A misconception about sustainability and compliance is that successful companies have all the answers. They don’t.
The companies making the most progress are often the ones asking the best questions – and knowing where to find trusted expertise when new challenges emerge.
Elizabeth Wimbush, CAS
Director of Sustainability & Responsibility, PPAI
This matters now more than ever. Product safety requirements continue to evolve, especially at a state level. Environmental regulations are becoming more complex (here’s looking at you, Europe!). Customer expectations around responsible sourcing, transparency and circularity continue to rise. At the same time, businesses are expected to move quickly and confidently through it all.
No individual, and frankly no single company, can be an expert in every corner of sustainability and compliance. That’s why responsible business has become a team sport.
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Over the past several years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside an incredible network of professionals who generously share their expertise with the branded merch industry. Many of the experts members hear from at PPAI’s annual Responsibility Summit, who volunteer their time to participate in Product Responsibility Action Group regulatory roundups, or who helped shape the framework behind PPAI’s Product Safety Aware education program are also PPAI business service members.
The same is true of PPAI’s Sustainability Action Group, whose members regularly provide strategic direction, challenge assumptions, review new resources and help ensure that PPAI’s sustainability work reflects the practical realities our members face every day.
While many of these organizations provide consulting, testing, legal, certification or technology services as part of their businesses, what stands out isn’t simply the expertise they offer, but the willingness to invest that expertise back into the industry. That distinction matters.
The conversations happening in PRAG aren’t sales presentations. SAG discussions aren’t about promoting individual solutions. Responsibility Summit speakers don’t come to deliver product demonstrations. Instead, these groups create space for practitioners with different perspectives to tackle shared challenges, debate emerging issues and help the entire industry make better-informed decisions.
We’ve seen this firsthand as new regulations continue to emerge around the world. Whether discussing PFAS restrictions, extended producer responsibility, evolving chemical regulations, forced labor requirements, digital product passports or product safety expectations, these experts regularly help translate complicated developments into practical guidance that businesses can actually use.
For many members, those conversations become an early warning system. Instead of discovering a regulatory change after it affects a customer or shipment, they’re hearing about it months in advance, understanding what it means and having the opportunity to prepare. That’s an advantage that’s difficult to measure but easy to appreciate.
It’s also a reminder that responsibility isn’t built through competition alone. Some of the industry’s most meaningful progress happens when competitors – suppliers, distributors and business service providers – come together to solve common challenges.
The same collaborative mindset is becoming increasingly important within individual businesses. No matter your company’s size, it’s worth asking:
- Where do we consistently turn for trusted guidance?
- Are we building relationships before we urgently need them?
- Do we have access to expertise in the areas where our customers are asking the most questions?
- Are we taking advantage of the knowledge that’s already available through our industry community?
- Those questions often matter more than trying to become experts in everything ourselves.
The PPAI Solutions Center exists to help members connect with organizations that specialize in areas like sustainability, responsible sourcing, testing, product safety, regulatory compliance, certifications and supply chain services. Many of these organizations have spent years contributing to the industry’s collective knowledge through committees, educational programming, peer review and events long before a member ever engages them professionally.
As Responsibility Summit approaches this fall, I’m reminded that one of our industry’s greatest strengths isn’t simply the expertise that exists, it’s the willingness to share it. Responsible business is moving too quickly for any of us to navigate alone. Fortunately, we don’t have to.
Sometimes the smartest move isn’t having every answer. It’s knowing where to find them and being part of a community that’s committed to sharing them.
