17 May 2022

Communication of Progress for OPRL Limited: 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021

In this first year of OPRL Limited’s programme of action in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and our participation in the United Nations Global Compact, I am pleased to report our continuing commitment to helping deliver these goals, and specifically SDGs
• 3 Good Health and Wellbeing
• 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
• 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• 10 Reduced Inequalities
• 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
• 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
• 13 Climate Action
• 14 Life Below Water
• 15 Life On Land

As a small not-for-profit operating in the United Kingdom, our Purpose is to collaborate across the packaging value cycle to drive circularity and a transformation in resource efficiency in packaging. In delivering this Purpose we reaffirm our support of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption.

In this our first annual Communication on Progress, we describe our actions continually to improve the integration of the Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations, including our work with our suppliers and clients. We also commit to sharing this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication. We have published key documents setting out our actions and expectations at https://www.oprl.org.uk/about-oprl/our-corporate-responsibility-and-values/

Yours sincerely

Jane Bevis

Jane Bevis
Executive Chair
OPRL LTD

Description of Actions

Human Rights

1. We have adopted Board policies on Modern Slavery and Human Rights, published these on our website, amended our Staff Handbook to reflect strengthening of previous commitments, and surveyed our suppliers (directly for tailored contracts and via Support the Goals for standard services eg banking, software providers) to ascertain their commitment to action.
2. We have surveyed our suppliers to understand the extent to which under-represented groups (Women, BAME, Disabled and Young people) are represented in their ownership and leadership. Half of our directly contracted suppliers have a majority of under-represented groups in Board leadership, with 30% of our SME suppliers majority owned by women and other under-represented groups.
3. We have undertaken staff training on Modern Slavery and Human Rights.
4. We offset our carbon footprint via the Kariba Project, delivering health, social and economic benefits for children and communities in Zimbabwe.

Labour

5. We have ensured both our own staff and those of our directly contracted suppliers (ie tailored services) are not subject to any form of forced labour nor involve child labour.
6. We adopted Covid-safe policies for our staff, suppliers and clients through remote working, increasing sick and family leave allowances.
7. We became an accredited Living Wage Employer with the Living Wage Foundation and surveyed our directly contracted suppliers to ensure that all staff received remuneration equal to or in excess of their real Living Wage. We gave our staff a cost of living rise in line with the Living Wage Foundation’s calculated annual increase for UK workers outside London.
8. We held an International Women’s Day roundtable supporting the theme #ChooseToChallenge and had a summary of discussions published as a feature article in Packaging News, highlighting the role of women in the UK Packaging Sector.

Environment

9. We published our consumer insight research on how to engage consumers effectively in recycling packaging on the One Planet Network platform and promoted it to Parliamentarians and policymakers as part of our lobbying for policy reforms and improvements in the Environment Bill (now the Environment Act 2021) to promote sustainable packaging and a circular economy in packaging, including mandatory labelling of packaging to engage consumers in recycling.
10. We launched a new range of consumer labels for reusable/refillable packaging in the UK, setting a standard on minimum design for reuse and promoting common messaging to consumers. This was founded on original consumer insight research that we commissioned.
11. We supported UK retailers and brands offering new take-back services for polypropylene bags and wraps by announcing the extension of our existing labelling promoting take-back of polyethylene bags and wraps in June 2021. This came into effect on 1 January 2022.
12. We launched a new B2B product, Certified As Recyclable, for plastic packaging, enabling those procuring packaging to be assured that UK infrastructure is able to collect, sort and reprocess the certified packaging design.
13. We worked closely with the UK Competition & Markets Authority, providing evidence, research and briefing, to support their work developing a Green Claims Code to protect consumers from greenwashing on packaging.
14. We assessed the Climate Risks to our business and published a statement on the Climate Emergency.
15. We offset 2.2t of carbon covering travel and office operations (including estimated home-working emissions) with an accredited scheme, the Kariba REDD+ Forest Protection project. We engaged our staff in examining their energy suppliers and their sourcing of renewable energy.

Anti-Corruption

16. We have a publicly available Code of Conduct requiring Board directors to comply with the UK Government’s Seven Principles of Public Life and consider any conflicts of interest (see https://www.oprl.org.uk/about-oprl/oprl-ltd/), a Register of Interest for Board directors supported by governance arrangements and, given the involvement of companies operating in a competitive market as members of our scheme and discussions, a Competition statement at the start of every meeting. Stakeholders can report any perceived breaches to the Chair.
17. Our Staff Handbook requires staff to declare any gifts or hospitality above a nominal threshold.

Measurement of Outcomes

1. We have benchmarked our performance using the SDG Action Manager tool, achieving by 30 June 2021 against 1 July 2020 baseline:
a. 60.8% for SDG3, up from 50.7% baseline
b. 51.7% for SDG8, up from 24.0% baseline
c. 70.0% for SDG9, up from 37.5% baseline
d. 52.5% for SDG10, up from 22.0% baseline
e. 65.3% for SDG11, up from 53.3% baseline
f. 80.0% for SDG12, up from 67.5% baseline
g. 89.8% for SDG13, up from 29.5% baseline
h. 78.2% for SDG14, up from 57.7% baseline
i. 79.5% for SDG15, up from 61.4% baseline

2. We have surveyed staff anonymously to ascertain how well we are performing in protecting their rights and enhancing their wellbeing. Staff scored the statement:
a. “I am treated fairly at work” at 4.5/5.0.
b. “I felt supported at work during the last year, as the Covid epidemic affected me, my work and my family” at 4.67/5.0.
c. “I would recommend OPRL as a great place to work” at 4.5/5.0

3. We had no staff resignations during the year and our benefits package is designed to support women and those with caring responsibilities through part time, flexible working, family leave and holiday childcare support, and equal benefits regardless of full time or part time status.

4. While all are staff, during that year, were White British women, we have good diversity across age groups (33.3% 35-44 yo, 50% 45-54 yo, 16.7% 55-64 yo) and educational levels (33% HND/Foundation degree, 50% Bachelor degree, 17% Doctorate). We have aspirations to broaden our diversity further.