I just returned from Atlanta and GreenBiz’s Circularity Conference. It was a sold-out 3 day affair with more than a thousand sustainability professionals from virtually every consumer brand, plus representatives from the rest of their value chain. 

Here are three valuable takeaways from the conference.

One: ESG has arrived. And it’s here to stay.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals have become ubiquitous across Corporate America. They’re essentially ways that companies convey commitments to making a positive difference in the world — from sustainability measures to ethical standards for how a company treats its employees, shareholders, and the communities in which it operates. 

Ten years ago, there were few sustainability departments in major corporations. Now, they’re the norm. The Chief Sustainability Officer is typically part of the C-Suite and a key part of developing and implementing ESG goals. 

Whether it was coming from the main stage, breakouts, or individual conversations, the clear message was that sustainability professionals in consumer brands have bought in and are working hard to help their companies transform. 

Accomplishing goals means measuring progress

A big factor to consider in this ESG trend is the need for data and metrics. It’s hard for companies to know if they’re making progress without baseline data and ways to quantify the impacts of interventions and strategies. 

Scope 3 climate emissions were a hot topic, especially because for most brands, the majority of their climate emissions occur upstream and downstream of the assets they control (“scope 3” means emissions by activities from assets not owned or controlled by an organization, but that the organization indirectly impacts in its value chain). Companies can make their manufacturing plants net-zero and build green office buildings, but those interventions pale in comparison to the emissions of the supply chains for their products and packaging that are reliant on their design choices, plus their suppliers and vendors. 

The panel I participated in on how reuse can impact scope 3 emissions was standing-room only. Big brands across the spectrum are developing scope 3 emissions inventories and assessing ways to lower their emissions.

Two: Brands are (finally) excited to work proactively on environmental policy.

There were a number of breakout sessions on policy. And it was thrilling to see brands like Walmart and associations like the American Beverage Association talk about how they are pulling out all the stops to get the Colorado EPR bill passed, which is a framework very similar to the one Upstream developed nearly 10 years ago.

It’s clear that the vast majority of brands now support EPR, and in side conversations, I heard from a variety of stakeholders that the EPR dialogues we helped initiate with the Ocean Plastic Leadership Network and Meridian Institute helped the companies hash out a number of unresolved issues.

Deposit-return systems (DRS) were also a hot topic with packaging companies and brands in the beverage industry signaling the need for building out DRS alongside EPR. We continue to advocate for DRS systems to be developed with or before EPR and not after.

Three: Reuse is the word of the day. 

Again, whether it was the main stage, breakouts or in side conversations, brands know that more recycling, lightweighting, or material substitution are not going to be game changers. They have to reduce packaging and build reusable packaging systems if they want to achieve their climate goals. A couple of noteworthy moments:

• On the main stage, Michael Kobori – the Chief Sustainability Officer at Starbucks – said that collectively humans use 500 billion disposable coffee cups each year. And then held up the iconic Starbucks disposable cup and said, “We gotta get rid of this.”

• Suzanne Shelton – the keynote speaker for day 1 and owner and principal of Shelton Group, a consumer insights firm – said their research showed that, “Over the next 5-10 years, the idea of throwing away single-use packaging…will grow increasingly uncomfortable… Now it’s time for our messaging and our systems to come full circle. It’s time to get back to using it up and wearing it out… Work with your supply chain, your regulators and even your competitors to overhaul the way we do consumption.”

• Ben Jordan – the Senior Director for Climate and Packaging at Coca Cola – hosted a roundtable on Coke’s experience with reusable packaging and later participated in a Reusable Packaging Workshop that Upstream helped organize. He said, “Reusable packaging is among the most effective ways to reduce waste, use fewer resources and lower our carbon footprint in support of a circular economy.”

Bring on the systems change

One final thought. I’ve been going to sustainability-themed conferences for more than 20 years. I’ve seen all the different trends and themes come and go, from: 

1. Sustainable packaging is all about responsible sourcing (and make sure you buy your FSC certified boxboard), to

2. More recycling is going to save us, but not EPR or bottle bills – we don’t want to pay for it, to

3. Actually, wait – lightweighting packaging is the answer to all our carbon problems, to 

4. Whoa, it looks like we may have a plastic problem from doing that, to

5. We need a circular economy for packaging – whatever that means – to 

6. Maybe we should look at EPR again, to…

…Now: which is an understanding that the current linear consumption and packaging systems don’t work for the planet. 

Nibbling around the edges of this broken system with Band-Aid ideas isn’t going to work. We need systems change. Part of that change involves breaking the bond between consumer brands and their single-use packaging suppliers (plus extraction companies upstream and waste management companies downstream). This is the leverage point for NGOs working on plastics, waste and the circular economy. We should continue to pressure brands to lead, packaging suppliers to transform, and reuse services to become the norm.  

The landscape is different now than in any time in my 20-year career of working on these issues. Don’t be surprised if the brands end up leading the way.