The World in 2025 – Asian new deal

Here at DS Smith we are currently #rehearsingthefuture - a process where we’ve created possible scenarios for the future (NOT predictions) to help us debate and shape the trends and issues that we think will have an impact on us, our industry and society as a whole in the decade to come.

Our third of three scenarios looks at what might happen if China becomes the greenest country on earth by 2025.

Damaging pollution in China’s biggest cities causes increasing unrest in 2017, and the Chinese government acts decisively.  Through total tracking of transactions across the supply chain, carbon emissions are monitored, analysed, and ultimately taxed.

During the process of collecting all this data, China realise that there are real problems with their recycling model, based on importing millions of tonnes of recovered fibre from Western economies for conversion into paper in Chinese mills.  The government therefore invests in a huge tree planting programme to create their own source of high quality fibre, with other developing countries following their example.  Eventually this leads to a crash in the price of recovered paper.

Western brands and manufacturers struggle to adapt to a China that leads the world in environmental controls as a response to the People’s Sustainable Revolution of 2017.   And Western governments realise that they have to radically change their view of recycling and re-use of materials, finally working to create a genuine circular economy.

Elsewhere in Asia, choking traffic fumes lead India to rule that all deliveries are to be made at night using electric, driverless goods vehicles.  Together with a new Asian standard for modular, trackable packaging, this system begins to roll-out across the globe.

By 2025 early adopter packaging companies have realised that they are not just about protecting or marketing goods – but that they are in the information technology business. They now make sensor-friendly packaging, work with governments and NGOs to track and manage carbon emissions, and are rewarded with worldwide contracts as part of the global circular economy.

What if China becomes the greenest country on earth by 2025?

Watch our third scenario

Watch our video or read our third scenario in full to learn more about how things might unfold in 2025.

We don’t pretend to have all of the answers but we’re hoping that our customers, our suppliers and other stakeholders will enjoy debating these issues with us as we seek to develop partnerships for the long-term based around shared understanding and value.

You are invited to join the conversation at scenarios@dssmith.com or on twitter with #rehearsingthefuture because we intend to be one of the companies that will not only thrive in the future but to be one that shapes it too.

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