Bullying, and bullies themselves, is right at the front of mind for many in society.  At an international, national and local level bullying is rightly called out, as people look to help each other and society in general.
But a form of bullying that goes unnoticed by much of the general public is the bullying of suppliers and manufacturers by some of the biggest companies – both retail and others in Australia.

These big companies push the suppliers’ prices down so low that it is almost impossible for their smaller counterparts to get a return on their endeavours.
These big companies also advertise their “environmental and sustainable credentials” with large advertising campaigns.
But they refuse to spend any extra on a real sustainable packaging option.

Kevin Wilson, director and founder of CCS Packaging – one of Australia’s leading boutique sustainable packaging companies – said this had created a dangerous situation.

“It is a fact that a cardboard pack printed and produced on sustainable sourced materials is more expensive than a nasty plastic moulded pack that is doing so much to the environment,” he said.
“That is the true cost (of the big companies driving suppliers’ prices down).”
“It is said that the best form of packaging is no packaging.
“Clearly this is true for the environment but we live in an age of much information so for the foreseeable future packaging will be around to carry your food, cosmetics, medicines and all the other things we take for granted.
“Surely it is worth an extra few cents to package goods in the best possible way for the environment.”

Australians care about the environment.
But we have lagged behind for too long on a matter of global importance.
Australia was categorised as a “climate laggard” by prestigious US university MIT in its Green Future Index Rankings for 2022.

However, there is a desire among many in Australia to do the right thing.
More and more companies want to be as sustainable as they can be with their products.
More and more people want to buy products from companies who are sustainable with products and how they are sold.

Yet the big companies in Australia continue to bully supplies and manufacturers so these sustainable ways of packaging are significantly more expensive than options that are hurting the environment.

Australians don’t want this, Australians don’t like this type of bullying.
Australians want their products sustainably packaged and they want everyone to be able to have a fair go.