The European Outdoor Group (EOG) has announced details of the next phase in one of its key sustainability initiatives. Led by the EOG and delivered in collaboration with over 30 leading outdoor brands, retailers and packaging organisations, the Single Use Plastics Project (SUPP) is helping companies to significantly reduce the impacts of their single use plastic packaging. Now partners have published guidance for retailers on how to integrate poly bag removal into their operations. This coincides with the launch of a new short film and website to showcase the key achievements and tangible outcomes from SUPP, highlight its future focus, and encourage more firms to get involved.
Launched in 2018 by the EOG, the Single Use Plastics Project was founded to directly address the sustainability challenges presented by poly bags in the supply chain. The partners involved started by researching the single use plastic footprint of their organisations and the wider industry, which established that the largest proportion of material was in the form of protective garment poly bags.
This initial work informed the direction of SUPP, which has since:
- Created a single use plastics collection and recycling network for the UK outdoor industry
- Published the Garment Poly Bag Standards document that sets out industry standards to allow for recovery at end of life, minimise contaminants (such as paper, adhesives, and inks), and ensure the maximum value of the material is retained after recycling. The document is available HERE.
- Published a comprehensive industry report about single use plastics in the value chain, available HERE.
- Published guidance for retailers on how to integrate poly bag removal into their operations, so that they can easily participate in the UK recycling network – available HERE.
Looking ahead, the EOG has outlined the future focus areas for SUPP, which include:
- Policy support for the industry. With increasing regulation coming into force from the EU on packaging and packaging waste, SUPP will summarise and disseminate the most relevant points to project members.
- Continuing to grow the existing resource list that identifies guaranteed plastic recyclers across Europe.
EOG sustainability project manager Dr Verity Hardy is leading the Single Use Plastics Project (photo: EOG)
To build on the progress made by SUPP and create the economies of scale that can make an even bigger impact internationally, the EOG is encouraging more companies to get involved in the project. Dr Verity Hardy is the SUPP project lead at the EOG and comments: “The Single Use Plastics Project has made really good progress and that’s thanks to the really high level of active engagement by the partners involved. We’ve done a really thorough job of identifying the key aspects of a very specific issue, and then developing and testing viable solutions that will work at scale. However, what was always the right thing to do has now become essential, with packaging legislation due to take force soon that will have a direct impact on businesses in the outdoor sector. I urge brands and retailers to get in touch and be part of SUPP.”
Equip Outdoor Technologies, parent company of technical outdoor brand Rab, was a founding partner of SUPP and features in the new film. Debbie Read, head of corporate communications and CSR at Equip, comments: “Poly bags are an important tool to protect our products throughout our complex supply chain. Taking part in the UK single use plastic recycling network allows us to treat this plastic as a valuable resource, and not waste. As an industry, we could make a huge difference if we all recycled our poly bags to turn them into high-grade pellets, reducing the amount of single use plastic sent to consumers which likely ends up as part of poor-quality recycling schemes or in landfill. We’re proud to be featured in this film, having been part of the Single Use Plastics Project for many years. It the responsibility of all of us to ensure plastic is recycled and I urge interested brands and retailers to join us.”
Ski brand Atomic is also part of SUPP, and the company’s sustainability manager Ronald Schwarzenbrunner adds: „We see immense value in more sustainable packaging, not only to stay ahead of upcoming EU packaging and waste legislation but to proactively lead this for hardgoods packaging. While packaging for hardgoods may have a smaller overall impact in the life cycle assessment of a product, it represents a low-hanging fruit for improvements.”
Another SUPP member is global outdoor brand The North Face. Marta Pellegrino is The North Face’s senior sustainability specialist and comments: “Being part of an industry wide project, one where we can collectively challenge ourselves to identify joint solutions, has been the key to its success. Thanks to the EOG’s great leadership, the numerous open conversations and the ongoing teamwork with our industry peers, we’ve been able to reach some key milestones at The North Face. This project is a great example of how industry-wide problems do indeed demand on industry-wide response.”
The EOG is gearing up for the next phase of the Single Use Plastics Project and has outlined how businesses in the outdoor sector can get involved. Retailers and brands in the UK are being invited to join the recycling network, and firms from either category in the UK or Europe who are interested can join the overall project. To find out more about getting involved in SUPP, contact Verity Hardy on verity.hardy@europeanoutdoorgroup.com, and to read more about the initiative, visit www.singleuseplasticsproject.com.
For more information about the EOG and its work, visit www.europeanoutdoorgroup.com.
Press release EOG
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