As business people, most of you focus first on the bottom line. If it's not profitable, why should you bother? But New Zealand's business community is waking up to the fact that sustainable business is good for the bottom line in other ways, too. The "Environmental Choice" accreditation scheme was recently rated as one of the three examples of "best practice" in voluntary eco-labelling schemes worldwide, and recognition of the value of this branding is soaring. The uptake of this scheme is about to double.

And I am sure the same will happen with accredited product stewardship schemes in the next few years. Being first cab off the rank with product stewardship schemes that comply with new regulations will give many of you a distinct edge over your competitors.

It's not just the membership of the Packaging Council that has made significant strides over the last four years. The central and local government sectors have made big changes, at all levels, to reduce waste. Significant efforts have been made in setting direction, policy and infrastructure to enable ongoing improvements in waste minimisation. The investment has been massive, but necessary to ensure we can all continue improving our performance.

Thanks to the efforts of the Packaging Accord and its signatories, New Zealand business is a lot more comfortable with the concept of waste minimisation. Sectors like the paint industry have made that leap to the point where almost everyone is comfortable in that space. And those companies who shirk their waste minimisation responsibilities, for minimal or no competitive advantage, are thin on the ground.

In the past, it has frustrated many that there has been no way to exert leverage on those "free riders" who don't rise to the challenge. With the new Act, there are ways we can exert that pressure if necessary, but it's our expectation that industry is reaching a new level of maturity and sophistication, in the way they face that responsibility. And we'll be expecting that the Packaging Council will be leading the charge to get these players on board.

So, where to from here? As I mentioned previously, despite the fact that it's so great to see that all sectors are at, or ahead of their five year recovery targets, it's very important that you not ease off the accelerator now that we are in the home strait. I hope that all sectors will continue to expand the industry uptake of the principals promoted by the Packaging Accord, and ensure those recovery rates continue to grow.

The end of the current Accord is not far away now, and it's time we all turned our energies towards the framework for minimising packaging waste that will emerge after next July. I hope that you will all study the new Act carefully and consider how you can best advance Product Stewardship, for both yourselves and your industries.

And central government will be ready, willing and able to guide you through that process. The new Act dictates that the nature of our involvement will change after the expiry of the Accord. But whatever label you care to put on our involvement, you can be assured that our support for strong, voluntary, industry driven initiatives to minimise waste remains undiminished.

Economic transformation and climate change have been buzzwords where I come from for a while now, but outside of Wellington those things don't necessarily mean a lot to ordinary New Zealanders. What the Packaging Accord's success has done is encourage businesses to deliver on both of these, while appealing to the principals of environmentalism and profit maximisation at the same time.

Waste minimisation is one area where industry really can have its cake and eat it too. We commend the Packaging Accord partners' efforts, but we think NZ has an appetite that is only just being tapped, so let's all do what we can to sell more of that particular cake.

In summary, the Packaging Accord has done great things. But soon it will be time to take the voluntary responsibility for minimising packaging waste to a new level. The Waste Minimisation Act can seriously help that process. Let's get together and get on with it!

Paul Curtis

Thank you Martyn. Everyone here today has an interest in ensuring that the Waste Minimisation Act delivers the best outcomes for resource recovery, reuse and recycling at best cost. We all have a role to play. Central Government in making the sure the regulatory framework is supportive and flexible; industry in producing packaging which is better for the environment and establishing commercially viable recycling markets.

However the lynchpin has to be local government and the recovery services provided across New Zealand by local councils. 97% of New Zealanders have access to either kerbside or drop-off recycling facilities, which is a phenomenal achievement. This year's report also acknowledges the often difficult decisions which councils have to take about waste collection and recovery services. Local councils must consider influencing factors such as population size, tourism, logistics and local demands on the waste stream, which in short means that one size does not fit all when it comes to solutions.

I would like to invite Councillor Dianne Hale, representing Local Government NZ, which is the national voice of local government, to talk about the contribution which local government makes to the Packaging Accord. Councillor Hale has been an elected member of Local Government New Zealand's National Council since 1992 and served for nine years as Deputy Mayor of North Shore City Council.

1. Tony Nowell, Chair of Packaging Accord Governing Board, distinguished guests and colleagues, it's a pleasure to be here on behalf of Local Government New Zealand to celebrate the progress made during year 4 of the Packaging Accord.

2. As the national voice of local authorities and an advocate for world-class waste minimisation initiatives, Local Government New Zealand is an important part of the Packaging Accord.

3. Local government is just one sector that plays a pivotal role in the packaging life cycle. Our sector plays a role through the provision of waste and recycling services, waste minimisation programmes, and also as a major purchaser.

4. As you know, the packaging life cycle is much more than that. The collaboration and commitment of industry groups, and central and local government under the Accord recognises that we all have a role to play and are willing to work together to achieve results that are bigger than any one sector.

5. I note Tony's observation in the Annual Report that New Zealand has accelerated its packaging recovery ahead of the European Union, Australia and USA.

6. The packaging recovery results serve as inspiration for what New Zealand industries and the two arms of Government have managed to achieve by focusing on the reason why we are doing this - to create environmental sustainability now and for the future.

7. It's been with this objective that Local Government New Zealand has provided input to the new waste minimisation legislation over the past year. A core part of our role has been to identify implementation issues for councils to help them deal with this fundamental change to the regulatory environment.

8. The place of recycling in the new legislation remains unclear after disappointing late changes to the bill. We hope this will not hinder effective waste minimisation initiatives being run in local areas.

9. The Packaging Accord has demonstrated the importance of robust data in monitoring progress against set targets. Data on recycling is critical and we will be working with central government to ensure that information is available to contribute to waste minimisation planning and activities.

10. At the coal face, councils have continued to introduce positive new recycling and waste minimisation initiatives into their communities. These are designed to suit the characteristics of the community and consider population size, logistics and local demands on the waste stream. Once again a "one size fits all" approach cannot work.

11. Inevitably council decisions on waste management services and contracts can be difficult, high profile and sometimes controversial with the positive outcomes taking time to be seen.

12. The success of the high profile decisions made by Auckland City Council and Manukau City Council last year to introduce a state of the art Materials Recovery Facility has become evident with the operation of the new site in Onehunga over the last few months.

13. A huge 96 per cent of all material that is received at Onehunga is now recovered through the Visy MRF, with only 4 per cent going to landfill. And a huge 27% increase in volumes collected in Manukau has well exceeded expectations. The Onehunga site is proving to be one of the most efficient material recovery facilities in Australasia. It's a first for New Zealand and will lead the way for similar facilities in the next few years.

14. Another positive announcement this year was Christchurch City Council's decision to introduce a new three-bin domestic kerbside collection service from March 2009. The collection will include organic waste and is expected to reduce the amount of household waste sent to landfill by one third.

15. Tauranga City Council's waste management initiative with business was profiled at one of the Local Government New Zealand conference sessions this year as part of the sustainability agenda. The case study highlighted the results of Tauranga's cleaner production programme at a large retail shopping mall and showed the level of waste minimisation and recycling progress that can be made with collaborative initiatives at a local level.

16. In 2008, Local Government New Zealand has continued to support the Government's Recycling in Public Places Project. The pilot now involves a significant number of councils and will provide invaluable information about the costs and benefits of public recycling services.

17. Last year support was given to the Packaging Council's Rest and Recycle Christmas campaign by encouraging councils to take up the messages and promote local recycling during the peak holiday period. We will be supporting the campaign again this year as we all count down to the holiday season and finally experiencing some well-earned sun!

18. In Year 5 the focus will be on the implementation of the new waste legislation and projects coming out of that such as new waste minimisation plans, identifying priority products for mandatory product stewardship and reviewing the NZ Waste Strategy targets.

19. All of these projects are of significant interest to both Local Government New Zealand and councils, and all impact on the Accord. Where the Packaging Accord fits in the new regulatory environment is a topic that will be fully considered in Year 5.

20. The local government sector will continue to play a pivotal role in the packaging life cycle and the year ahead for the Accord.

21. I congratulate you all for your organisation's role and your collective contribution towards minimising packaging waste.

Paul Curtis

Thank you Councillor Hale. From an industry perspective, one of the great advantages of partnering with local and central government through the Packaging Accord is the opportunity to debate and better understand the issues which the public sector has to consider in making decisions about disposal or recovery services.

It is easy to think that such decisions are made in isolation but the Packaging Council has worked closely with a number of councils and the Ministry for the Environment on issues as wide ranging as Auckland's new state-of-the-art Materials Recovery Facility, new markets for recovered packaging, public place recycling and recycling at outdoor public events. There is a huge amount of effort and consultation behind all of these decisions.

Reciprocally we know that the public sector has learnt from industry about some of the issues which impact its choices. For example packaging manufacturers, brand owners and retailers have to balance single environmental considerations such as recyclability with the broader environmental impact of manufacturing, filling, transporting and distributing both the packaging and packed products to bring them to market.

The Packaging Accord provides a forum for the different perspectives of brand owners and retailers, packaging manufacturers, recycling operators, local and central government to be brought together. The number of submissions to the Waste Minimisation Bill shows just how hotly debated a topic waste is. However the Packaging Accord Governing Board is a strong team bringing together parties that had previously worked on waste minimization in isolation.

At the helm of this team is Tony Nowell who signed the Packaging Accord in 2004 on behalf of the brand owners and retailers. In this year's report we reflect on the journey so far and in preparing the content, we have reflected on how tough the early years were - not just in terms of getting traction across and within sectors to increase recovery but dealing with specific issues such as threats to glass collection.

Under Tony's stewardship we have made excellent progress. Today we have a great story to tell. Overall we are recycling 60% of the packaging consumed and we have now met or surpassed the individual recycling targets for paper, glass, aluminium, plastic and steel. New Zealand now has a recycling rate which is ahead or on a par with that achieved in the European Union, USA and Australia.

However balancing economic, social and environmental imperatives is challenging and will continue to be so. I will ask Tony to present this fourth Packaging Accord Annual Report and to consider the challenges which lie ahead for the fifth and final year.

Tony Nowell, Chair of the Packaging Accord Governing Board

If you had told me when I presented the first Annual Report in 2005 that we could meet or exceed the recovery targets by the end of Year 4, I would have counseled caution. Think back to stories about glass stockpiles, rising packaging consumption, limited markets for recovered materials and the resultant economic pressures on recycling operators and consumer apathy about recycling.

Paul talked of the Governing Board as the helm - well the sailing analogy fits the Packaging Accord perfectly. Critics of a voluntary agreement said that only an external force such as legislation could turn the ship around quickly. They were wrong. The strength of the Packaging Accord is the crew on board.

In Year 1 we plotted our course. Since then communication and teamwork have been key to keeping the sails full and the ship moving forward.

We've experienced a few storms along the way but we've also benefited from favorable winds such as the huge shift in consumer perception about environmental issues and the upturn in commodity values for a whole range of recovered packaging materials.

Winning any race depends on a mix of speed and accuracy and I think what we have achieved in four years shows that voluntary product stewardship can deliver.

So I congratulate everyone here today on an exceptional performance to deliver 60% recovery overall.

However The Accord is about more than recycling targets. Targets are an important measurement of improvement but they must be supported by advocacy, innovation and education. This report highlights how we are doing this:-

I think of the issues facing the packaging industry as a microcosm of those facing New Zealand's economy as a whole. Since the start of the Accord consumption has increased by 5.4% but is slowing whilst packaging recovery has increased in the same period by 17% and is continuing to outstrip consumption.

Households are recycling more with a wider range of materials collected at kerbside which are being processed through more technologically advanced facilities.

One of the principal challenges identified at the start of the Accord process was the need to develop markets for recovered materials and we recognised that this would only happen when prices for these materials made recycling commercially viable. This is now happening. New markets have opened up in New Zealand and internationally for recovered materials with an estimated value to our economy of around $100 million based on today's market prices.

In particular markets have opened up globally for grades of plastics which were previously not collected. This will help stimulate further recycling.

And we shouldn't apologize for this. Economic viability is a key part of sustainability - recycling is an industry which has to make money to survive. Recovered materials trade as commodities just as virgin materials such as pulp, and oil do and as such will be part of a competitive international market.

However it is worth noting that as with all tradable commodities values will fluctuate with global demand. Developing markets will one day be able to meet much of their own demand through increased domestic consumption.

We must also be mindful that doing business with developing markets comes with risks attached. This has been made all to clear to us with Fonterra's experience over recent weeks. As a packaged goods industry we have a responsibility to ensure that we source packaging materials and subsequently recycle them with both social and environmental considerations in mind. We cannot simply send our own problems offshore. This is not what New Zealanders expect when they put out their packaging for recycling.

In addition to international markets we must also continue to commercialise new recycling businesses here.

But we need critical mass to compete globally. Instead as small players on the world stage we are the recipients of choices which other countries make about packaging. For example packaging imports now make up to 50% of our plastics consumption.

We need to manage the environmental quality of the imported product and its packaging and ensure its recyclability in our market.

And as production of some of our large manufacturers such as Fisher & Paykel move overseas domestic packaging production will reduce.

Whilst this trend towards off shoring manufacturing to lower wage economies continues, we are delighted to report that O-I New Zealand has announced that it will start construction of a 3rd glass making furnace in Auckland. This presents another challenge for Accord parties. Whilst a new furnace will significantly increase the market for glass cullet once it is operational O-I will require a supply of high quality cullet which may not be readily available if there is a wholesale shift across New Zealand to commingled collections.

As we await the impact which the product stewardship requirements of the Waste Minimisation Act will have on a subsequent Accord or on individual sectors, cooperation between all parties is imperative. Under a voluntary mechanism New Zealand has achieved a recycling rate which is comparable with countries that have adopted mandatory targets. We can and will do better.

We would be naïve not to accept that there will be change. The Ministry for the Environment has been an important part of the existing Accord represented on the Governing Board and providing part funding for the secretariat function. Under the new Act, the Ministry will be playing a different role involved as a gate keeper.

And we probably all have different expectations of what the Waste Minimisation Act will deliver. There are 85 councils each with different views on what can be recycled and how; who should pay and how costs are allocated. Packaging manufacturers, brand owners, retailers, the waste management sector and consumers all have their own concerns and hopes for what might happen next.

Whilst recovery targets were paramount in 2004, today we are also being asked how the Packaging Accord is dealing with its member's carbon footprint and ethical behaviour. The answers to all of these questions are complex.

As Chair of the Governing Board I am committed to closing out this Accord and negotiating the next set of commitments for packaging. We have sailed a long way together. At the outset the Accord was more about co-ordination; then came cooperation and we are now embarking on the most important phase - collaboration.

I thank each of my colleagues on the Governing Board and the secretariat for their support and contribution.

Paul Curtis

Thank you Tony.

Last month Visy Recycling opened its doors to a new state-of-the-art Material Recovery Facility in Auckland which cost $22 million to build and is on track to process 70,000 tonnes of packaging and paper in year one. As Tony has said, recycling is a commercial industry which has huge economic as well as environmental benefits for New Zealand.

This facility brings recycling up to a scale in New Zealand which we have never seen before and it has not been without its controversy. I have been careful in my remarks to use the term 'industry' to refer to all the commercial parties to the Accord, including the recycling operators. Recycling has to be commercially viable to be economically sustainable.

It is my pleasure to introduce Bruce Gledhill to speak on behalf of the Recycling Operators of NZ and address how the economics of recycling are constantly evolving.

Bruce Gledhill - representing the Recycling Operators of New Zealand (RONZ)

As has already been said, the recycling industry is going through a huge transformation. The growing fleets of one man self loading trucks collecting commingled materials reduce labour costs as well reducing the health and safety risks to the runners who have traditionally collected the recycling crates. Once collected, automated sorting is becoming the norm. We now have Visy's facility servicing the kerbside collections by Auckland and Manukau councils; the Becon Recycling mechanised facility for recycling commercial and industrial discards in Christchurch is fully operational and is soon to be followed with a new MRF operated by Meta NZ Ltd.

Change comes with its challenges. The recycling industry has voiced concerns about whether increased mechanization would result in increased potential for reduced quality of the fractions and therefore reductions of the actual yield of recyclables. With services now operational we are looking forward to the arguments from both sides of the debate being tested against the facts. This will help us continually improve our services.

Whilst secondary metal commodities enjoyed a boom in demand for most of this year there was a sudden crash in demand during August which shows the vulnerability of commodity markets just as we see on the financial markets. Plastic recycling opportunities have increased as the price of oil and most minerals rose sharply during 2008. This has helped extend the range of materials covered by collection contract schedules and a number of recyclers have been exporting post-consumer plastics of all grades and in all forms.

However we have been unable to roll out this benefit to the whole country because council contract designs often limit wider take up. Both councils and collectors have to balance the up-side benefit of responding to opportunities against the down-side risk attached to communicating set-out schedule changes to the public. As recycling operators we believe that it is an opportunity lost if a community is driven by a desire to have a 'least cost' recycling service rather than to allow its contract to be flexible enough that to seize opportunities to divert as much as is sustainably possible - where that sustainability is locally qualified.

We look forward to the Waste Minimisation Act driving public demand for good design and for more disposal options. This will be the encouragement that brand owners need to justify actually responding to this diverse expectation and obligation with recyclers able to provide solutions. Landfill waste levies will generate revenue enabling recyclers to address opportunities that were previously "too hard.

Much is already happening. New markets are opening up for commercial collections. "Liquid Paper", milk and fruit juice carton material is now collected from commercial sources for recycling as is source separated PLA being incorporated into secondary products.

We also applaud the government's public space recycling initiative and we would like these new opportunities to be offered to recycling businesses.

We expect Product Stewardship schemes, such as the Packaging Accord to multiply and increase in momentum and achievement. We can look forward to the RONZ haka 'More Volume, More Variety, More Value' -becoming a reality in the next few years. Recycling will become a great business to be in; as a worker, a manager and as an investor.

Thank you Bruce

The Packaging Council brings together packaging manufacturers, recycling operators, brand owners and retailers. Our members manufacture over 75% of New Zealand's top 100 food and grocery brands contributing over NZ$17 billion to the local economy.

To monitor the effectiveness of how Accord parties communicate to New Zealanders about recycling, the Packaging Council has over the past three years commissioned independent media analysis. The key findings for Year 4 were :-

I would like to welcome David Carter, Vice President of the Packaging Council to speak on behalf of the packaged goods industry about some of the initiatives undertaken by industry.

David Carter, Vice President Packaging Council of New Zealand

If a week is a long time in politics, then four years is a very long time in the packaged goods industry. There is a much greater choice of food and grocery products on the supermarket shelves reflecting our increasingly global tastes and the demand for a range of portion sizes to meet the needs of the single person through to large family units.

The principal indicator of success for the Packaging Accord is the annual recovery rate. Whilst no overall target was set for all packaging types; at the start of the Packaging Accord, 53% of packaging was recycled. Today we are recycling 60% with some sectors such as paper and aluminium performing at world class levels. The recycling rate for paperboard at 78% is close to the theoretical maximum. We are collecting a massive 69,000 tonnes more packaging each year than we did at the outset. To put this in perspective this is the equivalent of 8 football fields of packaging diverted from landfill for use either to create new packaging or to make new products.

However some will say it's all very well diverting it from landfill but do we actually need all this packaging anyway?

Well the simple answer is - yes we do. The purpose of packaging is to protect and preserve the product from its manufacture, during transportation and storage right through to when the consumer opens it in their home. Our meat and dairy products are typically consumed by people on the other side of the world and consumer demand coupled with the restructuring of a global economy means New Zealanders are importing increasingly from overseas. Without packaging there would be far more waste.

That said we can always improve our performance. The Packaging Accord challenges manufacturers, brand owners and retailers to design packaging which has a lower environmental footprint. In particular we were asked to focus on a single issue - recyclability of packaging - but the agenda has changed and many Packaging Council members have are now considering the wider carbon footprint of their manufacturing processes and supply chains.

This inevitably presents challenges. When brand owners change packaging from a recyclable steel container to a non-recyclable composite laminate plastic, for economic reasons and to reduce overall energy consumption and green house gas emissions - the recycling industry along with local and central government feel that industry is paying lip service its Packaging Accord committments. For its part industry wonders why incinerating non-recyclable waste and capturing the released energy, which is common practice in many EU countries with clean green images every bit as good as ours, is such an anathema in New Zealand.

The Packaging Accord provides a platform for each party to work together. And together we have performed well against the targets:

The fifth and final year of this Accord will continue to be challenging. We must:

Underpinning all of this is the need to understand the ramifications of the Waste Minimisation Act on the Packaging Accord.

The question for industry is whether packaging will be a priority product under the Act. We don't know the answer but the report which has been presented today shows just what we have all achieved at best cost under this voluntary agreement. We have an excellent product stewardship scheme in place which is seen as the role model for other industries - we should fight to keep it.

But actions speak louder than words. We want to finish the fifth and final year of this Packaging Accord on a high and the grand finale will be the Packaging Council's 2009 Environmental Packaging Awards. The categories will be launched next week at the Foodtech Packtech exposition, but please pick up a flier on your way out this morning and put the date of the gala awards presentation evening in your diary. The awards will your opportunity to showcase the very best of sustainable packaging to the world.

Paul Curtis

Thank you David. I would like to thank all our speakers this morning. And I would like to thank you all for coming to demonstrate your continued support for the Packaging Accord.

The question now is where to from here? We are in a time of global economic turmoil and the emissions trading scheme and Waste Minimisation Act provide further uncertainty. So the Packaging Council has pulled together a 'cutting edge' seminar series at Foodtech Packtech next week where delegates will be given the opportunity to learn from experts in their field on how business can integrate innovation, sustainability and the requirements of the new environmental legislation as a complete business model. The question you have to ask is can you afford not to be there!

But it's not all doom and gloom. As David has said, we'll be launching our 2009 Environmental Packaging Awards next week and we invite you to join us at the Cirque de Soleil inspired gala awards presentation evening extravaganza on the 4th September 2009. Be there, or be square!

THANK YOU.