POPAI UK & Ireland is the industry association for companies involved in point-of-sale (POS), display and retail equipment, with members spanning retailers, brands, agencies, manufacturers and ancillary companies.
For five years Boots has been working with POPAI to measure the environmental impact of its temporary POS and retail display activity and now it has expanded the programme to include permanent and semi-permanent fixtures, recycling bins, 2D print, brochures and carrier bags.
This programme is building a clearer picture of the environmental impact of Boots’ POS and where meaningful improvements can be made. It also provides greater visibility of an area of Scope 3 emissions that can often be difficult to quantify. This directly supports Boots’ wider sustainability ambitions and commitment to reducing emissions across its value chain.
By using Sustain®, the environmental calculator developed by POPAI, Boots is creating an independent, consistent and data-led approach to measuring CO₂e, material use, water, recycled content, circularity and end-of-life. The programme is moving beyond assessing individual projects or materials in isolation towards understanding performance across the wider POS ecosystem.
The next step is to use this growing body of data to identify opportunities for change — from design and material selection through to production, use and end-of-life.
The input of data into Sustain® is provided by Boots’ POS suppliers, and their participation is greatly appreciated by both Boots and POPAI.
Since its launch in 2020, some 37,000 projects have been input by suppliers from around the world, covering all types of display as well as a range of other retail items. This depth of industry data enables POPAI to provide global benchmark data alongside the Boots-specific analysis.
“Sustain® has transformed the way we assess and communicate the environmental performance of the units entering our stores. By providing robust, easy-to-understand insights, it helps us make more informed decisions and embed sustainability into the design process from the outset. This supports our ambition to protect the environment in the communities we serve, enabling us to create trusted customer experiences while working every day to build a better Boots for our people and our planet.” — Candice Smith, head of ESG at Boots
From measurement to measurable change
POPAI’s role is not simply to provide measurement.
The longer-term approach is important; the objective is to use the data to drive better commercial and environmental decisions.
Working collaboratively with Boots and its supplier network, POPAI is developing a 360° approach that connects measurement, education, design, material selection, production and end-of-life. This enables Boots and its partners to identify opportunities to reduce environmental impact at the earliest possible stage of the POS lifecycle.
Bringing the supply chain into the solution
Through Sustain® platform and POPAI’s sustainability services, Boots can create greater consistency across its supplier network, while encouraging brands to consider environmental impact at source — when campaigns and POS requirements are being designed, rather than only when a display reaches production.
This creates an opportunity for Boots to establish a clear message across its value chain:
- Environmental performance is becoming an integral part of how POS and other retail items are designed, specified, produced and ultimately managed at end-of-life. Providing an opportunity to upskill teams across the business and supply chain.
- For suppliers, this provides greater clarity around expectations and an opportunity to develop capability and innovation.
- For brands, it reinforces the importance of considering the environmental consequences of their POS requirements.
- And for Boots, it provides a stronger evidence base from which to make informed decisions and demonstrate progress.
Building capability as well as data
Measurement alone does not create change. To turn data into action the programme can support structured sustainability learning and development programme for Boots employees and POS suppliers.
Building knowledge and capability will help embed sustainability into everyday decision-making — from briefing and design through to material specification, manufacturing, logistics and end-of-life.
This demonstrates the value of collaboration between a major retailer, its supply chain and an industry organisation, while creating a practical route for the data to influence decisions.
Sustainability needs to become part of how decisions are made, not simply something measured after the decision has been made.
Sustain® results and their applications
While CO₂e remains the main focus for most clients, POPAI can analyse Sustain® data in the way most appropriate to Boots and its objectives.
Looking at specific Boots unit types and comparing the results of each supplier – whether supplying Boots directly or producing for third-party brands – provides a clear and understandable record of performance.
This allows differences in performance to be identified, and recommendations made to support suppliers at the upper end of the impact scale in improving their environmental performance.
The reasons for higher CO₂e in a unit can be many, but two of the main factors are the materials used and their weight.
Items must, of course, be fit for purpose. However, in many cases specifications can be adjusted to achieve the same desired performance with a lower environmental impact.
POPAI can advise Boots and make recommendations on both materials and weights.
Below is an example from 9 suppliers and the carbon impact (CO2e) by display, by version and the change year on year as recorded in Sustain®.
There are also wider considerations around the materials used in displays and other retail items, including recycled content and what happens to those materials once their time in-store comes to an end.
For many materials, there is the possibility to use varying levels of recycled content. Increasing recycled content may deliver a significant environmental benefit, as in most cases materials containing recycled content have a lower environmental impact than their virgin equivalent.
Additional research from POPAI has also shown that, in most cases, there is no longer a price premium for using higher recycled content.
End-of-life matters too
An often-overlooked issue is how retailers manage the various materials coming into their stores, ensuring the maximum amount is dealt with responsibly and the minimum goes into general waste or landfill.
Part of this comes down to staff training and awareness, giving teams the greatest opportunity to recognise materials suitable for recycling or reuse. Ease of disassembly is also vital to reduce the time it takes to effectively separate display components!
The value of industry data
One of the reasons POPAI can support this work is the depth of data held within Sustain®.
This growing dataset covers all types of display as well as a range of other retail items, enabling comparisons across suppliers, item types and sectors.
This enables POPAI to offer clients global benchmark data, based on the best-performing item types across a wide range of sectors.
For brands and retailers, this creates an opportunity to move beyond simply asking “What is the environmental impact?”
The more important questions become: where is the impact coming from; what can be changed; and how do we measure that change has made a difference?
That is where measurement becomes management, and where sustainability can start to become measurable commercial and environmental progress.
Get in touch: sustainability@popai.co.uk
[image credits: Boots]
