Global Packaging Project Gains Momentum

Jan. 27, 2010
Professionals from consumer goods companies and major retailers have approved a suggested set of common definitions and principles for sustainable packaging.

The Consumer Goods Forum’s Global Packaging Project (GPP), jointly chaired by Roger Zellner, director of sustainability, research, development and quality at Kraft Foods, and Sonia Raja, Tesco’s head of packaging, is a group of retailers and consumer goods manufacturers committed to developing a common industry language for packaging and sustainability and outline terms for future pilot projects.

"The GPP started because retailers and manufacturers wanted a consistent approach to packaging of consumer goods," explains Raja. "We need to find a common way of measuring environmental and sustainability improvements on packaging that can be used across the world."

The group plans to release a report in November 2010 that will detail principles, indicators and metrics for packaging and sustainability in real-world business environments.

GPP’s definitions and principles reflect the guidelines on packaging and sustainability produced by ECR Europe and the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN). The group is adapting and testing metrics previously released by the U.S. Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC).