In 2019, 3.5 million tonnes of primary packaging was put on the UK retail market – the plastic bottle, soup can, cereal box your groceries come in. This packaging accounts for one per cent of the UK’s carbon impact, forty thousand Olympic swimming pools’ worth of water and an area of land use larger than Greater London. A hefty 57% of all the material used still comes from virgin sources.
It’s a sector that knows it has to change. Which is why the UK’s foremost grocery industry body decided to lead a systems change programme for its members and over a four year period brought together representatives from across the supply chain to collaborate on setting ambitious targets, sharing knowledge and identifying actions that would spur the sector away from its ever-increasing waste problem and onto a steep downward trajectory of environmental harm.
Talik was invited to bring our specialist systems change facilitation skill to bear with a group of 30+ household name retailers, suppliers, packaging manufacturers, recyclers and more. Over eighteen months the group got together multiple times, initially to contract together and agree collaboration principles, learn about working systemically and conduct rounds of action inquiry. Using futures and systems tools, they then developed a shared ambition and possible pathways leading to a series of projects to pilot alternative options and experiments. Additional analysis was conducted with a third party to bring rigorous evidence to bear on decisions. Various novel online platforms and tools were used to facilitate 30-40 participants at a time to think together online in large and breakout groups, including Zoom, Mural and Miro.
The findings were summarised in a report out to CEOs, the wider market, investors and policy-makers who took the work forward into their own organisations.
