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Kiwi rap and hip hop artist Che Fu fronts school rap competition promoting glass recycling. School children and students from two Auckland schools joined Che Fu at Bastion Point, Auckland to talk about recycling and to learn how to enter the nationwide Glass Recycling Rap competition. Listen to the Che Fu Rap the Gap lyrics and encourage your local schools to enter the competition on the attached video link as follows:- Articles for the Autumn edition of ACCORDing to PACKAGING are due end May 2008. We welcome and encourage those involved in bringing the Packaging Accord 2004 to life to contribute to this newsletter. Please send us your stories and comments so they can be shared with others. In This Issue... PACKAGING COUNCIL OF NEW ZEALAND
Improving the sustainability of packaging used in New Zealand One day seminar – 15 April 2008 Come and learn from case studies by industry experts on: opportunities and threats of green consumerism; product stewardship & consumer engagement; sustainable packaging design; the vital role of an efficient supply chain; packaging waste reduction & resource recovery and how these relate to the New Zealand Packaging Accord. Click here to download the programme and registration form.
Keynote speakers Hon. Trevor Mallard Professor Ann Smith Peter Smith David Perkins John Albertson
EBAG achieves an 86% recycling rate at WOMAD 2008
From 14 – 16 March 2008 the annual WOMAD (World of Music Art and Dance) event was held in Taranaki. The event was opened by the Prime Minister who praised the effort that had gone into making it a sustainable event and she challenged the public to do the right thing throughout the three days. This was backed up by ongoing stage announcements asking patrons to sort their waste streams correctly at the recycling stations provided around the site. EBAG would like to acknowledge the Glass Packaging Forum who supplied their mobile glass crusher and Transpacific Industries for facilitating the equipment and materials that enabled us to achieve a fantastic 86% recycling rate. Many meetings were held to plan the best design and recovery systems that would achieve the working group’s goals, which included the use of the EBAG Recycling at Events Guideline’s. This ensured that all bases were covered from the type of products and packaging that were to be used by the stall holders through to an integrated waste handling system that involved the waste and recycling operators, through to the public. Four double and three singular entry recycling stations were placed around the event, which had three separate entries where the public could place biodegradable, recyclable or residual waste into clear plastic bags. These stations were also manned by volunteers who helped the public identify the correct place for each waste stream and samples of the waste streams were attached to the stations above the appropriate entries to further assist the public. A further 20 sets of 3 X 240 litre bins (for bio-degradable, recyclable and residual waste) for ‘back of house’ use (i.e. stall holders, stage crew and administration personnel) were also manned by volunteers to help ensure that they were used correctly. Each waste stream was then moved to a sorting yard where they were checked for contamination and placed in the appropriate bin for dispatch to the appropriate destinations. Summary of the material collected and separated into the different streams:
Bio based and Degradable Plastics The degradable plastics working group have met several times and have begun working in earnest on a Product Stewardship Guide and Commitment for managing degradable plastics in New Zealand. The guide will be jointly produced by Plastics New Zealand and the Ministry for the Environment. The Ministry for the Environment has offered to assist the Community Recycling Network to attend the meetings. The community recyclers will continue with visual hand sorting into the foreseeable future so clear labelling of bio based and degradable plastics is very important. The guide will take several months to complete but is expected before the end of 2008. Enquiries about using bioplastics and PLA continue to gain momentum. Have you ever wondered how your production efficiency compares against other plastics companies? Plastics New Zealand have developed a benchmarking tool for its members that enables companies to input some simple data on energy, water, waste and resin use and compare its performance against other plastic manufacturers with a similar mix of processes.
With a minimal amount of data and time a company can examine its energy use, water consumption and waste production over time. It can benchmark its performance against plastic manufacturers in Europe and eventually, when enough companies are using the tool companies will be able to benchmark their performance against plastic manufacturers in New Zealand. This benchmarking tool is only available to members of Plastics New Zealand. Register to start using the tool at http://benchmark.plastics.org.nz For further information contact Simon Wilkinson, Best Practice Energy Facilitator, Plastics New Zealand on (021) 944992 or simon@plastics.org.nz
Astron capital investment programme paying dividends for the environment
Catering to the growing demand for its services, Astron Plastics has recently expanded its extrusion capacity in three of its five recycling plants in Australasia. Astron Auckland has taken delivery this month of a second state-of-the-art recycling extruder to enable it to meet increasing demand from local manufacturers. This follows expansion of shredding capacity late last year.
Says Group CEO Richard Anyon “The capital investment programme places Astron at the forefront of plastic recycling in the New Zealand and Australian markets. This positions Astron to service our growing scrap plastic supplier base as our suppliers recognise the importance of channelling recyclable plastic scrap back into the local economy versus shipping unprocessed material to China. This is a win-win for New Zealand manufacturing sustainability”. For over 20 years Astron Plastics has been at the forefront of recycling plastics in New Zealand and Australia and has built up substantial expertise helping businesses to reduce waste, save costs and become more environmentally responsible. Dual height crate delivers positive benefits to Foodstuffs
The challenge The focus was to design a crate that provided two working heights for space efficiency, offered maximum top load strength and satisfied the objectives of the Packaging Accord - providing supply chain efficiencies, removing packaging waste, reducing vehicle and fuel costs, minimising damaged stock, etc. Positive impact "With the new crate we are now seeing the benefits of using every bit of the vertical space in the back of the trucks. We couldn't do that with cardboard boxes," says David Couper, Assistant General Manager of Foodstuffs Operations Group. David describes the massive space utilisation improvement achieved by the dual height 23/28 litre crate thus; "Our previous cardboard system meant that we could only go to seven high to avoid crushing of the boxes and damage to the product. With the Viscount crates we can go 12 high resulting in 60 crates to a pallet compared with 42 cartons"He is quick to point out: "We are achieving around a 15% improvement in distribution efficiency. This is even bigger when all stores take a maximum load. But that's the nature of retail.” Having masterminded the re-distribution of fresh poultry through the new Foodstuffs Distribution Centre in Palmerston North and introduction of the Returnable Transit Packaging (RTP) system, David is fully conversant with the benefits to Foodstuffs and to their owner-operated stores, and can rattle them off.
The future Being a dynamic and successful company and one of New Zealand's largest employers, Foodstuffs and their Operations Group are not content with any status quo. They are rolling out the concept to include the picking of chilled and frozen products at the distribution centre."We used to pick into cartons. The Viscount Crates work so well we have now also introduced them into our store product picking." As the project develops, David Couper sees opportunities to improve the efficiencies further: "From the current 10c saving per crate, we are targeting a saving of 12-15c, and then on to 20c. When you multiply that across 750,000 crate a year, you will understand movements a year, you will understand our excitement," says David.
Our website We’ve given the website a complete overhaul to make sure it’s more HIP - in line with our new younger audience. The site provides lots of information about glass recycling and what glass can be used for. www.glassforum.org.nz Glass rap competition Our commitment under the Packaging Accord requires us to raise consumer awareness of glass recycling. Given the success we have had in promoting the ‘mobile glass crusher’ to local community media, the Steering Group agreed to a schools competition about glass recycling. Over the summer break we reached a contractual arrangement with Kiwi rap and hip hop artist Che Fu to front a school rap competition promoting glass recycling.
So on Friday 7th March school children and students from two Auckland schools joined Che Fu at Bastion Point to talk about recycling and to learn how to enter the nationwide Glass Recycling Rap competition. David Carter explained that the competition is intended to encourage young people to recycle more glass: “Scientific data and recycling numbers are quite boring so working with someone like Che Fu to promote glass recycling has much more credibility.” Che Fu told students from Orakei Primary and Selwyn College that he had jumped at the chance to be part of a campaign to promote the environment to young people because it was consistent with his approach to make positive music. And the Steering Group went along to learn all about RAP… Listen to the Che Fu Rap the Gap lyrics and encourage your local schools to enter the competition on the attached video link as follows:- http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=bz6f76f6 The competition will run until the end of Term 1. The next generation of rap artists has a chance to win a package of prizes which includes recording their lyrics with Che Fu in an Auckland recording studio. The competition is aimed at 9 to 15 year olds and asks them to put their thoughts on glass recycling to Che Fu’s music. Winning entries will be announced to coincide with World Environment Day on 5th June which will be hosted this year in Wellington. Project update It’s not all been about musical rap… Mobile glass crusher
Over the summer the crusher has been involved in several PR events culminating in an appearance at WOMAD 2008. TV3 Christchurch ran an interview with John Webber about the crusher and uses for glass and Radio NZ ran the pod cast on glass for the Changing World night-time educational programme on its Jim Moro afternoon show. Perhaps an unintended consequence of having launched the mobile crusher is that its presence appears to have created a glass crushing market which did not previously exist. A number of councils initially targeted as potential customers for the mobile crusher have now acted on their own initiative. This is undoubtedly positive since our mission is to encourage glass crushing activities which will enable the glass to be recycled into other useful products. Alternative uses for glass… Palmerston City Council Recycling Report Cook Islands recycling Tararua Resource Recovery
Want to know how you can promote your business activities on a shoestring budget? The award winning steel can recycling group, CANZBAC, will share how it has been promoting steel can recycling and educating consumers with limited funding at the upcoming Packaging Accord seminar on April 15th. Looking at the different initiatives the group has used to reach and engage its different audiences, CANZBAC will outline how it works to raise awareness and improve the understanding around recycling opportunities. CANZBAC, the public face of the Steel Can Association New Zealand, took first place in the 'Educational / Promotional Programme Encouraging Materials Recovery' category at the Packaging Council’s Environmental Packaging Awards last year and it also received a Highly Commended in the Improved Consumer Information & Involvement category. In 2005, the Steel Can Association of New Zealand – which comprises NCI Packaging, Fonterra Canpac International and Impress Australasia – appointed Donovan Boyd Communications to raise the profile of steel can recycling. Together they launched CANZBAC, a new identity to represent the public face of steel can recycling in New Zealand. Its strategy includes the creation of the CANZBAC website as a reference base, regular media releases about positive and new activities and ongoing contact with target markets via a quarterly newsletter. A friendly cartoon character, Hanable the CAN-able, features on the CANZBAC website’s kids section and is the face of a range of activities including crafts and colouring competitions offered to newspapers and a very successful primary school programme involving hundreds of children. We hope to see you at the presentation. In the meantime, check out the CANZBAC website -see www.canzbac.co.nz.
The paperboard packaging sector has not been sitting on its laurels over its excellent recycling mass balance of 76%, but continues to seek improvements in its efforts for continuous improvements. Companies continue to look at new designs that incorporate reduction and lightweighting and more are including the recycle logo to encourage end users to recycle the package after they have finished with it. At the last New Zealand Paperboard Packaging Association meeting the focus on sustainability continued with guest speaker Nandor Tanczos MP. Nandor outlined some thoughts behind the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill and clarified some of the member’s questions. He accepted that the Packaging Accord was doing a good job, but the Bill was targeted at the areas and companies that did not join in or respond to voluntary measures. He congratulated the paperboard packaging sector on its good efforts in reaching and exceeding their Accord target.
The next meeting of NZPPA is scheduled for Thursday 17th April. NZPPA was represented by Ashley Chisholm at a summit/conference in Singapore organised by the Asian Packaging Federation with the theme - Packaging: Sustaining the Asian Environment. 160 Leaders of the Packaging Industry from 14 Asian and Pacific countries who have a combined membership of more than 35,000 companies met to focus on “Environmental Sustainability in Packaging”. The APF is “A non-profit organization, established in Tokyo, Japan, in 1967, which unites the packaging interests of all trade and industries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, under one co-operative umbrella.” APF has 15 member country Institutes / Associations / Councils from Asia and the Pacific including Australia, but not New Zealand at this stage. In opening the summit, Mr Albert Lim (President of APF) made a number of very interesting comments including that Asia’s packaging industry was “thundering ahead”. In 2006, the Global Packaging Industry had an estimated production output value of US$513.02. As the largest packaging-producing region, Asia’s production value took 31% market share at US$156.54 billion. As a region Asia has been experiencing growth of 12-14.5% annually since 2001 and this will continue to grow, driven by population growth. Home to more than 2.5 billion people, the developing economies of Asia are under great pressure to feed its growing populations. This means the region will need even more packaging than it already uses. With more than 38% of all food produced in Asia wasted between farmer and consumer though - how realistic are sustainable goals? - China estimates food loses due to ‘inappropriate’ packaging and transit at US$3.2 billion while India loses 48% of all food produced. He noted that with consumers increasingly demanding more attention to environmental issues, the Packaging Industry recognizes that it is no longer enough to uphold the 3 ‘P’s of packaging: Protect, Preserve and Promote the product. Now, the 3 ‘R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle packaging, are just as important. In conclusion Mr Lim stated that developing appropriate yet sustainable packaging is crucial to Asia’s booming market. There were a number of high profile International speakers who delivered varied papers on environmental issues, all stressing the growing importance of environmental sustainability. Key Learnings Sustainability is the term used to describe packaging which maximizes the use of renewable or recycled materials, designed to optimize and reduce materials, meets market criteria for performance and cost and is safe and beneficial in a ‘cradle-to-cradle’ lifecycle. There is a fine balancing line between operating businesses and being environmentally responsible, but that sustainability doesn’t have to be about going ‘green’ at a business loss. Corporate social responsibility, especially in relation to the environment, is a real and increasingly important issue to brand owners and so packaging suppliers should learn to meet customers’ requirements in order to gain that business advantage. Sustainability is also a viable corporate social responsibility, and as the largest market in the world with a value of US$156.54 billion, the Asian/Pacific packaging industry is in a good position to make a strong impact, practice and spread the sustainability message. Our efforts towards environmental sustainability in New Zealand are ahead of most if not all the rest of Asia/pacific and the world, and the Printing Industry, NZPPA and NZ Paper Forum member companies can be proud of their achievements so far. Of course we can not stop where we are as there is still plenty to do to reach real sustainability. Resene Paints - Boxing On
Resene Paints - Second Life
For a number of years, Fletcher Building, Golden Bay Cement, Firth Industries, Resene and 3R have been working together to develop innovative solutions for turning waste paint once destined for landfills into a useful ingredient in cementitious applications. PaintCrete, a PaintWise solution, is expected to divert thousands of litres into cementitious applications in the coming years reinforcing the commitment of the collaborating companies to product stewardship, sustainable development and manufacturing. The first application is due to be available to selected areas in early 2008 and will incorporate a blockfill application where the paint improves the blockfill performance and usability. Unwanted paint and paint packaging is collected by designated Resene ColorShops as part of the Resene PaintWise service. Much of the paint returned to the Resene PaintWise service is immediately diverted to community groups, solventborne paint is sent to solvent recovery, packaging is recycled and other waterborne paint is provided for covering graffiti and further research into alternative uses. The Resene PaintWise service, which first started as a trial on the North Shore in 2004, is now operating nationwide with over 40 Resene ColorShops and resellers designated as PaintWise Collection Centres. For information on disposing of unwanted paint and paint packaging, see www.resene.co.nz/paintwise.htm. Kimberly-Clarke Kimberly-Clarke reported a number of pleasing achievements from their material reduction projects including:
Overall, Kimberly-Clark’s proportion of packaging to product by weight is now 10.2%. This is a reduction of 1.9% compared to 2006. Kimberly-Clark Australia wins major packaging awards Kimberly-Clark Australia has won two national awards for packaging excellence and sustainable working practices at this year’s Packaging Evolution Awards. Kimberly-Clark Australia took the prize for “Personal Care and Cosmetics Packaging” and then went on to scoop the “Best in Show” award.The Good Water Company
And so Good Water was born, the Southern Hemisphere’s first bottled water product to be made from natural resources, i.e. plants as opposed to traditional fossil-fuel based petrochemical resources. Oil is not a sustainable resource; therefore The Good Water Company believes packaging made from plants is a much more sustainable option. The Good Water Company also appreciates that business is no longer solely about achieving the bottom line. It’s about appealing to the needs of consumers and the external environment in which they operate. The Good Water Company doesn’t want to punish consumers for making the right choice, which is why Good Water is priced at around the same level as other, less sustainable alternatives. The Good Water Company also recognises that there is growing consumer desire for ethical products as ethical shoppers are on the rise. Consumers actually want to make educated purchasing decisions and they want to do the ‘right’ thing. The Good Water Project is a fundraiser for The Sir Peter Blake Trust, with 10% of all sales going to the Trust in order to fund environmental education programmes for Kiwi kids. This further illustrates how committed The Good Water Company is to the environment. So not only does Good Water come in ethical packaging – it supports an ethical cause as well! Good Water currently comes in two sizes, 650ml and 375ml. The Good Water Company currently has a 2% market share in New Zealand. More and more businesses are feeling the pressure to be eco friendly. There is no doubt that now, more than ever before, protection of the environment is a critical issue which everyone needs to take responsibility for. One way in which businesses can be more eco friendly is by implementing sustainable practices. Or more specifically, businesses can use sustainable resources such as sustainable packaging. Something businesses need to be aware of is that ethical shoppers are on the rise. Consumers actually want to make educated purchasing decisions. Businesses must think and act smarter if they also want to be sustainable in the future. Editors Note: The Good Water Bottle is made from PLA which is a ‘renewable’ starch based raw material. Whilst the bottle is technically compostable and recyclable, the processing capability is not currently available in New Zealand.
Waste minimisation continues to be a key issue for Local Government New Zealand. Along with final input on the form of the new waste legislation, our focus is now on implementation issues for councils. Councils continue to consider and introduce positive new recycling and waste minimisation initiatives aimed at promoting responsible waste minimisation in their communities. Christchurch City councillors recently decided to introduce a three-bin kerbside domestic waste service. The scheme will be progressively rolled out from early 2009 and includes an 80 litre wheelie bin for the weekly collection of organics, a 240 litre wheelie bin for the fornightly collection of recyclables and a 140 litre bin for the fortnightly collection of household rubbish. Christchurch is the second city after Timaru to introduce this level of comprehensive kerbside collection service. Mayor Bob Parker said the new service will reduce the amount of household waste going to landfill by a third and will help make Christchurch a more sustainable city. For more information on this initiative see the hot topics section of the Christchurch City Council website http://www.ccc.govt.nz/ Sustainability is a crucial part of the local government agenda, and this is reflected in the theme of this year’s Local Government New Zealand conference - “Sustainable Communities”. The conference includes challenging speakers on sustainability themes. A technical session on “smart initiatives for sustainable infrastructure”, will look at council initiatives to reduce demand to conserve infrastructure resources including waste management infrastructure.
Ministry for the Environment releases comprehensive stocktake of the environment New Zealand has an enviable environment, compared to many countries internationally. But our everyday activities and choices – both past and present - have put pressures on our soil, water and air and other natural resources, and some trends are going in the wrong direction.This is in a nutshell the most important message from the Ministry for the Environment’s second state of the environment report Environment New Zealand 2007, which was released in January. Environment New Zealand 2007 paints a picture of the health of New Zealand’s land, water, air, plants and animals. It describes trends, and measures the impact of selected pressures on the environment such as transport, waste, energy and household consumption. The report shows waste management in New Zealand has improved and while we have made progress in reducing the amount of waste we throw away, many potentially useful materials continue to be disposed of in landfills. The report illustrates that uptake of recycling in New Zealand has increased in the last decade as a result of major recovery and recycling initiatives. Product stewardship schemes and the Packaging Accord are mentioned as examples of those. “The environment means much more to us than just iconic landscapes. As this report shows, a sustainable environment is also vital to our social and economic well-being and our standard of living,” Todd Krieble, General Manager of Reporting and Communications at the Ministry says. “The report shows that key pressures on our environment are growing as our population increases, our economy grows and evolves, and our lifestyles change,” Krieble says. “This report isn’t just for policy makers and environmentalists. It will be used to make decisions - by both central and local government, businesses, iwi, communities and families - which will lead to a sustainable New Zealand”. The Environment Ministry will use the findings to engage with key sectors and interest groups about where to go from here. “Most of all, the report highlights the need to continue to protect and reinforce New Zealand’s environmental standing and our clean green reputation,” Krieble says. “This report will form an important basis for improving those areas which the report shows need attention.” You can order a free copy of the report via publications@mfe.govt.nz. Attendees of the Packaging Accord seminar on 15 April will receive a copy of the summary report. Recycling in Public Places Initiative - update The Recycling in Public Places pilot is well underway, with the ‘Love NZ – Recycle with Care’ branding developed, bins on the ground in Kaikoura and Far North and bins in Wellington and Christchurch just around the corner.We are also working with others in the community for further opportunities to get bins out and around. The Youth Hostel Association in Wellington is piloting the branded recycling facilities for the tourist sector and we are keen to expand this once this pilot has finished. In May, the Ministry for the Environment will call for applications from councils (including council partnerships) for a second funding round to add a further 200 bins to the network. Information on this will be available on the Ministry’s website in April. Household Sustainability Programme – update
The Household Sustainability Programme, led by the Ministry for the Environment, is a three-year programme designed to encourage New Zealanders to take steps to be sustainable. By raising household awareness about sustainability, one of the programme’s outcomes will be to create demand for sustainable products including products with sustainable packaging. The programme engages with local councils, NGOs, and the community through events such as regional forums and homeshows, to identify how to assist households to take sustainable action. The programme involves an information and awareness element developed on strong evidence based market research that measures New Zealanders attitudes and actions on sustainability. The programme also delivers an interactive website, www.sustainability.govt.nz designed to provide information on sustainable living and government sustainability programmes and promote discussion. The website features the ‘What’s your next step?’ challenge which encourages people to register their sustainable steps online. The Household Sustainability team works with the Sustainable Business team at the Ministry on linkages between their work programmes. In the upcoming months the teams will work together on supporting the Environment Canterbury led ‘Living Here’ business and education forum on 2 April and the Small Business Expos in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch that run between April and June. For more information:
Groceries: environment unlikely to influence (February 14, 2008) According to a global food packaging survey conducted by The Nielsen Company, a shop’s environmental friendliness is the last consideration for consumers in determining where to spend their grocery dollars, while Good Value for Money ranks as the number-one influencer of store choice. For more on this story click www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0802/S00212.htm
Green investment requires predictable carbon price (25 February, 2008) Predictable carbon pricing is needed to direct world investment flows toward an economy that could minimize climate change, close to 140 governments agreed today as they concluded a major meeting on the subject in Monaco, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) says. For more on this story click www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0802/S00353.htm
Creek and coast litter clean-ups get under way (27 February 2008) The success of the programme, now in its third year, is evident with over 350 volunteers collecting 680 bags of inorganic rubbish weighing 3.8 tonnes at 20 locations across Auckland. “The wide range of litter dumped in our waterways is astounding”, says park volunteer coordinator David Bowden. For more on this story click www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0802/S00289.htm
Westland District Council wins Barnita Trust trophy (29 February 2008) Westland District Council’s “fantastic attitude and presentation” scooped all other New Zealand local bodies to take the Barnita Trust / Keep New Zealand Beautiful trophy at a Beehive function tonight. For more on this story click www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0803/S00003.htm
Major recycling collection changes announced (18 March 2008) Manukau City Council is introducing a new recycling service that will begin on 30 June. Residents will get a recycling wheelie bin that has more than four times extra space for recycling than their current green crate. For more on this story click www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0803/S00187.htm
Auckland City Council rolls out new recycling bins (20 March 2008) The new recycling wheelie bins will be delivered to footpaths and kerbsides of all eligible properties from now until the end of June when the council introduces its new recycling collection service. For more on this story click www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0803/S00216.htm |
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