Transparent and Sustainable: New PSI Sustainability Awards for the Promotional Products Industry

Halfar System, TITAN Hamburg, Schneider Schreibgeräte, STEPPEN or Präsenta: With their registration for the new PSI Sustainability Awards, promotional products distributors and manufacturers demonstrate their commitment to more sustainability in the industry. The recent second PSI Industry Barometer clearly shows that this trend is set to gain in strength in the future. With the PSI Sustainability Awards, the PSI is now providing/offering an objective quality control for seals and certificates in the promotional products industry. For both PSI members and non-members registration for the award competition is still open until 3 August 2015. The awards evaluate companies, individual initiatives, products and campaign according to the three pillars of CSR and sustainability: economy, ecology and social impact. “Sustainability is a central issues which has also arrived in our industry,” is how PSI Director Michael Freter sums up the situation. Customers’ sensitivity to the issue, the anchoring of CSR principles in the guidelines advertising companies are setting themselves and sustainable brand management do not allow advertising carriers to be in conflict with this development. DIGGING DEEPER: WHAT DOES THE INDUSTRY WANT? This is also apparent from the results of the Industry Barometer 2/2015.A total of 1,388 promotional products companies were polled, among them 896 distributors and 492 manufacturers. Approximately 60 percent of the promotional products manufacturers indicated that they consider sustainability an important to very important aspect of their products. Almost 60 percent also consider the issue important where their own company or another company they cooperate with is concerned. It is therefore not surprising that over the past year more than half of the companies surveyed took active steps to obtain certification or have received proof of the sustainability of their business.

On the distributor side, too, interest in sustainable products or partners is strong. In this segment, more than 50 percent of the companies surveyed indicate that they consider sustainability of products or partner companies important to very important. Especially as regards transparent quality of products, interest has grown noticeably. Comparison with the results of the previous PSI Industry Barometer demonstrates: Eleven percent of distributors indicate that for them the issue has grown in importance in the last six months.

Evidence of this can also be found in the registrations for the PSI Sustainability Award that have come in to date. Among those who have already entered their own company or individual products are SOURCE, 8pandas, biobutton or Hannes Schmitz. Everything Environment, Gutwerke, Suthor Papierverarbeitung and Touchmore have also already entered the race for an award for an exemplary certificate of sustainability commitment.

APPLY TO ENTER THE PSI SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS NOW

Until 3 August companies can still register online for the PSI Sustainability Awards in eight categories, which take up the issues of economic excellence, ecological excellence and social impact, among others. There will also be separate categories for the Ecological Initiative of the Year, the Social Initiative of the Year, Product, Campaign and PSI Sustainable Company of the Year 2015 respectively. Participation is open to all companies from the promotional products sector from Germany or abroad, i.e. both PSI members and non-members. Manufacturers, importers, and promotional products agencies and distributors are eligible to enter all categories. In addition, users and designers are eligible to participate in the Product and Campaign categories.

OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM Submissions will be evaluated using a two-part system. First, all uploaded certificates will be assigned a score using a predefined scoring system. Key point: the more demanding the profile of a certificate, the higher the score. In addition, the type of company – manufacturer or importer, for example – will be considered, as will the size of the company and the production location or production facilities. A jury of experts will assign scores in the categories Ecological Initiative of the Year, Social Initiative of the Year, Product and Campaign. The sum total of all points determines which companies will be honoured with the PSI Sustainability Award in the various categories. Participation fees range from 190 to 230 euros for PSI members and 380 to 460 euros for non-members.

THE AWARD PRESENTATION A big celebration is set for autumn 2015: that’s when the highest-scoring companies will be honoured with the PSI Sustainability Awards at a festive gala event. Winners will be recognised in all eight categories. For additional information about entering and participating in the awards, please visit: www.psi-sustainability-awards.de/

ABOUT PSI The PSI (Promotional Product Service Institute) is the biggest organisation of the promotional products industry in Europe. Its membership comprises more than 6,000 international distributors and manufacturers. Via the PSI Journal, the Internet as well as a range of other publications and services, the PSI supplies information on all aspects of the promotional products market and the industry to its members. It is also the organiser of the PSI Trade Show in Düsseldorf.

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