Launched during the Covid-19 lockdowns, #SustyTalk is an ongoing series of video conversations that keeps edie’s audience connected to the inspirational business leaders who are continuing to drive sustainability and climate action.

Each SustyTalk Live video was recorded at the flagship edie 23 event in London on 1/2 March and the sessions that you’re watching are sponsored by Persefoni. An evolution of the multi-award-winning Sustainability Leaders Forum, edie 23 is the premier annual event dedicated to achieving environmental and social transformations through courageous business leadership.

This is the fiinal episode in the SustyTalk Live series from edie 23.

Watch episode one here

Watch episode two here.

Watch episode three here.

Watch episode four here.

Watch episode five here.

For the final episode in this series, Bird and Blend Tea’s co-founder Krisi Smith and Upcircle’s co-founder Anna Brightman explore the topic of the circular economy.

During the conversation the speakers discussed the challenges facing packaging right now, not least the potential trade-offs between recyclability and emissions.

“There’s just no right answer,” Brightman says, referencing the many considerations brands must make when looking at materials that will improve circularity. “We debate this topic every single day and trying to find packaging formats for [different products] is an absolute minefield.

“What we do commit to is constantly evolving, we’ve always got our eyes open and keeping our finger on the button of packaging innovation. We are having to pick what’s available on the market…We have this tough juggling act of placing so much of a budget for our products on the packaging itself or just coming up with new innovative ways to keep that packaging in use for as long as possible.”

Building on this point Smith outlines why businesses also need to consider how packaging innovation is explained to customers to ensure materials are disposed of or returned correctly.

“The easiest way is to put the information on there [the packaging] and tell them exactly what to do with it,” Smith says. “We decided it’s better to use the space on the packaging to explain that in full to make it as easy for the customer as possible. Otherwise, you’re investing in packaging decisions that are better for the environment, but if you’re not communicating it to the customer you’re wasting some of that potential.”

Click here to see our catalogue of #SustyTalk interviews.

Want to be featured on a future episode of #SustyTalk? Email newsdesk@fav-house.com. Please bear in mind that our interview calendar is typically booked several weeks in advance. We are now booked for the remainder of March.

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