Sustainability, climate change, reducing plastic, biodiversity, the circular economy; the landscape of doing the right thing, even the right commercial thing (which shouldn’t be considered in isolation) remains incredibly difficult to navigate. While the volume on business as a force for good has increased way past 11 in the last few years, the clarity of “what is the right thing to do?” has only become more opaque, not less.
We all know we need to change, but where do we start? That is the question every business owner, organisation, citizen, and individual should have asked themselves. “I am not going to solve climate change alone, but what is my role, my sphere of influence?” If you haven’t already asked this, you are already way behind.
And of course, the answer is fraught with challenge. How do we ensure material is actually recycled just because it’s recyclable? What does our customer think about the difference? Have we even asked them? Who pays for the change? None of these have easy answers, they just don’t. But does that mean we shouldn’t answer them? In fact, the feeling of difficulty on this topic should be encouraging, it means you’re getting closer to the real issues. This is the point we need to lean in, not step back. After all, for every complex problem, there is always a simple solution… that is always wrong.
A complex problem requires a complex answer. So embrace the difficulty. It’s going to get much more difficult before it gets easier.
Well, before you get too disheartened and throw in the towel, remember there are some constants, or at least some guidelines in the form of international and national policy. Over the last few years our centres of governmental control (specifically the European Commission – including when the UK was still driving that conversation) have been taking the brave steps to ‘level the playing field’, create consistency across borders, and forcing the slow movers to change.
This work has informed, banned, changed, and incentivised behaviour changes for all of us. In marketing, procurement, finance, supply chain, sales, production, operations, monitoring and reporting, and HR. No area has been spared. But again, how do you navigate the red tape and the new regulation to make sure you don’t fear the stick, but instead get all the carrots?
Despite the strides we are taking forward, we still have a long way to go before we have a feasible circular materials economy. A recent report from the United Nations exploring Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment recycling, in which researchers pointed out that we are producing more waste from electronic toys than we are from disposable vapes, highlights just how far we have to go on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as an example to address all the waste we produce.
It’s a peculiar comparison to draw, but one that does highlight the misconceptions we have around disposability, Whether you’re discarding an electrical toy or disposable vape, however, it’s time to reconsider our relationship with the materials we view to be… well, immaterial.
We must all play our part in not only highlighting these issues but also working hard on the solutions. Data is of course key and will allow us to segment the issues and make informed decisions on the next steps, however difficult and complex it might seem. We need action now.
