We asked Richard six questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is your background? <\/strong> What can you tell us about your new role?<\/strong> Why did Jiffy change its approach to sustainability?<\/strong> How will this benefit your customers?<\/strong> Can you give us an example? <\/strong> What are the next steps? <\/strong> Plastic reduction is a key part of our sustainability strategy, but our vision and goals go way beyond it. We\u2019ll be publishing our roadmap by the end of the first quarter, so watch this space!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February, 18th 2021 Jiffy Group is proud to announce the appointment of Richard Stevenson as its first Global Sustainability Manager from January 1st, 2021. The new role reflects Jiffy\u2019s commitment to being an ever more sustainable company. A major supplier of growing media to the horticulture & agriculture sectors, it strives to be a leader…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[42,43,44,45,46,47],"class_list":["post-1907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias","tag-jiffygroup","tag-growing-solutions","tag-sustainablehorticulture","tag-growblock","tag-jiffy-7","tag-plantplug"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
I studied horticulture and have been working in the industry ever since. I joined Jiffy in 2001 as UK Sales & Marketing Manager, then became European Sales Manager in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/em>I\u2019m thrilled that Jiffy has committed fully to supporting this most important challenge. I am now ensuring we create, implement and monitor a robust, integrated sustainability strategy for the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jiffy wants to be a leader in sustainable horticulture. We saw the need to take a more structured, global approach to accelerate our progress. This is an exciting time for Jiffy to build on the basic environmentally friendly nature of our products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to my sales background, I know our customers face pressure to quantify and improve their sustainability performance. We are committed to supporting them even more and to working closely with them to develop sustainability improvements together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Replacing single-use fossil plastics is a challenge Jiffy has been working on for years and which we are now accelerating. For instance, customer can already choose to buy Jiffy-7 Pellets and Jiffy Growblocks with netting made from PLA netting. Based on cornstarch, PLA netting is made from 100% renewable plant-based materials. It\u2019s fossil plastic-free, GMO-free, and certified biodegradable and compostable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jiffygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Basil-in-Jiffy-Pellet-with-12gr-PLA-netting--1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"PLA](\"https:\/\/jiffygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Peppers-strong-rooting-on-Jiffy-Growblock-PLA-Netting-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
Right: Peppers in PLA Jiffy growblock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Jiffy is converting all standard Growblock and Jiffy-7 Pellet products to PLA netting in 2021. This will reduce our annual fossil plastic consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by around 100 tons each. We are well on our way to achieving that goal \u2013 we currently use it on 95% of the Growblocks and 65% of the Pellets, up from 90% and 25% a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n