Page 4 - Packaging News Magazine May-June 2018

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COMMENT EDITOR
www.packagingnews.com.au May-June 2018
It starts with you
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THERE is a leader inside each of us. But before you even contemplate leading others, you first need to have the courage and curiosity to lead yourself. I strongly concur with this view, espoused by executive coach and mentor Belinda Brosnan, who was the well-received keynote speaker at our inaugural PKN + Food & Drink Business Women in Indus- try forum. The event, held during the recent Packaging Globalisation conference organised by the Austra- lian Institute of Packaging (see page 12), addressed the topical issue of di- versity and inclusion in the work- place (see page 16). In her presenta- tion, which preceded a robust panel discussion, Brosnan paved the way for meaningful dialogue with her probing and insightful take on lead- ership in all its personal and profes- sional facets.
She believes that now, more than ever, we need great leaders in all as- pects of our life – in our communi- ties, our families, our places of work. We need to question the leadership styles of the past and adapt them to a world that is influenced by digital disruption, social complexity, change, and uncertainty.
This surely rings true for the pack- aging industry, and the two-day con- ference attended by professionals from 20 countries saw the call for leadership arise on many fronts.
It starts with basic human rights. In the opening keynote session, we learned some alarming statistics on the number of Australians who are food-insecure.
Brianna Casey, CEO of Foodbank, pointed out that 3.6 million people
in our country are affected. One in five children in Australia suffer this plight, with one in 10 regularly going a full day each week without food – yet Australia is throwing away $20 billion dollars of food every year that could be donated.
While acknowledging there are many companies, like SPC (see page 24), who are strong supporters of Foodbank through food donations, she called on the packaged goods in- dustry to show some leadership ini- tiative on this social challenge.
There was good news from Karli Verghese, associate professor at RMIT, who was actively involved in the establishment of the industry- leading Fight Food Waste Co-opera- tive Research Centre – an initiative that will work to combat food waste.
The need to educate consumers on the value of packaging was a hot but- ton topic throughout the conference, but most notably in the panel discus- sion presented by editors and jour- nalists from the International Pack- aging Press Association, entitled ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’. The title alluded to the love-hate re- lationship consumers have with packaging – they are wooed by it on the shelf, fall in love with the prod- uct thanks to it wrapping, but once it’s open and consumed, they devel- op an almost instant aversion for the very thing that allowed them to have the product in such fine form in the first place.
And what the industry is current- ly facing, with the war on waste de- clared on global fronts, is an anti- packaging uprising that is driven by misconceptions about the impor- tance of packaging in ensuring food safety, and in preventing food waste.
The plastics industry in particular is under siege, and the time is now for the packaging industry to find its collective voice and speak up so that the consumer, the ultimate end user, can be properly informed. Leader- ship starts with us. Let’s wake up and step up.
Lindy Hughson – Managing Editor
This surely rings true for the packaging industry, and the two-day conference attended by professionals from 20 countries saw the call for leadership arise on many fronts.”