Greetings folk join in SiLC 2023 on 8 November at Royal Geographical Society
Leading names in greeting cards and calendars alongside major retailers will all be flying the flag for sustainability in business as they join an illustrious line-up of attendees at this year’s Sustainability In Licensing Conference (SiLC).
Organised by sustainability membership organisation Products Of Change, SiLC 2023 will make its grand return to the Royal Geographical Society in London on Wednesday, 8 November, where the one-day event will tackle some of the biggest conversations in cross-industry sustainability right now, including incoming legislative changes, the development of new circular economic systems, and more.
SiLC 2023 will once again be an in-person event as well as being live-streamed to audiences around the globe. Both in-person and digital-only tickets are available to book now.
POC ceo and founder Helena Mansell-Stopher said: “This year, SiLC 23 will be showcasing the solutions and answers to questions those in the greeting card industry have been asking.
“The narrative woven through each session this year not only provides attendees the thinking space for how to progress their own journeys with sustainability but presents some hugely exciting and defining technologies and solutions as to how commercial businesses can really start to move things forward.”
A special keynote address from Caroline Petit, deputy director for the United Nations’ Regional Information Centre, will open the day’s proceedings as she takes the chance to speak about the overarching ambition of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the role businesses will have to play in helping these to be reached.
In an article in PG’s current October edition, Products Of Change’s editor and community manager Rob Hutchins acknowledged the strides the greeting card industry has made on the sustainable front.
“News from the Greeting Card Association last month that 80% of greeting cards sold in the UK are now cello-free made for some uplifting reading,” he wrote. “In the same week that the UK’s Prime Minister reneged on his green policies and threw the country’s Net Zero 2050 strategy into total jeopardy, it’s heartening to see the greeting card industry taking the position of leadership on the sustainability front.”
As testament to this, among those to have confirmed their attendance at SiLC are card and calendar publishers UK Greetings, Danilo and Carousel Calendars – all POC members and each making encouraging headway in their respective sustainable development journeys.
“By the end of this year UK Greetings will have reshored 60% of its production to the UK,” confirmed Ceri Stirland, ceo of UKG.
The publisher’s sustainable strategy also includes designing and creating products with sound sustainable credentials as well as through improvements throughout its entire business – since summer 2021 all new everyday card designs launched have been plastic and glitter-free with all seasonal and boxed cards following suit from 2022.
Danilo’s internal green team has already implemented major changes across the product portfolio which includes a dramatic reduction in single-use plastic as well as the implementation of sustainable practices on an operational scale such as investing in solar panels as part of its switch to renewable energy.
Meanwhile, Carousel has further upped its commitment on the sustainability front by signing up to the Science Based Targets initiative as the team, led by managing director Steve Plackett, focuses its efforts on making scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions reductions through supplier engagement. The company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions are already on track for its near-term target of 46% reduction by 2030.
As the greeting card industry continues to advance on its pathway to sustainable development, an understanding of carbon and impact will become crucial.
At this year’s Sustainability In Licensing Conference, the stage will be cleared for a special session from The Carbon Literacy Project, an organisation focused on delivering educational frameworks to businesses of any discipline that will enable them to implement sustainability strategies in ways which best suit their brand and their people.
The landscape is evolving – here in Europe and the UK, Extended Producer Responsibility is coming, so too are the effects of the European Green Deal, the obligations of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and refined greenwashing regulations while, across the Atlantic, there is the impact of the Green Guides.
As the United Nations draws up its Plastic Treaty and the EU begins to embed its Nature Restoration Law, expect some seismic shifts in the way businesses operate, including those in the greeting card sector.
SiLC 23 will be hosting a special session – delivered by POC’s James George, ambassador for circularity, and Mike Swain, ambassador for packaging – dedicated to exploring the latest legislation updates which greeting card publishers would really benefit from hearing all about.
The Sustainability In Licensing Conference takes place on Wednesday, 8 November, at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The full agenda can be seen by clicking here, and in-person or digital-only tickets are available to book now.
