The end of the beginning: packaging product stewardship in New Zealand
Submitted by Packaging Council of New Zealand
“The end of the beginning” describes the period facing the Packaging Council of New Zealand as we transition from a second five-year packaging accord - a voluntary undertaking by central and local government, the Recycling Operators of New Zealand and the Packaging Council of New Zealand to reduce packaging waste’s environmental impact in New Zealand - into a new era of specific waste legislation and the framework for mandatory product stewardship.
The Packaging Council of New Zealand (Inc.) was founded in 1992 as the Packaging Industry Advisory Council to provide one industry voice to government on the issues surrounding the environmental impact of packaging. Today, it’s the longest-standing product stewardship organization in New Zealand. Membership has expanded to cover all elements of the packaging lifecycle, from packaging material manufacturers to brand owners and retailers and, ultimately, to recyclers and waste disposal companies. A primary benefit of this cross-sector membership is the opportunity for companies to network with supply chain partners. Given today’s emphasis on environmental impacts that go well beyond the boundaries of an individual company, the Packaging Council has a scope of membership ideally placed to foster collaborative working practices up and down their individual supply chains.
It has successfully implemented two voluntary packaging product stewardship schemes, both for a duration of five years, and the most recent being completed this year. The most tangible environmental objective for packaging during these accords has been recyclability.
“Mass balance data” is compiled annually to track recovery levels and trends of packaging waste to landfill. The recent release of mass balance data marking the end of the second five-year packaging accord reveals New Zealand has achieved an overall recycling rate of 58 percent. Since 2004, the total quantity of packaging recycled increased by 26 percent, whereas consumption of packaging increased at a much slower pace by 14 percent. On a per capita basis the quantity recycled by every New Zealander increased from 83 kg to 100 kg.
But it hasn’t been the only achievement. We’ve also seen significant light-weighting of packaging materials during this time, a significant reduction in the number of plastic bags being used, and more companies incorporating packaging design guidelines into new product development processes.
Today, however, companies are looking well beyond their own products and services as the focus shifts to the environmental impacts across the whole packaging lifecycle. Packaging product stewardship for the future will encompass the industry taking a complete supply chain approach to new product development and not just looking at recyclability. Under this framework, the Packaging Council’s broad membership provides the opportunity for a product stewardship scheme that can be bold in its objectives while providing a cost-effective means for members to engage in product stewardship practices.
ENVIRONMENTAL PACAKGING AWARDS
It’s a brave new world, one the New Zealand packaging industry is embracing with passion, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. This has been highlighted in the recent Environmental Packaging Awards, a bi-annual event run by the Packaging Council to showcase the New Zealand packaging industry.
The 2009 event was the result of a major re-shaping of the award categories, moving away from the packaging material-specific focus used in the past to one of recognizing what packaging does rather than what it is.
The 2009 overall Supreme Winner went to Fonterra Co-operative Group - New Zealand’s largest company and the world’s leading exporter of dairy products, responsible for more than a third of international dairy trade - for their redesigned Anhydrous Milk Fat (AMF) Packaging, which won the ‘excellence in packaging of exported products’ award. The judges commented that the new SpaceKraft packaging format delivered on: health and safety, product quality and environmental outcomes. The significant investment made by Fonterra has resulted in a world-class package that’s highly functional, eliminates leakage and spoilage issues, is hygienic, and offers superior product integrity and shelf life. It’s an innovative solution that will deliver a positive environmental benefit on an international scale. It’s also testament to the achievements that can be attained when a company embarks on a project bringing together internal personnel, material suppliers and customers. The re-designing of this packaging format went beyond a team effort, the result of which was a truly outstanding package.
COMMITTED TO THE FUTURE
While the packaging awards bring together the Who’s Who of New Zealand packaging to showcase innovation and development, it’s consumer education that remains the single most challenging piece of work for industry under a product stewardship regime.
Industry advancement in terms of smart materials, process engineering and general waste management are largely un-noticed by the consumer, whom often gives little to no thought to packaging until the product is consumed and the remainder becomes waste. It’s against this backdrop the urban legend of “all packaging is inherently bad” thrives. As an industry, we have a long way to go to promote the positive benefits of packaging and to maintain a constant drive to minimize the environmental impact of packaging in the face of ever-sophisticated technology that not only drives both process and material advancements, but also the connectivity of internet social networking sites where the lines between fact and fiction are blurred and statistics can be found to support any particular viewpoint.
Engagement and commitment across all stakeholders is the cornerstone of successful product stewardship and as the new regulatory environment sets the rules, the Packaging Council of New Zealand will be at the forefront of all of the issues, challenges and opportunities; championing the role of packaging and promoting the packaging industry for its conservation of resources - preventing more waste than it creates.
To learn more about Packaging Council of New Zealand please visit : www.packaging.org.nz
View Digital Corporate Profile of PackagingCouncil in Manufacturing Digital December 2009