GCA to share industry’s positive sustainable truths at its conference
The UK greeting card industry is continuing to make impressive strides on the sustainable front, as 80% of all greeting cards now sold in the UK are free of plastic packaging.
In the space of just a single year, 17% more GCA members are reporting they’ve removed cellophane from their greeting cards, with another 7% pledging to do so over the coming two years.
These are just some of the encouraging top-line industry stats from the GCA UK Greeting Card Market Report that will be shared in full at the GCA Conference & AGM next Thursday, 28 September, which is being held at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
“Sustainability clearly remains a key consideration for all of us in the greeting card industry, and progress continues to be made on this front,” commented GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson.
“Despite the economic backdrop, our sector is also significantly more open-minded about investing in more sustainable processes/automation/machinery than a year ago with 63% of publishers already ensuring their cards are fully recyclable and another 11% on a mission to make this so in the coming two years.”
While the GCA has commissioned a UK Market Report for many years, which tracks the health and wealth of the industry based on publishers’ confidential sales data, this is only the second year that the research has included a delve into sustainability measures.
Above: G.F Smith’s Mark Jessett with the GCA’s Amanda Fergusson at Top Drawer recently by the GCA installation
“This means we can now track the movement of traffic on sustainability in the greeting card area and it is coming across loud and clear, even in just the last year, how companies are upping their game on the environmental front. For example, 12% more of our members are implementing sustainable improvements in their respective businesses than was the case when last year’s data was collected,” revealed Amanda.
G.F Smith’s greetings specialist Mark Jessett will be among the speakers at the conference and will dedicate some of his time to explaining sustainability in the paper industry and supply chain. He will also be sharing practical steps that many in the greeting card industry have taken on the sustainability journey.
Other keynote speakers include Adam Dury, coo of Card Factory; Moneeba Baloch and Li Wang of Kantar consumer research company; Wendy Jones-Blackett, co-owner of the eponymous publisher; and indie retailer Sarah Laker, of Stationery Supplies in Marple and Wilmslow.
There’s only two days left to book your tickets to be at this inspiring and insightful day, click here to buy one.
Other information on sustainable and environmental matters is on the GCA website, including a dedicated post on working with the FSC.
Top: The GCA UK Market Report shares some encouraging sustainable stats
