Page 6 - BOSS Today Issue 55

BOSS Today #55 SUSTAINABILITY

A BOLT ON

NO LONGER

Perhaps rather ironically, like waste sticky toffee

paper, it seems as if environmental and sustainability

issues just can’t be shaken off

henever economic downturns would seen interest fall away again to some
Whit in the last decade of the 20th extent but – as we (hopefully) emerge
century, interest in green issues would into recovery – where is the interest in
go almost completely off the business and focus of sustainability in our industry
agenda, as people said “We can’t afford right now?
that anymore, we’re just going to buy the
cheapest stuff that we possibly can.” A Theory Of Everything
In the ‘noughties’, interest in the The answer – as Risbridger sees it – is
environment revived among businesses, that it is now very much alive, broader
this time augmented by sustainability and more fundamental: “Covid has turned “Covid has turned it into
and CSR. However – as Jay Risbridger, it into ‘Let’s rethink how we do life – and
MD Green Stat, notes – much of it was how we do business’.” He sees this as a ‘Let’s rethink how we do life
‘greenwash’: “It was not about dealing chance for a fundamental relaying of the - and how we do business.’”
with the environmental issues – it was very foundations of what business has
about ‘How do companies respond to historically been about: “Businesses who Jay Risbridger,
environmental demands within the work on conventional ideas of profit and MD,
marketplace and make their businesses loss cannot include within that the loss Green Stat
sustainable against that threat?’” incurred to the environment, and because
Unsurprisingly, the 2008 financial it doesn’t come into their calculations,
crisis saw it fall off the corporate agenda you get environmental damage going on.”
again, only for it to be later revived with As Jo Pybus, Sustainability and
a further emphasis on waste plastics. Public Affairs Manager at Essity UK &
Most recently, the 2020 Covid crisis has Ireland – whose TORK brand sponsored

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