SP EC I A L FE AT U R E Guillaume Rochman, founder and CEO of sustainable packaging manufacturer Sofrapack with small or large initiatives doesnt matter. The important thing is to activate the need for change in each of us. The pain of going green Clients are demanding circular economies, reusable materials and recycling In the short term, going green can be tricky, and among people in the industry there is much debate about the most effective paths towards greater sustainability. Some clients have remarked on the lack of standardisation in the moving industry. This causes difficulty in benchmarking and making comparisons between different companies a product, perhaps, of fragmentation within the industry. Much has changed over the past decade, but this is still an industry comprised of many firms of varying sizes, operating independently. Meanwhile, the moving supply chain is varied and complex, with those involved ranging from box producers to shipping companies and airlines. Laporta adds: Sustainable practices can mean very high costs and very high initial investments, and questions remain about the long-term viability of certain sustainability initiatives. However, as more businesses in the chain understand the importance of becoming increasingly sustainable, Laporta believes there is no going back to the old, less eco-friendly ways not least because clients and agents want change, too. They are asking us to get much more involved in sustainability, and they are introducing us to different certification players, such as Ecovadis and, of course, we are analysing this in order to get these certifications, he says. They are demanding circular economies, reusable materials and recycling. Managing risk While, as a rule, movers are entrepreneurial businesspeople, they have proved conservative when it comes to adopting new technology and materials. This is understandable, as many moving companies are small, family-owned operations that want to minimise their exposure to risk from unestablished ideas. A cultural shift to sharing With consumption indictor the Global Material Footprint having increased by 70 per cent between 2000 and 2017 and on course to double by 2030 around 70 leading movers gathered at an OMNI workshop to explore how to break the cycle between growth and waste. Attendees were invited to list the materials used in a move, so specific materials could be targeted and clear reduction targets set. They found that more than 25 types of material can be used in an international move, including: boxes of different sizes; cardboard; tape; plastic bags; bubble wrap; stickers; wood of various kinds; nails; liftvans; and Styrofoam. 42 The businesses were invited to consider whether certain packing materials were strictly necessary in a move, or whether they could effect changes to make these materials redundant. Examples of these could include corrugated cardboard liftvans that do not require nails that their wooden counterparts do use, said workshop facilitator Johan de Kam, an academic, consultant and trainer in global mobility at the University of Warwick in the UK. Using materials more intensely is generally associated with the sharing economy, where multiple owners can use the same item within its lifespan.