company’s other takeback initiatives. Its in-store repair pilots and workshops hope to extend the life of the products with the bonus of engaging with local communities and customers.

Licensing is an essential part of Dunelm, explained Lisa, and so it ensures that all its licensed products follow its Responsible Sourcing requirements, with ethical audit checks, and switches to responsibly sourced materials.

BELOW: Dunelm’s ‘Home to Home’ scheme redistributes pre-loved homeware items.

RIGHT: An example of a DPP on Nobody’s Child clothing.

PASSPORT TO TRANSPARENCY

Pure Table Top, Dayrize and Fabacus have been putting their heads together to develop the first digital product passport in homeware.

The Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) came into force on 18 July 2024, and with it the nifty new measure of the digital product passport (DPP).

Tableware company, Pure Table Top, has been putting in the work to understand its supply chain and its carbon impact, and first came across the potential the DPP holds after ethical fashion company, Nobody’s Child, debuted its DPP for a selection of its products last year.

Jason Singh, head of product sourcing, Pure Table Top, commented, “We work with a carbon intensive supply chain and reaching a carbon positive position is a huge challenge. As a total business, almost 90% of our GHG emissions come from Scope 3 purchased goods and services, and without alternative fuel sources to support manufacturing, we do need full end-to-end engagement. Through this engagement we can further educate and prioritise what our impacts are – a key driver for this is the DPP, allowing a holistic message covering socio-environmental factors which can be visually mapped out.”

So Pure Table Top met with Jonathan Baker, CCO of Fabacus, the global data and technology business, at last year’s Products of Change Conference (SILC 2023). “Things have moved on swiftly since then and we are delighted that we will launch our own new homeware collections with DPP’s,” said Tanith Sellicks, founder and director of Pure Table Top.

Jason added that, while the company has always known the complexity and lack of transparency in its supply chains, working towards introducing a DPP has acted as “a key vehicle to allow us to deliver this message to our customers and to our factories. With the support of Dayrize, we are beginning to get a great understanding of the impacts across its key measures,” explained Jason. Dayrize provides impact measuring technology through the production process. Together, Pure Table Top, Fabacus and Dayrize, have worked to bring the first DPPs to the homewares sector. The three companies will be speaking about this collaboration

at the POC Conference and what it means for the industry, showcasing the manifestation of this work with POC mugs, each complete with their own DPP.

“Our relationship with Dayrize is almost touching on three years now,” said Jason, “fortunately they also recognise what we are trying to achieve as a business. As their system has grown we’ve been fortunate enough to be part of that roadmap, allowing us to now model full ranges supporting better material choices. Fabacus have been the facilitator for us to be able pull everything together using their expertise with bringing the DPP to life. Being part of POC has given us the chance to collaborate on something new and unconsidered within our category whilst aligning to ESPR.”

Pure Table Top has been working with the Eden Project to bring out an entire range, set to launch in Spring 2025, with designs inspired by the mediterranean gardens and sporting DPPs, bringing the case study to market.

Alongside this, Pure Table Top is utilising its partnership with Dayrize and Fabacus to engage its stakeholders with the DPP project: educating its consumers on the impact while offering incentives, and providing tangible information for improvement to its suppliers.

Its next steps are to upgrade its current impact assessment from cradle-to-gate to cradle-to-grave, to fully understand the lifecycle of its products, “with the aim of leading us towards a circular model,” said Jason. ■

BELOW: Pure Table Top unveils its pilot DPP with Fabacus and Dayrize at the Exclusively Show earlier this year.

RIGHT: Dayrize’s CEO, Austin Simms, pledges to support companies in committing to a Zero Plastic Policy

BOWLING FOR B CORP

Underlining its sustainability strategy, leading storage and serveware products company, Mepal, has recently announced it has successfully certified as a B Corp. Products of Change catches up with Jan-Pieter Schretlen, CEO of Mepal to find out more about this important step in the journey as a more sustainable and socially responsible business that is committed to a better world.

Mepal has been a trusted name in consumer products for 75 years, known for its sustainable, functional and innovative designs, building a strong reputation as a specialist in storing and serving food and drinks.

Signifying it is well on its way to a more sustainable and socially responsible business that is committed to a better world, with an eye for people, the environment and society, is its B Corp status.

Jan-Pieter Schretlen, CEO of Mepal, received the B Corp plaque from Tessa van Soest, director of B Lab Benelux, the non-profit organisation behind the certification. This allows Mepal to officially call itself a B Corporation and gives the company access to the growing B Corp community, a network of like-minded companies - such as Bugaboo, Rituals, Ace&Tate, Auping and Tony’s Chocolonely, offering knowledge, insight and inspiration.

Reinforcing how Mepal sees the certification as a milestone, Jan-Pieter commented, “For 75 years, we have been synonymous with high quality, with our timeless designs that transcend generations. Our dedication and craftsmanship ensure that everyone can enjoy our long-lasting products. And we do so with passion but also from naoberschap, together; local production with our local community. This certification rewards this work, of which we are proud.”

During the certification process, Mepal was assessed on five pillars: governance, environment, employees, customers and community. To complete the certification process, companies must document the impact of its decisions on all its stakeholders in its statutory documents. A minimum of 80 points are needed for a company to become a B Corp. Mepal achieved 101.6 points; this high score is visible on the public Global Directory.

Fittingly, Mepal scored many points from its intensive collaboration with sheltered workshops, local production, and overall business operations.

A B Corp certification is not a one-off thing, as every three years, businesses are assessed for meeting the (increasingly high) standards for recertification.

However, Mepal sees the B Corp certification as a starting point. Which is why Mepal is committed to continuous development of highquality product innovations that have a long lifespan, are 100% recyclable and if something breaks down a part can easily be replaced. It also is steadfast in its mission to produce locally and do business consciously so that it becomes CO₂ neutral.

Adding her endorsement, Tessa van Soest, director of B Lab Benelux, said, “To welcome Mepal to the B Corp community is great. Its commitment to doing business differently will be an inspiration to others. It will also help to share our message that business success can be as much about people and our planet than just profit.” ■

ABOVE: Jan-Pieter Schretlen, CEO of Mepal.

ABOVE: A selection of Mepal’s storage boxes.

ABOVE: Some of Mepal’s latest storage products.

BRACING FOR AN EMB LDENED B CORP

Being in the business of sustainability consultancy, I am a big fan of the B Corp Impact Assessment (BIA). Why?

Because whether you plan to certify your business as a B Corp or not, the BIA as a tool for measuring impact, planning ESG improvements, and guidance on how to be a better business in every sense of the word, is invaluable.

And, once you see the potential for improvement within your business, I guarantee you’ll be motivated to achieve it.

For those who choose to pursue certification, it demonstrates to stakeholders that the company is deeply committed to social and environmental progress. It’s a shift from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism and a dedication to use business as a force for good.

Four years ago, B Lab – the organisation behind the B Corp Certification programme – declared it was reviewing its B Corp performance requirements, advancing the standards to “better meet the magnitude of the challenge ahead.” Over those four years, numerous focus groups have been held, analysis executed, and consultations undertaken to land upon just what these new standards will be.

B Labs is tightening the screws on its B Corp certification process to bring the accreditation into closer alignment with global environmental reporting standards and requirements… and that can only ‘b’ a good thing, says POC Advisor, Heidi Florence.

will move away from achieving a minimum score of 80 points on the BIA to an approach where there are minimum standards for every business. These will reflect the most material and impactful social and environmental issues facing society.

The world’s problems are connected, and we are too so the new standards will require businesses to have more accountability and engagement with stakeholders to harness the power of our interdependence.

The new standards will align closer than ever before with legislative acts, including the Green Claims Code and the European Commission Consumer Rights Directive. They will also bring a great deal of clarity and transparency into the mix by reducing the room for interpretation and setting clear guidance within a clear framework.

“Over those four years, numerous focus groups have been held, analysis executed, and consultations undertaken to land upon just what these new standards will be.”

The new standards will start to be adopted in 2025. So, my best advice for companies who are starting out on their journey towards certification now, is to begin working with the current standards but while also looking at the new draft standards to understand what you’ll be working towards when it comes to recertification.

But what will these new standards be? Here’s what we do know: The proposed new standards

It’s worth pointing out that criteria for compliance within these new standards has, in fact, been developed in a similar way to ISO and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requirements, meaning they will be altogether more prescriptive and ultimately, non-negotiable. This will help remove assumptions about how a B Corp business should behave.

In simpler terms, the certification process is about to be tightened up. But that really shouldn’t discourage businesses to take on the journey. My advice for businesses planning to recertify as a B Corp from 2025-2026 onwards, is to look at the new standards, understand where your gaps are and create an action plan to start closing them.

If things seem tougher, it’s because they are. And that’s a good thing. Because as we all know, the issue with low-hanging fruit is it’s all been picked. It’s time to reach higher.

Heidi Florence is a Products of Change Advisor and the founder of the B Corp and better business consultancy, Fair Enough ■

ABOVE: Heidi Florence, Products of Change Advisor and founder of the B Corp and better business consultancy, Fair Enough.

LEFT: Heidi says the changes to B Corp will bring greater clarity and transparency.

PIONEERING THE PATHWAY TO SCOPE 3 REPORTING

After realising that the current guidance for companies to measure their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions left a gaping hole of unknowns for the brand licensing industry, Products of Change (POC) rallied its resources and connections.

IIn collaboration with South Pole, POC has created a pioneering body of work to support the industry to measure, and therefore reduce, its GHGs.

POC and South Pole have now submitted their final report ‘Guidance for Calculating GHG Emissions for Brand Licensing – Technical Brief’ to the World Resource Institute (which runs the Greenhouse Gas Protocol). The recommendation is that ‘Scope 3 Category 14: Franchises’, be expanded to include brand licensing, with the relevant information and guidance specific to this particular strain of business.

Helena MansellStopher, founder and CEO of Products of Change, commented, “As brand owners begin to track and disclose their environmental impact, they are now exploring the responsibilities tied to their licensed products. The existing guidance from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol under Category 14 does not account for the brand licensing business model.”

The reason for brand licensing’s omission from the GHG guidance seems even more remiss when its size is taken into account. The global sales revenue in the brand licensing sector reached $356.5 billion in 2023, marking a 4.6% growth from the 2022 figure of $340.8 billion. Notably, this CAGR outperforms that of the general retail sector by 3.7%.

our methodology to the World Resources Institute and are eagerly awaiting their feedback. We hope that our approach will be adopted as part of the global Greenhouse Gas Guidelines’ realignment in 2026,” said Helena.

CONSULTING THE INDUSTRY

In May earlier this year, POC and South Pole hosted four workshops as part of a consultation process with the POC community and brand licensing industry, garnering feedback from relevant industry stakeholders on the proposal of new guidance. Eight key stakeholders were consulted: LEGO, Disney, BBC, Paramount, Jamie Oliver Group, Manchester City FC, Microsoft, and ASDA.

Sine Møller, sustainability transformation director, LEGO, commented,

“After I spent two weeks in Scope 3 workshops with super knowledgeable colleagues, trying to understand where licensing would fit into the reporting landscape, it was clear that nobody had thought about the licensing model in the protocol.

“I don’t blame the clever people who have created the methodology across Scope 3 because it’s a difficult business model to understand, from a financial and ownership perspective.

“We have been working as a cross-sector group over the past year to develop a comprehensive methodology. In October, we proudly submitted

“My frustrations gave me the clarity that resulted in me calling Helena, to say ‘it simply can’t be right, but nobody has thought this through. Let’s talk to [industry] peers because

RIGHT: Far reach means big impact which must be addressed with accurate calculations to allow for decarbonisation.

RIGHT: Scope 3 emissions include indirect GHG’s from a company’s value chain, upstream or downstream.

this is exactly the purpose of POC – pulling the industry together to do something meaningful.’”

From these consultations, the main objectives were established:

1. Build clear guidance to calculate emissions, aligned with GHG protocol;

2. Provide a standardised framework for calculating GHG emissions, accommodating various levels of data availability.

The guidance would be from a licensor perspective and cover product licensing, themed entertainment licensing, and promotional licensing, within consumer goods, entertainment, and retail industries.

There are two distinct attribution processes presented in the guidance: a comprehensive attribution approach (primarily product based), and a royalty-based attribution approach (financial-based).

“I strongly believe that disclosure is one route to enhancing your sustainability actions as a company. The moment you see data and put targets to the data you have an action plan that is very tangible.

“What we need to make 100% sure on, is that carbon is not money but that the data tracking the emission is of a quality equal to financial data. Understanding this, it became clear to me that we needed to agree as an industry on how we measure and account for our actions. Or it becomes hard to have a conversation,” explained Sine.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURATE REPORTING

This is especially prescient considering the size of the industry and its consequential environmental impact. The top ten global brand owners in 2023, with a combined value of $249.2 billion, represent 29 million metric tonnes of GHG emissions. However, with the lack of robust guidance for reporting emissions related to brand licensing activities, this figure is likely underestimating the scale of the issue.

Not only is it an environmental and ethical necessity to accurately report emissions, but it is a strategic business decision and will become more so as further legislation comes into effect. As reporting requirements grow, without robust data, companies cannot effectively develop and act on decarbonisation strategies. Crucially, investors won’t be able to make an informed judgement on a business’ future climate transition, which could have negative financial implications. With the Paris Agreement seeing 195 countries committing to limiting global warming to

1.5oC above pre-industrial levels, accurate reporting and emissions reductions are critical.

“This methodology brings much-needed clarity to an otherwise undefined system and will serve as the backbone for any reporting within Scope 3 Category 14, in the years to come,” commented Helena.

Having a better understanding of their emissions data, gives companies the tools to develop their decarbonisation journeys, enhancing competitiveness and stakeholder relationships. Sally Mills, head of sustainability, BBC Studios, further added that, “Collaborating with the industry to align on emission calculation principles is important to provide transparency and support action.”

NEXT STEPS

To ensure the guidance was as rigorous as possible, since April this year, POC and South Pole have consulted with a third of brand owners in the sector, by value the equivalent of 17 companies, and interviewed the eight key stakeholders listed earlier in this piece, representing a cross section of the industry.

“It’s been a pleasure collaborating with Products of Change, South Pole, and other leading brands to develop our shared recommendations for calculating, simplifying, and standardising GHG emissions in the brand and licensing sector. This work marks a major step forward in improving carbon reporting across the industry, and we’re excited to have played a part in this,” said Courtney Ward-Hunting, sustainability manager, Jamie Oliver Group.

A further consultation with wider stakeholders, included the likes of: Universal Music Group, USPA Global, Netflix, Liverpool FC, Unilever, Mattel, Addo Play, TMSW, Formula E, Warner Brothers, and Magic Light Pictures. The feedback from all these parties was used to refine the guidance into a practical and robust document.

Harini Manivannan, managing consultant, environmental impact accounting (EIA), South Pole, commented, “We are optimistic about the next steps, particularly in reaching a consensus with the GHG Protocol and all stakeholders on our approach. Our vision is to see this guidance formally incorporated into the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting & Reporting Standard, empowering the industry to implement it effectively. We are thrilled at the prospect of the industry coming together for this vital initiative and are eager to support educational efforts that will enhance this journey.”

Helena concurred that, “This body of work positions POC as a leader in this space, recognised by global brands. Our joint methodology will have a far-reaching impact, extending way beyond our current POC membership.”

We will continue to share updates from POC about the progress and approval of this pioneering piece of work. ■

LEFT: Magic Light Pictures, owners of the Gruffalo brand, has been involved in this significant body of work.

ABOVE: The guidance will cover product licensing, such as Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep campaign with Emu Australia.

LEFT: Crocs has unlocked a new milestone having achieved 25% bio-circular material across its footwear portfolio.

THE FUTURE OF SUCCESSFUL CHARITY PARTNERSHIPS

As part of its work supporting charity partnerships, Louis Kennedy commissioned a research report into what exactly makes such partnerships successful? Tracey Richardson licensing and partnerships director, Louis Kennedy, details the findings from the report.

For over 30 years, Louis Kennedy has helped the world’s leading brands, retailers, charities and licensors deliver measurable impact and social good through the development of dynamic strategies.

Earlier this year, the company commissioned a research project to identify the impact of these factors on delivering successful Partnerships with Purpose. The Future of Successful Charity Partnerships research was commissioned by Louis Kennedy and conducted independently by Rebecca Jenkins. The project involved collecting and analysing survey data from key stakeholders across charities, brands, retailers, and licensors to ensure a thorough understanding of trends, challenges, and strategic developments across these sectors. The full findings of the report will be presented at the POC Conference 2024. Notable qualitative takeaways arose from the report, which go beyond the statistical data:

The role of creativity, storytelling and innovation: Creativity and storytelling were consistently mentioned as vital components of successful campaigns. Whether it’s through engaging narratives or innovative campaign elements, the ability to tell a compelling story helps to capture the public’s imagination and strengthens the connection between the brand, the cause, and the audience.

Challenges with resource allocation:

Resource constraints were a common challenge. Whether it’s a lack of internal champions, time management issues, or insufficient funding, managing resources effectively is a significant hurdle that organisations face when executing campaigns.

The value of clear communication:

Importance of authenticity in partnerships:

The emphasis on authenticity was repeatedly highlighted. Whether it’s ensuring that a brand’s involvement with a cause feels genuine or aligning campaigns with core company values, authenticity is crucial for the success of any partnership. Consumers and partners can quickly detect insincerity, which can undermine the entire campaign.

Long-term relationships over one-off campaigns:

The value of building long-term partnerships rather than focusing solely on single, isolated campaigns was seen as key. Sustained collaborations tend to be more impactful, fostering deeper relationships and yielding more significant results over time. This approach also allows for the development of more comprehensive and strategic campaigns.

Clear and consistent communication was highlighted as essential. Miscommunication or lack of clarity can lead to misunderstandings, misaligned expectations, and ultimately, unsuccessful campaigns. Establishing open channels of communication from the outset is critical for ensuring all parties are on the same page.

Impact over income:

While fundraising and commercial benefits are essential, there was a noticeable shift towards prioritising the impact over mere income generation. Particularly among charities, the focus is on the tangible outcomes of campaigns.

The need for flexibility and adaptation: Respondents across the reports indicated that successful campaigns often require a flexible approach. Being able to adapt to changing circumstances, audience preferences, or unexpected challenges was seen as a critical factor in maintaining the relevance and effectiveness of campaigns. ■

LEFT: Care Bears partnership with Young Lives vs Cancer and One Stop

LEFT: Tracey Richardson, licensing and partnerships director, Louis Kennedy, and POC Ambassador of Partnerships.

LEFT: Grant Morgan, founder and CEO, Louis Kennedy.

FUTURE FORECAST REPORT

Breaking new ground, the Products of Change Future Forecast Report tracks the brand, licensing, products and retail industry’s sustainable development and evolution. Published as a separate publication for BLE, here the significant findings are shared once again.

The global brand licensing sector is a high-value industry driven by the emotional attachment consumers have with the brands they love. While you can’t put a price on emotional investment, you can certainly gauge the value of consumer spend within the brand licensing consumer products sector. And let us tell you, it’s vast.

According to Licensing International’s 2024 industry report, the global brand licensing sector is now valued at $356.5bn, the lion’s share of which can be attributed to the industry’s Top Ten Global Brand Owners alone.

In the summer of 2024, the Global Licensing Group released its Global Top 100 Licensors Report, putting that value of consumer investment firmly on paper. The value of the Top Ten Global Brand Owners – a table comprising The Walt Disney Company (at number one); Authentic Brands Group; Dotdash Meredith; Warner Bros. Discovery (at number four); Hasbro; The Pokémon Company; and others – rings in at a not insignificant $192.3bn. That’s just over half the entire value of the global brand licensing industry combined.

That’s a lot of money. It is also a lot of products. And where there’s a lot of products, there’s ultimately a vast environmental impact to consider, too.

In a calculation of the very latest available data published by the companies currently reporting, taken from figures published in their most recent ESG reports, the total greenhouse gas emissions – by metric tonnage – of the Top Ten Global Brand Owners (combining scope 1, 2, and collected scope 3 data) is 28,692,993.

An anecdotal calculation only, this figure comes with a list of caveats as long as your arm. First, this is data collected only from those companies within the Top Ten found to actually be reporting on their GHG emissions (note that four of the leading brand owners by value are currently not publicly reporting their GHGs at all); of those that are reporting, not all brand owners are calculating or including their Scope 3 emissions; and finally, those that are calculating their emissions – particularly Scope 3 – are doing so using a variety of methods rather than one universal, industry standard.

28,692,993

metric tonnage of greenhouse gas emissions of the Top Ten Global Brand Owners

Taking all this into consideration, the figure we are left with can be reduced to something speculative, at best. Which goes someway to highlight the situation the global brand licensing industry currently finds itself in.

If we expand the scope of data collection across not only the Top Ten Global Brand Owners (by value) but to include some of the most influential brands and Members of the Products of Change Community (such as The LEGO Group, Universal Music Group, Netflix, Paramount, BBC Studios, and SEGA Sammy) and that anecdotal total of Greenhouse Gas Emissions – by metric tonnage – becomes 35,258,529.

This figure, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator is the equivalent to almost eight and a half million petrol-powered vehicles driven for one year. To offset this total would require almost six-hundred-million trees to be planted and grown over the next ten years, which – as we all know – is ten years too long. But again, with current industry reporting data as disparate as it is, these figures can only be viewed as anecdotal. Nevertheless, it all begins to paint an image of our industry’s relationship with its environmental impact.

MOVING TOWARDS A GREEN ECONOMY

As we move towards the fourth industrial revolution and a greener economy, the landscape upon which the global brand licensing industry operates is set for a significant transformation. To navigate this shift, the industry is going to need a robust support network, which is precisely the mission behind Products of Change.

So, what’s driving the biggest industry change right now? Well, the European Commission has set an ambitious goal to achieve a net-zero circular economy by 2050 and while the exact impact on businesses is still uncertain (some commentators cite that the EU is ‘prepared to ‘lose’ up to 80% of businesses in their current state throughout the transition’) we can all expect to see some rather substantial changes.

The green economy transition – driven by initiatives such as the European Green Deal and its Circular Economy Action Plan – targets climate neutrality by mid-century. This includes measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, invest in renewable energy, and promote sustainable business practices.

One area of focus that will directly impact the brand and licensing sector is the transformation of the textiles and fashion industry, a core part of the European Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan. The new EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles seeks to lower the environmental footprint of the sector by promoting more durable, repairable, reusable, and recyclable products. This approach aims to tackle fast fashion, reduce textile waste, and limit the destruction of unsold items by encouraging longer product life cycles and increased use of recycled materials.

The European Commission has outlined several key measures, including eco-design standards for textiles, a Digital Product Passport, and a mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme. These initiatives are designed to minimize waste, reduce carbon footprints, and ensure the credibility of green claims made by companies.

Additionally, the strategy calls for companies to limit the number of annual collections and supports favourable taxation policies for reuse and repair industries. These efforts aim to curb overproduction and overconsumption, thus driving a more sustainable industry model.

While precise figures on the potential business loss due to this transition are not provided, it’s clear this shift will significantly alter industry operations. Fast fashion brands, will need to adapt their business models to survive. However, this also presents new opportunities for businesses focusing on reuse, repair, and of course recycling.

Given that apparel alone accounts for just under 15% of the $356.5bn global brand licensing industry (around $50bn in value according to Licensing International), there is a - potentially significant - risk for companies that do not align with these emerging requirements.

Beyond fashion, the European Green Deal is also placing some heavy demands on brand owners, manufacturers, and retailers across various sectors through a volley of new regulations including:

• CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive)

• CSDD (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive)

• EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility)

• PPT (Plastic Packaging Tax)

• ESPR (Eco-design for Sustainable Production Regulations)

• EUDR (European Union Deforestation Regulation)

• Green Claims Directive

All these new legislative acts come with their own requirements for data collection, reporting, and for a majority of them, financial obligations, too. Frustrations felt over this ‘tsunami of legislation’ is understandable and details around much of what is to come – and even the regulations now in force – remains woolly when it comes to the brand licensing sector.

Many within the global industry are adapting as best they can to this shifting landscape. It’s according to the Products of Change Conference Survey (conducted in 2023) that 54% of businesses within the licensing industry now have a team ‘dedicated to sustainability’, which by itself is an encouraging prospect. But this doesn’t reduce the demand for or the workload required in data collection and reporting for businesses and brand owners to remain the right side of the regulations.

54% of businesses within the licensing industry now have a team ‘dedicated to sustainability’

LITTLE ROOM TO PLAY

At $41.26bn or 11.6% of the total value of the global brand licensing industry (according to Licensing International), the toy industry is the second largest area of licensing. As such, this too is an area of significant environmental impact with statistics from Dayrize indicating that 80% of toys currently end their life in landfill, incinerators, or winding up as ocean plastic pollution. It’s believed that toys currently make up 6% of all landfill plastics. As such, the toy sector is now set to be significantly impacted by new safety and environmental regulations over the next few years.

Proposed changes to the toy safety regulations currently being discussed include:

1. Stricter Chemical Limits:

The proposed revisions to the EU Toy Safety Directive (2009/48/EC) will introduce stricter limits on hazardous chemicals in toys. This includes lowering the allowable levels of substances such as nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances in toys intended for children under 36 months or those intended to be placed in the mouth.

2. Ban on Certain Harmful Chemicals:

The new rules may expand the list of prohibited chemicals in toys to include substances of very high concern (SVHC) as defined under REACH. This could involve a ban on endocrine disruptors, neurotoxic substances, and substances that affect the immune or respiratory systems.

3. Alignment with REACH The changes will aim to bring toy safety in line with the REACH Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals), which regulates the use of chemicals across various sectors in the EU. The proposed Toy Safety Directive amendments would ensure that toy manufacturers and importers comply with REACH restrictions on substances such as phthalates, heavy metals, and other harmful chemicals.

4. Digital Product Passport and Traceability:

Another proposed change is the introduction of a Digital Product Passport for toys. This would ensure transparency and traceability of materials and chemicals used in toy manufacturing. It would help consumers and regulators track compliance with safety standards, including those related to chemicals regulated by REACH.

5. More Stringent Labelling Requirements:

The new regulations will likely require clearer labelling on toys, especially regarding the presence of hazardous chemicals. Labels may need to provide more detailed information on the chemical content of toys to comply with REACH's provisions for consumer awareness.

6. Sustainability and Eco-Design:

The revisions are expected to promote the use of safer, more sustainable materials in toys. This includes encouraging manufacturers to use eco-friendly materials and reduce plastic use in line with the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which is part of the broader European Green Deal.

The proposed changes to toy safety regulations are heavily influenced by REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals). REACH is the EU's primary regulation on chemicals, and it sets out a comprehensive framework for ensuring the safe use of chemicals across various sectors, including toys.

REACH focuses on identifying and managing the risks posed by chemicals to human health and the environment.

• Chemical Restrictions and Reporting Requirements: Under REACH, certain hazardous substances, such as lead, cadmium, and certain phthalates, are already restricted in toys. The proposed updates to the Toy Safety Directive will further align toy safety requirements with REACH by incorporating its chemical restrictions and safety assessment protocols.

• Focus on Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs): REACH’s focus on SVHCs means that any substance identified as posing a significant risk to health or the environment must be authorized or restricted. The toy safety changes will likely incorporate the SVHC list into its prohibitions and restrictions to ensure toy safety aligns with broader chemical safety goals.

The proposed changes to the EU Toy Safety Directive are being developed to align with the REACH regulation's stricter chemical safety standards. The aim is to better protect children from exposure to harmful chemicals and to support the broader goals of sustainability and transparency in product manufacturing. The integration with REACH ensures that the new toy safety standards are in sync with the most comprehensive chemical safety regulations in the EU.

For more detailed information, you can visit the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and European Commission websites, which provide updates on both REACH and toy safety regulations.

These above set of new regulations will impact every business operating within Europe, either directly (through mandatory reporting) or indirectly (by needing to provide information for others to report). Global companies trading with Europe must also comply with these new regulations.

HOW ARE GLOBAL BRANDS REDUCING THEIR IMPACT?

For the past 12 months, Products of Change has been working with the global brand and licensing industry to develop a new reporting standard, setting out the framework for how companies can measure and track their Scope 3 emissions.

At the same time, the number of global brands committing to Science Based Targets has been rising steadily, bringing the count up on the number of global brand owners now targeting net-zero by 2050.

The global toymaker and entertainment powerhouse, Hasbro – home to the Peppa Pig and Transformers franchises – has committed to a science-based net zero target by 2050. It’s also established an SBTi-validated near-term target to reduce both scope 1 and 2 emissions by 47.5% and reduce scope 3 emissions by 42% by the year 2030.

Market rivals, The LEGO Group and Mattel have similarly set their ambitions high. In fact, the Danish toy group, LEGO has a science-based target to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions 37% by 2032 and a pledge to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Mattel, meanwhile, is targeting absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 50% by 2030.

The Walt Disney Company is very much on its own pathway towards significant emissions reduction, too. The company has made public its commitment to reduce absolute emissions across scope 1 and 2 by 46.2%.

Its overarching aim is to achieve net zero emissions for scope 1 and 2 by 2030 with plans to purchase or produce 100% zero carbon electricity from 2030 onwards while continuing to invest in natural climate solutions. This is no small feat for a company which in 2023 saw its scope 1 and 2 emissions total 1,720,000 metric tonnes.

Its strategy for scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions is more interesting, still. The Walt Disney Company wants to reduce its absolute scope 3 emissions (from purchased goods and services, capital goods, fuel- and energy-related activities, upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations, business

travel, employee commuting, and franchises) by a minimum of 27.5% against a 2019 fiscal baseline. Most relevant for the licensing industry however is its commitment to ensure that 72% of its licensees – measured by emissions covering ‘franchises’ –will have set science-based targets by 2027.

Disney has started its process, reaching out to licensees and providing its own set of guides to facilitate a smoother and ore informed transition for partners whether that be in their material use, approach to design for recyclability, or within their own ambitions to reduce emissions.

So too, is The LEGO Group which, earlier this year, launched its Supplier Sustainability Programme to enhance collaboration to curb its carbon footprint and accelerate its pathway to achieve its climate goals. An enhanced version of its 2014 Engageto-Reduce programme, the initiative requires suppliers to report data on carbon emissions linked to products and services purchased by LEGO with the wider aim to reduce them.

Outside of the Top Ten Global Brand Owners, yet in a similar vein, the BBC and BBC Studios set a 2023 ambition to engage over 250 suppliers in its scope 3 carbon emissions reduction initiative. It’s a continuation of the broadcaster and brand’s efforts to work with suppliers and partners to reduce supply chain emissions, an area that equates “to approximately 68% of our carbon footprint baseline,” says the team.

For brand owners – the majority of which report that their scope 3 emissions make up at least 80% of their overall greenhouse gas emissions – supply chain and manufacturing partner engagement will be crucial and those that are already on that journey of data gathering will stand to benefit all the greater when the effects of legislation from Europe – and other international markets, including the growing rumblings from the US – really start to be felt across the business landscape.

For a greater view of the commitments made and impact already being driven by some of the top global brands and retailers from across the licensing industry, check out the tables on the following pages...

TOP TEN GLOBAL BRANDS BY VALUE (US$)

• Reduce Scope 3 emissions through absolute reduction and supplier and licensee engagement:

• Reduce absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, capital goods, fuel- and energy-related activities, upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations, business travel, employee commuting, and franchises, by a minimum of 27.5% against a fiscal 2019 baseline

• Commit that 20% of our suppliers, measured by emissions covering purchased goods and services, will have science-based targets by 2027

• Commit that 72% of our licensees, measured by emissions covering franchises, will have science-based targets by 2027

Brands Group ($28bn)

IAC - Dotdash Meredith and subsidiaries ($26.4bn)

Warner Bros. Discovery ($15bn)

1+2 emissions: 21,848 metric tonnes CO2e

Emissions inventory for Scope 1 + 2 and five material Scope 3 categories.

• For 2024: Increase energy efficiency and explore renewable energy projects with potential purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and carbon offsets.

• Total scope 1 + 2 emissions Location Based: 221,486

1+2 emissions

Hasbro ($14.1bn)

• Total

Based:

• Science-based net zero target by 2050

• SBTi-validated, near-term target to reduce Scope 1+2 by 47.5% by 2030.

• SBTi-validated net-zero commitment to reduce emissions 90% by 2050 from a 2020 base year.

• Total scope 1+ 2 Location based: 9,956

NBC Universal / Universal Products & Experiences ($11.5bn)

• Carbon neutral for Scope 1+2 emissions by 2035.

• Joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on climate action.

• Invest in clean and renewable energy, shifting to solar, wind, and other clean sources of electricity.

• In 2023, Comcast scope 1+2 total market based GHG were 1,600,000 metrics tonnes CO2

• SBTi-validated target to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 42% by 2030.

• Category 14 (franchises) scope 3 emissions: 298,586 metric tonnes CO2e

• Total scope 3: 2,003,839 metric tonnes CO2e

• Identify ways to reduce water use in our business operations.

• Near-term reduction targets in line with SBTi, including Scope 3.

• Comcast scope 3 total in 2022: 10,740,000 across categories 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11,12,13

• Reduce water consumption across owned and operated global facilities.

• Deep evaluation of water withdrawn by type and by region. Provide water withdrawn data per region by source, applying the same breakdown for water withdrawn in areas of “High” or “Extremely High” baseline water stress.

• Prioritise engagement with suppliers with factories in areas categorised as the highest risk for: water availability, drinking water quality, and wastewater quality.

• Prioritise engagement with suppliers in high-risk source areas, including fresh surface water and groundwater.

• Orlando and Hollywood Experience operations use recycled water when available for

• Source reduction; reusing materials, including donating production materials and other lightly used materials; recycling materials; and composting organics and donating leftover food.

• Reduce single use materials and divert waste through recycling and composting across studios and offices.

• Reduce the quantity, type and quality of waste generated.

• Use new data collection process to evaluate and assess risks and opportunities associated with waste usage and set new targets and goals.

TOP TEN GLOBAL BRANDS BY VALUE (US$)

Materials Sustainable Design Nature Supplier/Licensee Engagement

Disney ($62bn)

2030 material goals for Disney branded products:

• Recycled, certified, or verified sustainable paper, wood, and palm oil

• Plastic that contains at least 30% recycled content or a lower impact alternative material

• Design packaging for reuse, recycling, or composting

• Recycled, sustainably sourced, or lower impact textiles

• All facilities to participate in the Higg Index or maintain a sustainable manufacturing certification

• Aims to

• Engages with paper suppliers to track environmental performance, identify potential areas for improvement, and help paper buyers make informed procurement decisions

Bros. Discovery ($15bn) • Switch to FSC quality paper-based packaging in swing tags or riders to hold badges and key rings.

• Reducing plastic packaging, where possible, by switching to paper-based or reusable packaging and, where plastic is used, encouraging that it is made from at least 30% recycled materials.

• Utilizing sustainable cotton on self-developed apparel lines.

• Encouraging the use of recycled polyester in place of polyester fabric in Softline products (e.g., apparel and stuffing in homewares, general textile products).

Hasbro ($14.1bn)

• Improve ingredients of products and incorporate the use of recycled and renewable materials.

• Hasbro’s Paper and Forest Procurement Policy to share our sustainable paper sourcing expectations with suppliers. Policy helps guide our suppliers with material selection for Hasbro products and packaging.

• Since implementation of policy, we have sustained approx. 90% of our paper, packaging and in-box content from recycled material or from sources that practice sustainable forest management.

2030 Sustainable Design Goals:

• Newly approved projects to be designed to “near net zero” emissions.

• Established a detailed Sustainable Design standard.

• Design new projects to achieve near net zero GHG emissions, maximize water efficiency, and support zero waste operations.

• Achieve 90% diversion of construction waste across new projects in the U.S. and Europe

• Since 1995, Disney has invested over $125 million through the Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) to support community-based solutions to protect wildlife and their habitats

• Through DCF, wildlife like California condors and Atala butterflies have been brought back from the brink of extinction, and millions of acres of marine- and land-based areas have been protected.

• Engaging licensing partners on materials and packaging as well as reporting.

- Designed more products for recyclability.

- Achieved 98.8% recycled or FSC Certified content in the paper and wood fiber used in our products and packaging, as validated by Preferred by Nature.

• Manage and improve the lifecycle of all products and services for consumers and the planet, including the impacts of materials innovation, packaging, distribution and end use

• To support global reforestation efforts, we partnered with the nonprofit organization, One Tree Planted.

• Hasbro’s support helped plant 100,000 trees in regions around the world, including Brazil, the U.S., India and Ireland. This investment will help to replenish vital natural resources used in many of our products and packaging.

• Design products and packaging that improve the entertainment experience, save customers energy and money, and lessen impact on the planet.

• Innovate to increase the lifespan of our products.

• Reduce materials, increase recyclability, and utilise recycled materials in products.

• Hasbro’s Paper and Forest Procurement Policy to share our sustainable paper sourcing expectations with suppliers. Policy helps guide our suppliers with material selection for Hasbro products and packaging.

and

and

PRODUCTS OF CHANGE COMMUNITY

1+2)

The LEGO Group • Science-based target to reduce absolute emissions 37% by 2032, against a 2019 baseline and a pledge to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

• Intention submitted to the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) in August 2023.

• Scope 2 location-based emissions; total GHG emissions for 2021 and 2022 were 1.6m tCO2e and 1.7m tCO2e, respectively.

Netflix • Reduce scope 1+2 emissions 46% by 2030 from a 2019 baseline.

• Total scope 1+2 GHG emissions for 2023: 25,790

Paramount ($6.5bn)

• Reduce Paramount UK’s Scope 1+2 carbon emissions by 46% by 2030.

• Total scope 1+2 emissions 2022: 340,296

BBC Studios • SBTi-validated targets to reduce scope 1+2 emissions by 46% by 2030.

• Set long-term net zero emission targets during FY2023/24, as required to decarbonise our GHG emissions by 2050.

• Total scope 1+2 emissions 2022/23: 49,586

Microsoft

• Reduce carbon emissions, increasing use of carbon-free electricity, and carbon removal.

• In 2023, scope 1+ 2 emissions decreased 6.3% from 2020 baseline.

• Reduce scope 1+ 2 emissions to near zero by increasing energy efficiency, decarbonization of our operations, and reaching 100% renewable energy by 2025.

Sammy • Reduce group–wide scope 1+2 emissions by 50% by 2030 based on the fiscal year ended March 2021.

• Achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

• Total scope 1+2 ghg emissions for 2023: 23,534 metric tonnes CO2e"

• Reach net-zero emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3) by 2050.

• In 2023, water supplied to factories was reduced by 6%.

• Reduce reliance on fresh water across sites. In 2023, water supplied to factories was reduced by 6% to 809,963 m3.

Reduce scope 3 emissions from purchased goods & services, capital goods, fuel- and energy-related activities, upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations, business travel, and employee commuting by 62% per EUR value by 2032.

• Scope 3 total emissions 2023: 469,588 metric tonnes CO2e No public commitments

• Reduce scope 3 emissions 55% per $USD of value added by 2030. In 2023, our scope 3 emissions were reduced by about 25%, and scope 3 emissions per million USD of value added have decreased by 59% since 2019.

• Total scope 3 for 2023: 817,317

• Reduce Paramount UK’s scope 3 emissions across remainder of decade.

• We apply the GHG Protocol to estimate our supply chain emissions, using a combination of spend and primary data from our suppliers

• Total scope 3 emissions 2023: 2,361,795

• To reduce our scope 3 emissions by 28% by 2030/31 from a 2019 baseline in line with the SBTi

• Scope 3 increased by 30.9%. In aggregate, across all scopes 1–3, Microsoft’s emissions are up 29.1% from the 2020 baseline.

• Company-wide initiative to identify and develop measures to reduce scope 3 emissions

• By 2030, we will reduce our scope 3 emissions by more than half from a 2020 baseline.

Strenghtened product end of life initiatives - reducing cycles times, minimising obsolete inventory, and expanding our reuse and recycling partnerships for vinyl and optical discs. • Photo approvals for product sampling, reducing physical waste from manufacturing process and emissions from sampling transportation.

• In the UK, reduced physical retail samples by 65% since 2021.

• Diverted nearly 500,000lbs of product from the landfill via fibre reclamation and material specific recycling since 2019.

public commitments made No public commitments made

• SEGA Corp. and Sammy Corp. to achieve over 22.5% reduction that meets the SBT standard by 2030.

• Engage suppliers through surveys and collaboration to address climate change issues.

No public commitments made No public commitments made

• Holistic approach to being water positive, including water access, replenishment, innovation, reduction, and policy.

• In 2023, we provided more than 1.5 million people with access to clean water and sanitation solutions; contracted water replenishment projects to provide over 25 million m3 in water benefit over the lifetime of these projects.

• Drive innovation in water through replenishment projects like FIDO, which leverages AI-enabled acoustic analysis to reduce water loss from leakage.

• Reduce waste at campuses and datacenters, advance circular cloud hardware and packaging, and improve device and packaging circularity.

• In 2023, we diverted over 18,537 metric tons of waste from landfills or incinerators across our owned datacenters and campuses, and reduced single-use plastics in Microsoft product packaging to 2.7%.

• Surface devices, Xbox products and accessories, and all Microsoft product packaging to be 100% recyclable in OECD countries by 2030.

• Total scope 3 ghg emissions 2023: 768,058 metric tonnes CO2e" No public commitments made No public commitments made

SEGA

PRODUCTS OF CHANGE COMMUNITY

Materials

The LEGO Group

• Products made from more sustainable and circular materials by 2032.

• Flexible parts (LEGO flowers, botanical elements, and mini-figure accessories) made with bio-polyethylene (from sugarcane) sourced from Brazil using guidance from WWF to make sure it grows at the same rate as is used.

• Mass balance approach to materials since 2021.

• Renewable and recycled material use to increase. Virging fossil fuel to decrease.

• Rigid LEGO elements to be made with ePOM - plastic made using renewable energy and CO2 from bio-waste. Aim for material to be in use by 2025.

• 18% of all of our resin was procured under the mass balance principle

Universal Music Group No public commitments made

Design Nature Supplier/Licensee Engagement

• 93% of packaging by weight made from paper, cardboard and other paper-based materials. Majority of packaging will be without single-use plastic by the end of 2025 and full transition completed in 2026.

• Paper-based bags made with paper from FSC-certified forests and controlled wood in LEGO boxes. Roll out will continue across the Americas through 2024.

• Understand full life-cycle impacts of our products and packaging and identifying ways to reduce our physical product footprint.

• Bravado’s eco-packaging programme supports UMG’s commitment to sustainable material selection, serving to eliminate four million plastic bags from the marketplace every year.

No public commitments made

• Working with licensing partners with strong focus on product quality and safety. Close collaboration with our licensing partners who work with their suppliers to minimise risks.

• 2014 launch of Engage-to-Reduce programme to work with our suppliers to minimise emissions from entire supply chain.

• Increased number of suppliers asked to complete CDP climate questionnare by over 60% in 2022.

• Introduced sustainability into our supplier review process and require highest-impact suppliers to participate in Engage-to-Reduce program.

• Advance climate action across industry and progress toward UMG's science based targets.

• Ongoing partnerships with Products of Change and Three Squares.

• Innovative apparel catalogue for artist campaigns in partnership with upcycling organisations with clothing made with recycled materials, organic cotton, and direct-to-garment printing. Netflix

public commitments made

Collaborate with industry groups to support long-term systemic change, and in the near term, identify other areas of our business where we can promote materials and asset reuse. Paramount • Many partners looking to reduce the use of ink on their packaging. We are preparing to release alternative packaging guidelines, beginning with our PAW Patrol brand.

• In September 2022, SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Sea Change, a multi-year global initiative that aims to spark a sea change by funding global cleanup work, promoting sustainable products, and educating millions of fans on how they can help protect the undersea home of all marine creatures, was launched.

BBC Studios No public commitments made No public commitments made

Microsoft

• Renewable and recyclable materials, and elimination of single-use plastics in packaging by the end of calendar year 2025.

• Portfolio average of single-use plastic by weight reduced from 3.3% to 2.7%. Transition to sustainable wraps and bags continued with the expansion of bamboo bags across our line of Surface commercial devices.

• Maximize circularity of product packaging by increasing use of postconsumer recycled content in the packaging materials, and designing packages that are recyclable in existing collection systems.

• Designers and engineers work to increase use of recycled materials and recyclability of packaging to support the circulation of packaging materials.

• Piloting the beta Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework.

• Improve understanding of the BBC’s nature-related risks and opportunities and working with third party to calculate our Biodiversity Footprint, following a model used by Oxford University.

• We have committed to protect more land than we use by 2025.

• Exceeded land protection target by more than 40%. At this point, 15,849 acres of land have been legally designated as permanently protected compared to our goal of 11,000 acres.

• Incorporating green business practices that support surrounding ecosystems near campuses and datacenters.

• Piloting AI-driven Microsoft technology to provide insights into the overall health of the ecosystem and inform future actions.

• Use our voice to help raise sustainability standards across the consumer products industry.

• Engage with organisations focused on improving transparency and sustainability in supply chains, such as the International Council of Toy Industries’ Ethical Toy Program, and Products of Change.

• Environmental impacts of our licensed products include energy, water, and material use; emissions; and waste associated with manufacturing and distribution, packaging, and end-of-life disposal.

• Work with suppliers and partners to reduce supply chain emissions (approximately 68% of our carbon footprint baseline). Now in second year of Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) supply chain programme.

• Continue to support suppliers through this process, encouraging them to join us on the transition to Net Zero.

• CDP data informs scope 3 emissions approach. Ambition in 2023 to engage over 250 suppliers.

• As 76.5% of our total emissions originate from our suppliers, we have a role to play in bringing the global supply chain with us on our journey to net zero.

• By leaning into education and investing in meaningful tools for carbon reduction, we can move these efforts up the supply chain tier

Sammy

FUTURE FORECAST, FORWARD FOCUSED

Products of Change is a not-for-profit membership organisation, an educational media platform, and an industry sustainability advisory service established to help the global brand licensing industry reduce and minimise its environmental impact.

It has long been the Products of Change mission statement to create the landscape upon which the global brand licensing community can make its journey towards sustainable development with reassured confidence and support driven through collaboration, education, and insight.

As we hurtle into the new era of environmental reporting and compliance for business across the globe, Products of Change aims to provide insight and analysis on the evolution and development of the global brand licensing industry and its relationship with sustainability and its climate ambitions.

The good news is that the industry is primed for the sustainable transition. Findings from the 2023 Products of Change Conference Survey tell us that 82.61% of industry respondents feel their business now has the senior management buy-in to start building sustainability strategies into their operations.

The report you have just read is our first of its kind and the first of its kind for the global brand licensing industry. It is our commitment – that as data reporting improves across the sector, thanks to the deepening legislative demands and brand alignment with climate change action – to build upon the insights and information presented here to keep the industry informed of its collective progress towards a positive and more sustainable future. Afterall, the more informed we all are, the greater strides forward we can all take together.

Incoming tools, resources, and frameworks including Products of Change’s ongoing mission to establish an industry Scope 3 Emissions standard – devised by the industry, for the industry – will enable for more accurate data collection across the brand licensing landscape. Greater data fidelity will bring with it the ability to better track emissions and ultimately put in place the systems and make the required changes to make significant and impactful emissions reductions.

Products of Change will therefore be releasing a Future Forecast report every year in line with the global brand licensing industry’s development and progress.

To learn more about Products of Change and to join our ever-expanding and always vibrant community of ‘changemakers’ visit us online at www.productsofchange.com to discover the wealth of educational resources and how you can start your journey of sustainable transformation in the pursuit of a thriving brand licensing business tomorrow.