Environment news in brief: demand for corrugated and more

Sustainability is a top priority for young employees

Business Green reported this week that sustainability is a top priority for young employees.

Of the 1,000 ‘millennials’ (those born from the early 80s to the mid-90s) questioned by BRITA Professional, eighty-six per cent said they would want to stay at a company that reported back on how it is working to lower its impact on the environment.

The circular economy could create an enormous jobs boom

Fast Company published an article about the economic growth potential of the circular economy, providing a new and refreshing perspective on a topic that is usually spoken about only in environmental terms.

The economic benefits they propose are:

• Cost savings for local authorities
• Job creation
• Agricultural innovation
• Improving local networks

See our blog post 'Getting to grips with the circular economy' for the basics.

Demand for corrugated - tough outlook for Europe?

The Packaging Portal posed the question, 'could growing reach of China create European waste mountains?'

It reports that China's ban on importing and processing waste from the rest of the world will have an impact on Europe's corrugated waste market.

The publication reports: 'The decision taken by the Chinese authorities at the start of January 2018 appears to have set off a chain of events which, if followed to the logical conclusion, will see a drop in demand for OCC – old corrugated containers – in Europe and could lead to European waste mountains.'

If this is the case, Europe will need to start preparing for a shift to reuse over recycling.