Trade groups wade through murky waters - trade associations - Retailing & The Environment

Discount Store News, March 18, 1991 by Rick Telberg

Trade Groups Wade Through Murky Waters

As environmental controversy surges through the aisles of the nation's retail stores like a towering, sea-green tidal wave, many of the industry's major trade associations are braving the fray with little more than a surfboard.

But a surfboard, deftly handled, may be all they need.

The lobbying groups are playing the big green wave very carefully. They know that simply treading water by ignoring the issue completely could mean getting left behind. But jumping ahead of the crest too aggressively could spell a public relations or political wipeout.

Some trade associations are lobbying for government standards on environmental advertising claims, while others are more concerned with controlling restrictive anti-pollution regulations. But almost all appear to be giving the issue top echelon attention.

At the International Mass Retail Association, officials organized a special committee of 20 industry members. "The issue," said senior legislative lobbyist Robin Lanier, "is very important to our members."

The IMRA committee's first task is to attack the issue of advertising terms. "We're trying to agree on definitions for recyclable, degradable, and reusable. And how about compostable?"

Meanwhile, Mike Altier, legislative counsel for the National Retail Federation, is trying to organize a network of environmental advisers and activists in all 50 states. "That's where the action is," he asserts. "It's not here in Washington."

Altier is organizing the state-by-state effort to battle restrictive rules at the grassroots level. The new Solid Waste and Packaging Task Force is part of the NRF's Clean Environment Committee. The committee has six corporations as members, including Woolworth's and Sears, five state retail groups, and one trade association, the Food Marketing Institute.

Manufacturers, who feel under the gun from both retailers and the public at large, are struggling to cope and reaching out for understanding. They fear backlash from consumer activists if they press too hard. And some manufacturers seem to feel a little overlooked by retailers.

"I'm hopeful," said Tom Conley, executive director of the National Housewares Manufacturers Association in Chicago, "that we can work with other associations to elevate the discussions so that manufacturers can speak freely without fear of retaliation.

"There has to be more communication between manufacturers and retailers," declared Conley, whose organization represents 1,600 housewares manufacturers.

"It seems to me," Conley said, "that there ought to be a meeting where we can all lay the issues on the table, exchange position papers, and come up with a business strategy to deal with the state governments. "I have not seen a lot of that forthcoming yet," he said.

One of the retail groups that is, indeed, reaching out, is the National Sporting Goods Association.

The NSGA has added a session to its three-day Management Conference at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in May called "Doing Business Without Doing In The Environment." Panelists will include Penn Athletic president Matt Dingman and Porter Athletic Equipment president Greg Hege, according to NSGA official Larry Weindruch.

On the flip side, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association is considering switching to recycled paper for its bimonthly Action Update newsletter as a sign of leadership in the field, said Mike May, communications director.

At the American Hardware Manufacturers Association, program manager Jack Kelleher said the environmental issue, which last year didn't even register on a poll of member concerns, has leaped to the second position, behind only tax policy issues.

But Kelleher, voicing a common concern among officials at manufacturer associations, admitted, "We just don't feel comfortable telling our members what to do."

For now, the hardware makers' association is taking a wait-and-see attitude. Or, in Kelleher's terms, "We're at the data collection stage. We're only just starting the formulation stage of possible programs."

"It's not very easy to lead in this area," agreed David Miller, president of the 230-member Toy Manufacturers of America. "We have to ask ourselves what we can do as an association that our members cannot do individually. And it's hard to say that an association can do much about this issue."

Nevertheless, at the Photo Marketing Association, Bill Lewis, director of information services, asserted, "We take an active role in informing members that they should be in compliance with all effluent waste regulations."

But do consumers care? Not really, said Lewis. They are more excited, he said, when they can return for recycling the round plastic canisters which protect the sealed, lightproof metal rolls of film. "A lot of our processors are offering to take them back and reuse them," Lewis said.

Some industry trade groups insist they are immune to the controversy.

Alan Haber, communications manager at the Electronic Industries Association, claimed "the whole thing doesn't really apply to us."