The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) and Planet Ark have released a new guide to help regulate communication to consumers about sustainable packaging and practices.
The guide, titled Sustainability Matters! How to talk to consumers about it, provides a consistent framework for industry, brands and marketing professionals to work from when communicating with their consumers about sustainable packaging and practices, and addresses the key sustainability themes of reduction and avoidance, reusable packaging, recycled content, soft plastics recycling, and the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL).
It delivers simple, consistent and usable messaging for each that supports the development of consumers’ awareness and understanding, while encouraging positive long-term behaviour change at the point of purchase and at the bin.
“An educated consumer base will help to drive demand for the increased use of recycled content in packaging and contribute to higher recovery rates,” said Brooke Donnelly, CEO of APCO.
“Crucially, increased sustainability knowledge among consumers will also drive the reduction or avoidance of use of unnecessary packaging.
“Delivering consistent communication and the removal of consumer confusion is an important contributing factor to reinforce positive recycling behaviours, as well as facilitating positive behaviour change.”
The guide provides timely counsel for industry, brands and marketing professionals for developing consistent messaging, to address consumer confusion, and increasing consciousness of the impact on the environment.
“When it comes to trust, a brand’s impact on the environment is an important consideration for the public,” added Ryan Collins, head of circular economy programs at Planet Ark.
“Even recently, it was deemed more important to individuals than brands keeping people safe in the pandemic or a brand’s impact on economic recovery. Sustainability is a key driver of brand choice.”
