Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco CEO, who co‐sponsors this programme with Paul Polman, added: “This the first of many planned outcomes from the Sustainability workstream in the Consumer Goods Forum. It’s an important first step, and future work will build on the foundation it provides. We look forward to many more successful projects emerging from this programme, which will assist our industry in this very important area.”  

The Consumer Goods Forum initiative releases global framework measurement system for trading partners 
 
PARIS, 1st July, 2010 – The  Consumer  Goods  Forum  is  delighted  to  release  the  first  report  from  its  Sustainability workstream.  
 
The report, A Global Language for Packaging and Sustainability, delivers a common framework and measurement system that trading  partners  can  use to  help them make  better, more  informed decisions about packaging and sustainability. 
 
Paul Polman, Unilever CEO and The Consumer Goods Forum Board Co‐Sponsor for Sustainability, said:  “Our  industry  has  a responsibility to review the  packaging  it  uses  and to  ensure that  any negative impact arising from its production or disposal is minimised. Packaging spans the entire value chain and is a shared responsibility for all trading partners. To be able to address this responsibility effectively  trading  partners  need  to  have  a  common  way  of  talking  about  packaging  and sustainability. This project delivers that language and will enable more informed dialogue.” 
 
 
Some 84 stakeholders have contributed to the project, including manufacturers, retailers, packaging converters, trade associations, academics and  consultants. with core input from ECR Europe, The European Organization for Packaging and the Environment  (EUROPEN),  the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). 
 
Pilot projects using the measurement system are currently underway, with the first results expected by the end of the year. 
 
For further information or to obtain a copy of the report, please contact:
 
on the project:    
Julian Carroll, EUROPEN; email [email protected], telephone: +32 2 736 36 00 
Katrin Recke, AIM; email [email protected], telephone: +32 2 736 03 05 
 
on The Consumer Goods Forum: 
Sabine Ritter; email [email protected], telephone: +49 221 9 47 14 423 
 
About the Consumer Goods Forum 
The Consumer Goods Forum is an independent global parity‐based Consumer Goods network.  
 
It brings together the CEOs and senior management of around 650 retailers, manufacturers, service providers and other stakeholders across 70 countries.  
 
The Forum was created in June 2009 by the merger of CIES  ‐ The Food Business Forum, the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI) and the Global CEO Forum. 
 
The Consumer Goods Forum is governed by its Board of Directors, which includes an equal number of manufacturer and retailer CEOs and chairpersons. Forum member companies have combined sales of EUR 2.1trillion.  
 
The  Forum  provides  a  unique  global  platform  for thought  leadership,  knowledge  exchange  and networking between retailers, manufacturers and their partners on collaborative, non‐competitive issues. Its strength lies in the privileged access it offers to the key players in the sector as well as in the development and implementation of best practices along the value chain. 
 
It has a mandate from  its members to develop  common positions on  key strategic and practical issues affecting the consumer goods business and to focus on non‐competitive collaborative process improvement.  
 
With its headquarters in Paris and its regional offices in Washington, D.C.,  Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai, The Consumer Goods Forum serves its members throughout the world.