Widespread industry support for Product Of Change’s sustainability Framework
Global membership organisation Products Of Change has launched a major new industry resource to help businesses create a clear-cut pathway towards sustainable development.
The POC Industry Framework is the result of a two-year cross-industry project to develop a framework to transition all consumer goods businesses, including greeting cards, clothing, toys and homewares, to a more sustainable way of business.
“This framework will be a great resource for any company, no matter where they are on their sustainability journey,” said Claire Bates, marketing manager for Danilo, which is a committed POC member.
“The creation of useful resources such as this will also help POC continue its great work of educating and driving sustainable change.”
Created by the industry for the industry, the Framework has been a collaborative effort utilising insight from licensors, licensees, manufacturers, retailers, and sustainability experts specialising in materials, packaging, circularity, and other areas.
Devised to help businesses and individuals wherever they are on their journey with sustainability, the framework features a step-by-step process and suggested timeline of incremental and impactful change to implement across operations.
The brainchild of committed environmentalist Helena Mansell-Stopher, Products Of Change has grown from a small networking group of licensing professionals with a shared mission to connect sustainable best practices into a global membership organisation.
Greetings industry businesses are among POC’s 500-plus members, including Danilo, Hallmark, Glick, Out Of The Blue/Into The Green Publishing, Cath Tate Cards, Belly Button Designs, Carousel Calendars, Talking Tables, This Is Iris, and The Bright Agency.
POC has launched the Framework in association with the Global Licensing Group having developed it with help and insight from the Natural History Museum, Lego Group, BBC Worldwide, Hasbro, Paramount, Art+Science, Golden Bear, George@Asda, and the POC advisors’ team.
“The Industry Framework is a complete game-changer for the industry,” said Jade Snart, senior sustainability manager at George@Asda. “It provides a one-stop guide on how to make more sustainable choices from end-to-end within the supply chain and beyond.”
Produced by the team at PowerStation Studios, the Framework is split into three parts, offering businesses a step-by-step guide into implementing the basic groundwork and initial processes to prepare themselves for a period of transition in part one.
Part two helps set goals and ambitions to hit across critical areas of business within a timeframe, from waste reduction, packaging design, and product design, to material selection, supply chain and purchasing, and facility management.
Finally, part three offers suggested contractual language for brand owners and agents to start collecting and nudging sustainable behaviour across their partnership base. The Industry Framework is a complimentary resource now available to everyone via the Products Of Change platform.
“Products Of Change was created three years ago to support the sustainable transformation of the brand and licensing industry. Not only do we want to educate to inform change and share best practice but deliver the tools to enable change,” commented Helena.
“The POC Industry Framework is the first resource of its kind, with many more in the pipeline to launch over the coming months and we are extremely proud to partner with both the License Global team and Licensing International to lead this industry transformation.”
Jakob Max Hamann, licensing sustainability governance lead at the Lego Group, added: “This partner framework defines a great starting point for our collective sustainability journey in the licensing industry and brings together everything we should consider to get moving.”
Anne Hitch, business and project development lead at plastics resource efficiency and recycling charity Recoup, commented: “Every step we can make to increase end-of-life solutions and pack-and-product recyclability in the UK, while achieving behaviour changes through consistent and simple messages, will help to reduce confusion and make a difference.”
The Framework and POC are currently receiving lots of attention at this week’s Licensing Expo show in Las Vegas, run by Informa Markets/Global Licensing Group.
“We are honoured to collaborate with Products Of Change to help licensing make more positive impact on our planet,” said Ella Haynes, event director at Global Licensing Group, which also runs the Brand Licensing Europe show in London.
“Our events bring the industry together in one place, and we aim to highlight the critical topic of sustainability through in-person connection. New frameworks will be a substantial resource to aid businesses to take actionable, measurable steps towards Net Zero, with the goal for real change in our market.
“Sustainability is a key pillar for the Global Licensing Group at Informa, which is tangible at all our events.”
The full article on POC’s Industry Framework appears in the Products Of Change Summer magazine and can be read here.
