POLICY BRIEF & PURPOSE
At Better Packaging Co. we believe we have a responsibility towards our environment and the people and creatures who inhabit it. We know our company’s existence is not singular, it is part of a bigger system of people, values, communities, organizations and nature. We believe it is the social responsibility of our business to give back to the world, just as it gives to us. This is what makes a truly sustainable business. This, Better Packaging’s Sustainability Promise, outlines our commitment to do this.
SCOPE
This policy applies to our company. It is also shared with our suppliers, customers and partners in the hope that it will promote greater awareness about what we as a company believe in.
POLICY ELEMENTS
We want to be a responsible business that meets the highest standards of ethics and professionalism. Our company’s social responsibility falls under two categories: compliance and proactiveness. Compliance refers to our company’s commitment to legality and willingness to observe community values. Proactiveness is every initiative to promote human rights, help communities and protect our natural environment.
COMPLIANCE LEGALITY
Our company will:
BUSINESS ETHICS
We will always conduct business with integrity and respect to human rights. We will promote:
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
Better Packaging Co. recognizes the urgent need to protect our natural environment. Keeping our environment clean and unpolluted is a benefit to all. We’ll always follow best practices and insist that the factories we work with do when sourcing, manufacturing, distributing and packaging our products. We endeavour to source the most sustainable products and have full transparency about these products.
Our goal is to run a ‘zero waste’ enterprise through re-use/re-purposing, recycling and composting.
We will be actively involved and support local communities to assist in the clean up of our earth.
PROTECTING OUR PEOPLE
We will ensure that we:
HUMAN RIGHTS
Better Packaging Co. is dedicated to protecting human rights. We are a committed equal opportunity employer and will abide by all fair labor practices. We’ll ensure that our activities do not directly or indirectly violate human rights in any country (e.g. forced labour).
LEARNING
We will actively invest in R&D. We will be open to suggestions and listen carefully to ideas. We will try to continuously improve the way we operate. The Better Packaging Co. is committed to the United Nations Global Compact. We’ll readily act to promote our identity as a socially aware and responsible business. Management must communicate this policy on all levels.
EMPLOYEES
We will run a transparent workplace, where all members of our team are encouraged to speak out, ask questions and learn about all aspects of the company.
SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY
Better Packaging Co. pledges to support the community as and where it can. Whenever feasible, we will endeavour to outsource work to third parties who employ/assist disadvantaged groups within our community.
We will also endeavour develop business model/s that facilitate positive social outcomes.
VOLUNTEERING
Better Packaging Co. will encourage its employees to volunteer. They can volunteer through programs organized internally or externally. We may sponsor volunteering events from other organizations and will also pay for one day per year for our employees to volunteer. We will also encourage our workers and/or customers to help select charities to receive the company’s donations.
We believe that our business and our products should make every attempt to move the world closer to achieving all the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, however there are two in particular against which we are currently managing to have significant impact;
SDG No.11 SUSTAINABLE CITIES & COMMUNITIES
This goal aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable. By providing packaging which is biodegradable and can be disposed of safely in people's backyards without relying on limited recycling infrastructure, we are reducing the amount of packaging that ends up in landfill. We are also strong, vocal proponents for the composting of food waste and organic matter. In fostering a composting movement we make our communities more sustainable by reducing the burden of food waste disposal on municipal waste management, the production of methane as a bi-product and improving soil health through the retention of nutrients in our soil.
Our Product Stewardship approach, especially our BCollected.org network is an example of our commitment to this goal.
SDG No.12 RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTION & CONSUMPTION
"The world continues to use natural resources unsustainably". We commit to making our products with as much renewable and/or recycled content as possible. We will continue to innovate to reduce our reliance on virgin feedstocks. We will also develop and facilitate reuse models for packaging. e.g., Our SWOP Packs have taken 3 years of R&D to ensure that not only are they reusable, but also made from 90%+ renewable resources. We also encourage our community to reuse our packaging wherever possible and share reuse ideas with us all.
We would also like to note our full support for SDG 12.c which advocates for the removal of fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption and the prevalence of virgin plastic in our society.
As a member of APCO and a signatory to the Covenant we are committed to meeting the 2025 National Packaging Targets which include:
We are also dedicated to helping our customers, many of whom are also APCO members, to meet these targets too.
As a founding signatory to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastics Economy, and more recently, the ANZPAC Plastics Pact, we join over 550 organisations globally with "a shared vision of a circular economy for plastic, where it never becomes waste or pollution."
