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Some of the biggest global brands and packaging manufacturers will pilot a new common language of definitions to benchmark sustainability in the Global Packaging Project (GPP).

Big names including Coca-Cola, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart and Kraft are outlining the final terms, alongside Crown, Sealed Air, Alcan, SCA and Tetra Pak, as part of the Consumer Goods Forum.

The aim is to develop common standards and influence legislation.

The project is co-chaired by Tesco Head of Packaging Sonia Raja and US-based Roger Zellner, Director of Sustainability, Research, Development and Quality at Kraft Foods.

‘The project started because retailers and manufacturers wanted a consistent approach to packaging consumer goods,’ Raja says. ‘We need to find a common way of measuring environmental and sustainability improvements on packaging that can be used across the world.’

It is hoped that the definitions will encourage retailers and manufacturers to form shared goals on sustainability.

Trials of the framework, which is based on work produced by Europen, the European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment, and consumer research body ECR Europe, are due to take place over the next six months. They will test the indicators and metrics in real business situations in the hope of providing approval for industry-wide guidelines by November.

‘The GPP differs from other metrics frameworks because it offers a global approach, bringing together different organisations with a lot of clout,’ explains Julian Carrol, Managing Director of Europen. ‘We have been very careful to respect and observe accepted international standards on these issues, particularly with regard to lifecycle analysis. If this project enables retailers and brand owners to give a scientific justification for their choice of packaging then it will be good news for the industry.’

Europen developed the framework while working with the US Sustainable Packaging Coalition, which announced its own metrics and indicators in January.