10 Jan Proposals for 2023

By Jordi López (General Manager) of RIEUSSET

The year 2022 has just finished – a year governed by uncertainty, and which has still left us with some consequences due to the pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the increases, above all, in the price of electricity and gas, and additionally in the rest of materials that, either because of the rise in energy prices or due to the scarcity of some products, have also followed suit. And all this with Next Generation funds created to energize the battered economy that either have not arrived or have done so very slowly.

And now that we are starting 2023, the outlook remains unclear, in fact so much so that we can continue to talk about uncertainty, since with the opening of China’s borders there is a new threat of a pandemic, although vaccination is supposed to protect us, at least in the countries where it has been distributed among the majority of the population. But what about the rest? In addition, the war between Ukraine and Russia has not ended and although electricity and gas prices are tending to stabilize, it is not clear if this is because European countries have taken measures beyond setting maximum prices or because Chinese demand has fallen so much that there is an energy surplus. Furthermore, the forecasts for this year are not good in Europe, although in Spain, perhaps due to the electoral scenario, municipal elections in May and general elections before the end of the year, it can make governments sustain the economy until 2024 even if it is largely unreal. In short, it seems that we will continue with a year full of uncertainty to which those of us who work in the flexible packaging and labels sector have to add the unfortunate new plastic packaging tax.

Rieusset’s proposals for 2023

So in this uncertain environment, what does Rieusset propose to do?

Obviously, the general framework is not something that we can change, but from the company’s side we can continue working to improve internally and influence the market and customers in addition to responding to the needs of all interested parties.

And it is precisely here where our action plan is based.

As you know, in Rieusset we have the purpose of being a safe, healthy and sustainable industry and this is the beacon that guides us so as not to stray from the path regardless of the circumstances that surround us. For this reason, the first thing we have done this year has been to review and renew our Quality, Food Safety, Environment and Occupational Health and Safety policies, as we do every year, applying continuous improvement to reach the next level in our standards and improve the efficiency of our products and processes to increase customer satisfaction. Thus, we have reviewed compliance with the objectives we set in 2022 and we have established the new ones for 2023 with a clear orientation towards our purpose.

For some time now, the materiality matrix defined in our Sustainability Balance,  whose latest version you can see on the group’s website, establishes the main actions that serve as the GEROSA group’s –and therefore Rieusset’s– focus in order to meet the needs of the interested parties. Energy efficiency and climate change, occupational health and safety and product innovation are the main activities we are working on. But there are many more that guide us towards what we want to be: a strategic partner for our clients.

Therefore, our proposals for 2023 are clearly:

• Continuing to work on sustainability from the three social, environmental and governance perspectives
• Developing innovation in products, processes and services
• Improving safety and health in the workplace with the aim of being a healthy company

And one of the most complicated challenges is to achieve that all this effort not only remains in Rieusset but that it may influence the entire supply chain so as to convey to others the need to work along these lines, which if we succeed, will mean a benefit for everyone.