DEFORESTATION

P&G faces investor pressure over raw material procurement policy

FMCG giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) will take steps aimed at reducing potential harm to forests from its purchases of wood pulp for toilet paper and other consumer goods, after facing pressure from investors and environmentalists. P&G will aim to end buying pulp – a key ingredient in its top-selling Charmin toilet paper and Bounty paper towels – from certain forests in Canada and develop a plan to reduce purchases of the raw material from other swaths of woodland, according to an investor agreement made with the firm. P&G faces scrutiny from environmental NGOs and investors in part because it lags its publicly-traded peers in using recycled paper and fibres in its household staple products. In the agreement, P&G said it is testing two new products, one with plant-based fibre and another with bamboo. (Reuters)

CORPORATE REPUTATION

Entain fined £17m for failing to monitor gambling addiction

Entain, the gambling firm behind Ladbrokes and Coral, could lose its licence to operate in the UK after it was told to pay a record £17 million settlement for failing to prevent gambling addiction. The Gambling Commission highlighted a series of failings in Entain’s business, all of which took place after the UK government announced a review of gambling laws. The incidents included carrying out just one spoken interaction with a customer who deposited £230,845 over a period of 18 months, and another customer who was allowed to deposit £742,000 in 14 months without appropriate checks. As part of the settlement, Entain will be expected to implement an “improvement plan” to tighten up controls designed to prevent money-laundering and tackle gambling addiction. (The Guardian)

EMPLOYEES

Apple tells staff to come into the office for at least 3 days a week

Technology giant Apple has told its employees they must come into the office for at least three days a week from September 2022, in an effort to restore “in-person collaboration”. In a memo to all employees, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the policy would require all staff to return to the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as a third day that would vary team by team. The official plan, emphasised as a pilot in Cook’s letter, is already a step back from an earlier proposal asking employees to come in on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday every week. The company’s stance makes it an outlier among its peers, with tech companies including Twitter and Facebook allowing employees at the start of the Covid pandemic to opt for permanent remote working. (The Guardian)

COMMUNITY

Canadian firm vows to employ indigenous people at potash mine

Canadian agriculture firm Brazil Potash said it is willing to employ local Mura indigenous people as it seeks their backing for a sensitive $2.4 billion project to build Latin America’s largest potash mine in the Amazon rainforest. The project would reduce Brazilian agriculture’s reliance on imports for 95% of its potash needs. The Mura, who fear the mine would bring prostitution and drugs to their communities, have opposed the project. Brazil Potash had been granted an installation licence by Amazonas state authorities, but it was suspended by a court because the company had not consulted the Mura. Approval now depends on completing the consultations. The company said it believes the project would create 1,000 direct and up to 5,000 indirect jobs. (Reuters)

FOOD INSECURITY

Dry weather and worker shortages lead to £22m in wasted crops

The UK’s National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has warned that more than £20 million of fruit and vegetables have been wasted in 2022, due to prolonged dry weather and a lack of staff to pick crops. The NFU surveyed its members – who account for around one-third of the UK’s horticulture sector – finding  that many organisations are experiencing workforce shortages that are leading to huge amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables going to waste. The NFU claims the wastage accounts for around £22 million in losses across its members, suggesting that more than £60 million in crop losses could be happening country-wide. A total of 40% of respondents recorded substantial crop losses due to labour shortages and damage to crops. The NFU concluded that dry weather and record temperatures had contributed to a challenging growing environment. (edie)

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