The Procter & Gamble Company (PG) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Okay. As many of you would have seen, P&G are one of the lead partners for this year's event, helping us push the ambition and action through our three-day event. And while I'm pleased to say I'm now joined by 2 representatives from P&G and a number of their sustainability partners to talk to why now is time for our ambition and action. You will see the revealing of P&G's Beauty, Beauty's latest responsible beauty innovations, set to help the change the way we recycle, reduce and reuse for a better future. On your screens, you'll see a number of speakers ready to get going. Artur Litarowicz, Senior Vice President, Haircare, Europe, P&G; Virginie Helias, Chief Sustainability Officer of P&G; Tom Szaky, CEO, Founder, TerraCycle; Clover Hogan, Climate Activist; Erin Simon, Head of Plastic Waste and Business, WWF; and chairing the discussion is Lydia Amoah, Founder, Force of Nature. They're here. They're here to review a lot of insights, and we will try and get through some of your questions as the discussion unfolds. But for now, it's my pleasure to hand over the virtual stage to you, Lydia.

Thank you very much. Well, hello, and welcome to this morning's panel, The Window to Act is Now: Advancing Responsible Beauty in Europe. As you may have noticed from the title, we will be discussing the vital importance of sustainability within the beauty industry. I'm Lydia Amoah, and I'm your host for this morning. We have all seen the heartbreaking images of marine life entangled in plastics and have witnessed on the news huge piles of trash floating on the oceans. The WWF's Transparent 2020 report told us approximately 8 million metric tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans yearly, an amount that is, let's face it, truly incomprehensible. We are here today at the Reuters Responsible Business Summit, fully aware of the scale of the environmental crisis we face, which has been intensified by the ongoing global pandemic. And we've all been spending a lot more time at home this year, and our attention has naturally turned to how sustainable we are in our home environment and our ability to do more to protect and preserve our planet. So I hope you agree with me today, discussion could not be more timely. As part of today's discussion, you at home will be able to put your questions to our panel on our screen using the Q&A box. And I'll do the best I can to get through them. We must talk action and impact. And to do that, I'm delighted to welcome our guests joining us live from New York, London and Geneva. Hello, panelists.

Hi, Lydia.

Hi, Lydia.

Lovely to see you. Before we dive into today's announcement, please do introduce yourselves to our audience. Let's begin with you, Virginie.

Hi, Lydia. Hi, everyone. I'm Virginie Helias, the Chief Sustainability Officer of P&G. And I always said my career goal was to obsolete my job because once sustainability is part of the company, its core strategy, you don't need a CSO anymore. I don't want to retire, so I prefer to see myself as Chief Regenerability Officer, the ability to regenerate, because for this, there will always be work.

Thank you so much. And Erin, please do introduce yourself.

Hi, everybody. Thank you so much. Delighted to be here this morning. My name Erin Simon. I'm the Head of Plastic Waste and Business at World Wildlife Fund. I've been there for about 9 years and before that I was a Packaging Engineer Material Scientist at Hewlett Packard. I'm super excited for this discussion today. Thank you so much.

Thank you. And Tom, please introduce yourself.

Thank you, Lydia. And it's a real pleasure and honor to be here. I'm Tom Szaky. I'm the Founder and CEO of TerraCycle and Loop. And I've dedicated my life to one simple mission, which is how do we eliminate the idea of waste. I'm just thrilled to be here and discuss these topics.

Thank you, and over to you, Clover.

Thanks, Lydia. My name is Clover Hogan. I'm a 21-year old climate activist and the Founder and Executive Director of Force of Nature. We exist to take on one problem, which is the feeling of powerlessness in the face of existential threats like ecological breakdown and climate change. And we do that by bringing together the energy of youth around the world and the knowledge of experience by way of business leaders, policymakers and leaders across civil society. I'm delighted to be here.

Great to have you. Thank you so much. And Artur?

Hi, Lydia. Thank you. It's my honor to be here. I'm Artur Litarowicz, I'm the Senior Vice President responsible for P&G hair care in Europe. And personally, I am also a committed sailor. So the topic of sustainably is super close to my heart. So I'm really thrilled to be here today and share with you a couple of announcements we will be making.

Thank you so much, lucky to meet all of you. And thank you for that excellent introduction.

Okay. So Erin, I'm coming to you first. Let's get straight to the heart of the issue. WWF are committed to reversing the tide of the plastics crisis. In a year where the world's tension has largely been elsewhere, where do we really stand, Erin?

Yes. Thanks, Lydia. It's a great way to get started today. So World Wildlife Fund's role is to preserve the world's species and ecosystems for future generations. And to do that, we need to make sure that we're supporting the sustainable use of the planet's resources in order to make sure that they're available for those who come behind us. And so we do this by taking a one planet perspective, where we ensure that while we may be focusing on improving one issue, let's say, plastic waste, we're not creating trade-offs in another area. And this is why it's important to talk, when talking about the plastic waste crisis, that we think about solutions in the context of the status of our planet's health. So last month, World Wildlife Fund released the latest Living Planet Report. This is the 13th edition of a report released every 2 years. And what it does is it provides scientific evidence to back what, unfortunately, nature has been demonstrating repeatedly, that unsustainable human activity is pushing the planet's natural systems that support life on earth to the edge. And I think this is a good place to start in a discussion about innovative solutions to improve upon this, right? So by setting the stage with the overall health of our planet, it helps us to understand what we need to do to solve for it. Latest stats are telling us that since the '70s, we've dropped 68% of our bird race species globally. We have lost 75% of the earth's free -- sorry, we have altered 75% of earth's ice-free land surface. We polluted a lot of our oceans. And more than 85% of our wetlands have been lost. We're doing this while our per person global stock of natural capital is declining and our -- the capital for producing is doubled. So we're losing what the planet has provided for us by nearly 40%, and we are doubling what we're producing, while our populations are growing. We're just overusing the earth's file capacity by about 56%. And unfortunately, a lot of that is going to waste. And so as Lydia mentioned earlier, there's a lot of plastic waste. Of this waste that is entering our oceans every minute, one dump truck of plastic enters our oceans. And estimates -- future waste suggests that this could triple by 2040. And so when we translate this into the new role of solution that solutions have to play and help against to solve for this, we need to think about how we can decouple economic growth from dependency on more and more from the planet that it might just not have to give. And so getting rid of plastic, for example, is not going to be the answer. And when I was talking about that one planet perspective, this is where that thinking comes in because plastic does play a valuable role in reducing food waste and lightweighting vehicles and airplanes, and of course, keeping us safe in the form of life-saving PPE. But since we're not going to quit plastic. We need to develop a healthier relationship with it and really fix the broken system of where it's not working, right? And it's this massive complex system. We need to start by using less virgin plastic and the better stores of the materials we're using. And then here's where innovation, right, has a huge opportunity. We need to rethink solutions by finding ways to source more sustainable materials at a rate that is renewable, a rate that the earth can replenish, and then making sure whatever we are using can be used again and again, so that it doesn't go waste. And so to be successful in this effort, everyone needs to do their part. So that's industry leaders like P&G, consumers like ourselves, policymakers, so we can transform this broken system. And hopefully, the plastics that we're using today can become the plastics that we use again.

Okay. Thank you. You mentioned the responsibilities companies have to innovate in order to create less waste. Litar, what exactly is P&G doing to achieve this within the beauty space? Please do tell us.

Okay. So first of all, I fully agree that the window to act is now. So the first thing which we are announcing today is that P&G Hair Care Europe, we will be advancing our sustainability goals from the 2030 to the 2021. And we are free to actually announce that we'll do a couple of things. First of all, we'll make all our shampoo and conditioner bottles recyclable across Europe, in all countries where this is possible. The second big thing is that we will reduce the virgin plastic usage by 50% comparing to the 2016 when we started the whole journey. And another extremely interesting and an important thing is that we are launching a new reusable system, which we call the good refill system. And this system consists of this beautiful aluminum bottles like this and refill pouches. They allow consumer to use the product they love and do it in a way which is more sustainable, reducing the plastic usage by up to 60%. So we do big things, and we do it literally now.

Okay. So we're pretty used to big lofty commitments from global companies, but will the good refill system and the acceleration of your actions really make a difference?

First of all, I am always extremely happy when there's an announcement coming from any company in our industry because sustainability is a team sport. We all need to perform at our peak if we want to win this game. What's important for us is that whatever we do, it needs to be meaningful and scalable. And this is exactly what we are trying to do already next year. The innovation which we will bring will touch as many as 200 million households across Europe. And it will allow us to reduce the virgin plastic usage, which is equivalent of 300 million bottles. So I think it is big, it's scalable, and that way is meaningful for all of us.

Okay. And in the beauty industry, product design and packaging is incredibly important. Have you been able to combine the design expertise and sustainable innovation?

We are always committed to bringing to consumers superior proposition. Superior proposition is fantastic product but also serve in the beautiful packaging, which is sustainable. And this is exactly what was the challenge here and which we hope we deliver. So I suggest we watch a short video to see what we have done.

Okay. [Presentation]

Thank you, Litar. Tom, Clover, Erin, as partners and leading voices in the sustainability space, I'm going to come to you first for your reactions to this news. Now Tom, as someone so heavily focused on recycling, what does this new refill packaging really mean for us?

Thank you, Lydia. So it's a really good question. And I think we have to address this issue that Erin mentioned around waste with scale and with urgency. And there's no silver bullet solution. We absolutely have to do the things Litar mentioned in a very big way, using huge amounts of recycled content so that we can start proving demand and making sure the recycling systems around the world are financially stable. We also have to design our packaging to make sure that it can be practically recycled by any citizen anywhere in the world. And it's wonderful to see P&G leading that way. But we also need to innovate into the future. I really think sustainability is about the future of how we consume and in the future, products are more beautiful, convenient and significantly more sustainable. What's been a real privilege for me in working with P&G for many years is we together invented a platform called Loop. P&G was the very first partner to join. Pantene was the very first brand to take a major risk on this, and it created a global movement that is now live around the world. But what -- now we're seeing with this amazing refillable solution is P&G's scale to be able to bring it across many regions quickly and be able to give access to people all over the world, the solution to refillable packaging. The key here with reuse is that we are solving the issue of waste at the root cause. We are honoring materials like aluminum by allowing them to cycle over and over again in our homes. So this is not just reducing the amount of plastic by reducing the amount of plastic that's in the pouch when you refill it, but also allowing the package that's in your home to be not just more beautiful, but significantly more sustainable. And I think a big part of sustainability is we have to make it democratic, and we have to give access to everyone out there. Because we are on one planet, and we all have to be able to take part, no matter where in the world or what our status in society is. And I think, it's what Erin said, companies have to act quickly with scale and drive impact. And hopefully, what P&G is announcing and making available will not just be something that people will love, but will inspire the competitors to copy and keep innovating and pushing us into a place where our consumption can be simply much more in balance with nature and the environment.

I totally agree, Tom. One of the big reasons we face challenges in tackling plastic pollution for the past decades, right, is that we really have limited our solutions to what each individual organization can do on their own, is that. So I think we have this broken plastic waste system that requires a new way of thinking and a full systems change to address, and we can't do this without coordinated actions across the value chain to get us to those solutions at scale quicker. So businesses like P&G have the ability now more than ever to work collectively to tackle share challenges and opportunities with their peers and with their supply chains and with organizations like you guys. And so I think that only that will we be able to make those step changes required to address this global crisis.

Yes, piggybacking off that. I think to speak from the kind of consumer perspective, there's a lot of frustration when we put all of the kind of onus on the individual and the individual's contribution rather than the business and the business leader whose decisions equate many millions of individuals. And so we really need to shift from sustainability being about sacrifice and expecting people to dramatically change the way that we live our lives and think actually how are huge companies kind of in the position to take ownership the problem, take ownership of that ecosystem and actually make it as easy and as accessible as possible for consumers to be responsible. Because right now, it's really, really hard to do the right thing, even though there is a huge groundswell in the kind of consumer base to do that. So I think this is a really promising step in the right direction. And I suppose my next provocation to that would be about how we can kind of engender mass kind of behavior change so that people really embrace this kind of circular system and see why it is such a promising alternative.

Thank you. Thank you for some in-depth answers there. Virginie, critics could argue that P&G isn't going as far or as quickly enough to combat the global problems like plastics waste that companies like yours contribute heavily to. Do you feel that you're moving and doing enough?

I mean the scale of the challenge is so big. Erin talked about it. At the individual level, it will never be enough. But if we look at what we can collectively achieve, there is a path. Two and a half years ago, P&G declared that as part of our Ambition 2030 road map, we will work on solutions so that no P&G packaging find its way to the ocean. I mean this is daunting. But when you break it down into actionable strategies, it can be done. I mean there are other things that on the personal -- within our control, like designing sustainable packaging, starting with plastic reduction. We have a corporate goal of reducing by 50% our virgin [indiscernible] plastic and hair care as we have in Europe. We'll get there by end of next year. Driving refill and reuse, obviously. And also substituting plastic with recyclable paper where it makes sense. So I have a personal passion for the refill and reuse system because P&G was one of the first FMCG company, Tom just said it, to sign up for Loop. And I think that we can have a [ great results with ] sustainable design in driving the circular economy. And I believe that many consumers are ready for it. We just got the results from an Ipsos global research. A few months ago, they interviewed 20,000 people. And when asked how likely they are after COVID to behave on certain item, the first #1 item was avoiding products that have a lot of packaging. And it was 57% of people globally that said that they were likely or very likely to avoid product with so much packaging. So to make faster progress, I think we do need consumer participation. The refill system will require habit change, that's for sure. And usually, that's something P&G is good at, using the influence of our brands to make sustainable behaviors irresistible. So you create that pull. And when you look at the beautiful hair care aluminium packs, they are irresistible, you want them in your bathroom. So our goal is to make the good refill system the start of a movement, like Tom said, we did with beach plastic a few years ago. So I think consumers are ready for refill. I think the time is right, the time is now. But there are also things that we cannot do alone. And this is when we talked about transforming the system. Like for instance, the HolyGrail project that P&G has been leading, which is about using digital watermarks embedded in the packaging, which will improve sorting and the quality of recycling, like every pack will have their own digital passport. And so this is P&G's believing, but we need a critical mass of companies to make it a reality and to have an impact. So we need partnership with industry, with civil society, partnership with government. Maybe you've noticed, but last week, it was announced that 29 companies, and P&G is one of them, have signed a manifesto calling for UN treaty to accelerate progress towards the circular economy on plastic. And that's really recognizing that voluntary initiative will not be sufficient and that we need government to agree on a new global binding agreement to harmonize policy efforts, to coordinate infrastructure, development to stimulate innovation and investment. So alone, we can do so much. Collectively, we can do it.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Virginie mentions the role of consumers and the support businesses can give us to become more sustainable. Clover, I'm coming to you. What's your take on the work that's currently being done by businesses like P&G to address the climate crisis?

Thanks, Lydia. So the word system has kind of been thrown around a lot. And I know Erin mentioned these kind of like broken systems. And climate crisis is ultimately a symptom of those broken systems. How I think about that as the individual is the clothes that I wear, the food in my fridge, the products that are in my home. And of course, at the heart of this system is a model of limitless growth with finite resources. And business has historically kind of been an engine for delivering products and services that improve our lives, but unfortunately, at the expense of the planet because it's been a system of value based on the commodification of nature and really the exploitation of people as well. And so companies now need to shift from a place of doing less harm to actually how do we do more good and how do we take ownership of our history, how we have been part of the problem, for example, disposable living and these kind of hyper consumptive lives that we're now leading and think about what that alternative looks like. As much as we've been part of the problem, how can we be part of the solution? And how is our responsibility to actually deliver on the alternative? And I think one of the easiest ways to think about this is really products and services are no longer the kind of end goal. In fact, they're a vehicle for solving these bigger challenges. So I think companies are waking up to this, and I think there are lots of disruptor companies who really have this embedded within their corporate kind of DNA, being in service to people in the planet as much as profit in that bottom line. And I think big companies with huge influence are waking up to that responsibility as well.

Thank you. And what do you see, Clover, the role of P&G in helping individuals, particularly the younger generation who are now so climate aware? How can they navigate their way around what's best for this planet?

I hear in a lot of young people distrust toward business because I think we're hyper aware of the kind of history of greenwashing. And we're kind of fed up of like pretty reports full of empty promises with goals scheduled far enough into the future that they require no immediate change. And we're emerging into these kind of systems that we've inherited with scientists, with researchers telling us that we have just 10 years to change so much of how we live, breathe and exist in the 21st century. So I think young people realize that there is no hope in another 10 years of incrementalism. On the flip side of that, this next decade is an incredible window of opportunity to drive that transformative change. I think one of the hardest kind of pills to swallow with climate change is by the nature of how we live in the 21st century, especially those of us living in a bubble of privilege, we are complicit in creating a problem every time we go shopping, every time we make purchases and make decisions. And so that can either be a really crippling idea that kind of paralyzes us or it can be reframed as actually, how does climate change show us that we have an opportunity to rethink so much of how we live and to actually deliver on a better, brighter future that is -- doesn't instill a sense of fear and paralysis, which I see so pervasively in young people. Now as I mentioned earlier, I think there is this kind of balance between the role of individuals in stepping up. And what I want to say is that this isn't about kind of individual tokenism. It's really a rallying call for individual initiatives. So not just how we can like change the small parts of our lives and make the decisions that make us feel better, but how we're actually taking responsibility of the problems and showing up with solutions. I think for a long time, we've been reacting against the challenges. And now we need to think about what it is we're working towards. What does a circular economy look like? What does it look like for businesses to be part of this regeneration, as Virginie said. And with that, I think there's a saying with great power comes great responsibility. I actually think it's the opposite. I think, with great responsibility comes great power. And each and every one of us, concerned moms and dads, business leaders, policymaker, students, every time we make climate change someone else's responsibility, we give some of that power up. And I think there is incredible invitation for us to actually assume that power, take responsibility by way of how we shop and what we consume, but also the problems that we take ownership of. And in doing so, really realized our potential to deliver a much better alternative to what we have currently.

Okay. Thank you so much. Virginie, looking at ownership and the broader context. Do you foresee further innovations across packaging? And whose responsibility is it to drive this innovation?

Well, sustainable packaging is top of mind for consumer, right? Talk about it. It's top of concern for stakeholders. We've just done a refresh of our issue prioritization exercise, and sustainable packaging is right up there with climate change as issues that are most likely to impact our business and that is the most important from our stakeholder's point of view. So yes, there will be more innovation. I mean, I think across the whole heirarchy of waste, reduction, reuse, recycle new business model. I hope next time we'll speak, Loop will have scale across all cities around the world. And whose responsibility is it? Well, clearly, us. It needs to be well informed by consumer's desires, like the good refill system is doing. And as I mentioned, government has a key role as well to enable innovation that is financially viable, environmentally desirable. For instance, in the case of reuse, incentivizing reuse like the EU Green Deal is intending to do, for instance, will be a key enabler. But ultimately, the innovation, and it's one of P&G key strengths, is with the manufacturer because we can solve this dilemma between what's good for the people, what's good for the planet.

Okay. Thank you, Virginie. Now for all of you watching at home, it's over to you. I'd like to invite you to put your questions to our awesome panelists. Okay. So let me wait to see some of these questions that are about to come through. Here we go. I have a question for Litar first. Are you ready? I'm about to route to you. What kind of research have you done into how consumers will react to the good refill system?

So first of all, in P&G, we have a mantra that consumer is the boss. So whatever we do, we always start with consumer. We try to understand what they love, what they desire, what are their needs, which we need to fulfill. And also exactly the same here. We actually tested multiple solutions, and the good refill system was a winner. So this is the system which consumer believe allows them to use the product they love in the way which is significantly more sustainable. This is why we are going for it, that's of next year.

Thank you. Okay. So congrats for this step, P&G. What research has been done to ensure consumers will keep these solutions? Virginie, that's to you.

I suppose, keep this solution, meaning embrace the new behavior. That's the spirit of the question. I mean this is why actually we are launching in market. I think, ultimately, we'll see that in market. If really, we have the ability to create a movement, I mean, we mentioned, Loop. This is why we started on Loop with pilots in France and in the U.S., and this is where we are learning and we are tweaking and pivoting on something because we learn how to make it the most seamless with people so that it becomes an integral part of their life. It is desirable. It is irresistible. And we will adapt. Maybe what we'll have in 2 years from now will be slightly different, but we need to learn real-life in market. That's what we are doing in now.

Okay. So let me get to my next question. Thank you, Virginie. Thank you so much. Okay. I have another question for you, Litar, here. Okay. So L'Oreal, Unilever have also made ambitious commitments in terms of recycling. What makes P&G different?

As I mentioned, frankly, we should be happy whenever big company or any company in our industry makes this type of commitments, move forwards on the sustainability journey because this is a team effort. And we -- as Virginie said, we all need to contribute if we want to win. So I'm super happy for our competitors. In our case, what we are bringing was -- the whole desire was to make a meaningful step. And as I mentioned, what we are doing will impact, in Europe, 200 million households. And if we do it well, we will reduce the virgin plastic, which is equivalent of 300 million bottles every year. I think this is scalable, this is meaningful, and this is something which should contribute to the sustainable journey the right way.

Okay. Litar, I have a...

To add, that we will not be remembered for the goals we make, but deliver against them. And P&G has 2 big strengths. One is to inspire others and to be a catalyst to create movements with the industry, like we've been doing with you on the Alliance to End Plastic Waste that we are sharing. And the second is the power of our brands. And this is what you see today. And our ability to really engage citizen and to create long-lasting effect.

Okay. Thank you. Well, maybe actually both of you, Virginie and Artur, can actually answer the next question I have, which is when will bottles be on the shelf for consumers to buy?

Okay. So if everything goes well, we want to bring those -- the good refill system to the market already in the first quarter of 2021 and then gradually really expand it across all European countries.

Thank you. Virginie, I have a question for you. This is super great, but what are other CSR interests, P&G?

Oh, wow. [indiscernible] We have a full program that's called Ambition 2030. And within that, our focus just on, what we call, our societal goals because those are the goals that are too big for us alone to achieve. And within those goals, plastic waste is one, and this is one way to address that. The other one is water. Water is a topic that is not really making the headlines, but is nevertheless really important and we have a full program of [ water just to achieve ], not just on reducing the water we use, but replenishing the one that we and our consumers are using. So it's a very flexible program. And the third one is obviously on climate change. And we've recently announced, last July, our new commitment which is beyond reducing our own emission by 50%, is to invest in nature-based solution. So that by the end of the decade, we can be carbon neutral in our operations. So those three: water, waste, plastic waste especially, and climate are some of our biggest goals. But I also want to mention that one of the characteristic of P&G is to be a company of brands and leadership brands in their categories. And so we also have very ambitious program for our brands that are actually reinventing the brand building model, which is not a small feat for our company. We made an invented brand management. Now we are inventing it. And so each of our leadership brands are committing now to a goal, which is integral to their equity, which is long term and measurable. And what you see today from hair care is one of the outcome of these very ambitious brand goals.

Okay. So just to expand upon your point about ambitions and the brands. There's a question here. This is to Virginie. Does P&G have a take back program? Do you track the amount of packaging of the recycling so far?

Yes. So we track everything. We do -- we have very specific goals on packaging, 100% recyclability to reduce by 50% our use of virgin plastic, as I said, which means increasing our use of recycled plastic, which is also part of the announcement today. And so we do track all our use of virgin versus recycled. So absolutely. We do have take back program. Actually, I think that Tom could talk about this because most of them, we are doing this with TerraCycle and it's across regions, it's across company. We do take back when there is no municipal infrastructure that can take care of the specific resin. Ultimately, our goal is that actually all plastic can be handled by municipal infrastructure and recycle there. But when it's not possible, we absolutely take back. Just have an amazing program on Gillette, for instance, Gillette in the U.S. and in the U.K., the first fully recyclable razor. Again, thanks to the partnership with TerraCycle. We can go on and on. We have many, many program on packaging so that ultimately, that's our ultimate goal, no P&G packaging find its way to the ocean.

I just want to build, Virginie, on what you were saying, which is P&G has been an absolute global leader in creating take back programs for any product that is not practically recyclable today. From what Virginie mentioned on Gillette across multiple countries to hair care anywhere, where there's a package form, where the local municipality is not yet capable to collect and recycle, P&G has been there to create programs where it takes full responsibility at its cost, making it free to consumers and going one step further, even allowing competitive products to be collected in those same platforms. And that's everything from diaper recycling to white recycling, to blades and razors all the way to pouches and so on in hair care. But I do want to echo what Virginie said. The more important topic than investing meaningful amounts of capital in take back programs, which is really important in the short term, is designing into local recycling solutions. And P&G has also done that. And this may seem simple, but it's actually quite brave when a brand where maybe the color of that particular package is the -- is what makes up the brand to suddenly say, you know what, we're not going to go into a color. We're going to design into, say, a clear bottle because even though that may sacrifice the aesthetic of our brand or what we are known for today, it will design -- it will allow that bottle to be locally recycled. And P&G has really been leading the way here around the world within all these various industries, and it's incredible to see.

Thank you, Tom. Thank you. I have a question, are we aiming towards -- it's the last question actually, and [ I'll put it ] before Clover and for Erin to come to this place, like your final input on this last question. So can you see the future -- can you see a future where we won't use plastic at all? Who would like to go first? Clover, you go first.

Yes, happy to [indiscernible]. I think there's a tendency in the sustainability space to hop on bandwagons and vilify certain products. And I think as is already raised earlier in this panel, plastic is, in reality, an incredible material, right? It's actually going to help us to make cars lighter and planes lighter so that they require less fuel. It's one of the best solutions that we have for taking on reduction of food waste, which, in America, 40% of food is wasted currently and globally at the third of food waste. Project drawdown shows us that reduction of food waste is one of the most effective solutions we have for climate change. So I don't think it would ever be smart to say, actually, we're going to kind of do away with this material that is a key solution for delivering on climate solutions. But I absolutely hope that we reach a world where disposable plastic that's ending up in the ocean, ending up in my home, if Bali in Indonesia choking the waterways, where that is a thing of the past. And I think that is very much dependent on us recreating the systems of nature, working with her rather than against her, to close the loop so that we're not kind of working to this very linear system.

Thank you. And Erin, to you.

I'll just build on that, which I 100% agree with. But I just want to say that no material is innocent. No material is perfect, and no material doesn't come with impacts. Even aluminum, which this new solution in has challenges in the sourcing of the raw materials for that because it comes from strip mining and glass comes from sand, which comes from the shores of rivers and the floor of the ocean. And paper-based products come from trees, which we know deforestation is a leading cause of climate change today. So all of these raw materials require responsible sourcing in order to do it in a way that is renewable. And all of them need to be able to come back, whether it's plastic, glass, paper, aluminum, steel or some new material that is of the future, we need to continue to cascade its value and reuse it again. And so when we think actually about innovations in this space and how we're going to be thoughtful in being good stewards of those resources, I think it's really important that we don't just think about plastic, but we think about all the materials and designing these systems so that they all can continue to be used again.

Thank you, Erin. Thank you. Wow, that wasn't a conversation to stop, but thank you for all of your thoughtful insights and considered questions. And panelists, thank you for your participation. If there's one message you would like to leave our audience watching today about -- watching from home, about sustainability, what would that be? So I have a quick snapshot question-answer from you all. Let's start with you, Erin, actually. Let's start with you.

All right. Well, I just want to say our planet is resilient and even when pushed its limits, has proven to recover time and again. But we can't take that for granted. We depend on the planet for health and for our survival. Unfortunately, to date, we have continuously misused those resources, as we've talked about today a lot. And so we have an opportunity to change the cycle. Jane Goodall said that cumulatively small decisions, choices, actions make a very big difference. So I would encourage each of you to think about, big or small, what actions you might take, what solutions you might show up with, as Clover said, to help us to get to a more sustainable future that begins with none of these materials ending up in nature.

Thank you. And Tom, can I come to you next?

Absolutely. I think we are, as individuals, the most powerful actor in the room, and Litar said it, the consumer is the boss. Now it is the firm responsibility also, as Virginie said, for companies to make options and systems available. Without those options, we can't vote properly. But especially in the context that we are about to get into a major election in the United States and how much time and energy we spend on discussing who we're going to vote for, let's realize that we actively vote every day, multiple times a day with actual money for the future we want. The act of buying something is the vote for more of that object to exist. But equally so is an act of not buying, and that is just as powerful, if not more powerful. So I'd really encourage folks who are listening to feel empowered and make sure to honor that decision of what you buy because it really is a vote for the future, for our children and their children.

Thank you so much. And Virginie, may I come to you quickly? Thank you.

Now I'm often asked why are people not embracing sustainable lifestyles faster and more broadly, what are we missing in educating people so that they do the right thing. And I say, well, those who are trying to educate people are kind of choosing the long and winding road. What we need to do is to make sustainability irresistible so that even if you are not environmentally conscious, you want to be part of it. I used to call it the [ test life effect ]. Now I think I'll call it the good refill system effect, [ than one of those ballet photos ] in their bathroom.

Okay. Thank you so much, Virginie. And Clover, let's come to you.

So I was asked recently, how do we get more people to care about climate change, to care about pollutions, to care about these problems. And I challenge that question because I don't believe that the problem here is that people do not care. I think people care deeply and want to do the right thing. Yet people are not empowered to care. And so my invitation to everyone listening and now is to think about how you can empower the people around yourself to care and how with all of the privilege and opportunity and skills and talents and passions that you bring to these challenges, how you can step up, take ownership and rather than spread yourself thin across lots of different issues, really identify the problem that you want to take on and then align yourself with your values, with companies, with organizations, with systems that are reflective of the future that we all know is possible.

Thank you, Clover. Thank you. And finally, Artur.

Thank you. So my message would be that it's -- we all have amazing responsibility on our shoulders, particularly the business leaders. And so I would encourage us to do few things. First, think about sustainability as a team effort, okay? We all need to perform at our peak to move these big goals forward. The second, think about goals and go for something which is truly bold, even if you don't know yet how to deliver on it. Because one thing which I was extremely positively surprised is the passion of the organization. Our people absolutely love working on sustainability. They want to do it on top of the everyday task. And actually this passion and the partnership with external companies, external institution, like what we have done with Tom over here, but also a lot of other companies can generate solutions, which we may not be aware even today. So think big, think now because if we want to change it, we need to act right now.

Absolutely. I agree. Thank you so much. Well, thank you all for joining us today to explore what's needed and what's happening to truly advance responsible beauty across Europe. It's been a pleasure to host this discussion. I would like to extend my thanks to all of you watching and engaging with the conversation and, of course, to Virginie, to Clover, to Tom, to Erin and Litar for sharing their thoughts with us today. Do enjoy the rest of the summit. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Lydia. Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

Great. And one announcement, exciting announcement. So really [indiscernible]. Definitely set the time for the next few days, and that will -- we could keep that enthusiasm as well so.

Well done, everybody.

Brilliant discussion, guys. Thank you. Take care.

Thank you.

Thank you. Take care. Bye.

Well, yes, there you saw it. A great announcement, very exciting announcement and hopefully, one that will set the ambition and the bar for others to follow, and I'm sure that bring the scale that we desperately need to see in the area of recycle and plastic waste. So thank you again, guys, for joining us. Okay. The concluding session for today is looking at net zero, a point that we touched on through a number of discussions today, but definitely a key focal point for tomorrow's discussions. First off, we have a 15-minute presentation by Martin Sedgwick, Commercial Director, EcoAct, talking to the vital role of the value chain in helping meet net zero ambitions. And after that, Martin will be joining me for a live 15-minute Q&A. So as always, get those questions in, and I will try and get through as many of them when Martin joins me. But for now, here's this presentation.