Brand Owners Sector
(Food & Grocery Council
Packaging Project Technical Committee)

Paper Sector
(NZ Paperboard Packaging Assn.)

Plastics Sector
(Plastics New Zealand)

Environmental Beverage
Action Group

PACKAGING COUNCIL (SECRETARIAT)

John Webber is the General Manager of the Glass Packaging Forum. Click here for a bio

The Glass Packaging Forum which represents manufacturers, fillers and retailers of glass containers is warning Auckland and Manukau councils that collecting and processing glass along with cans, plastics and paper recycling is likely to result in more glass being collected but less glass meeting the specification for glass making and at a huge cost for the community.

The councils intend to switch their recycling collection systems from crate based collections where different materials are manually sorted at the kerbside to co-mingled wheelie bin collection systems, where materials are collected mixed at the kerbside and sorted at a centralized Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).

Research released today conducted by Auckland based economics consultancy Covec in conjunction with global environmental consulting service ERM concludes that:

"Councils should proceed with considerable caution before introducing a co-mingled collection system…despite international shifts towards greater use of co-mingling, the experience to date does not demonstrate that it is the optimal choice."

The report highlights that the co-mingled collection introduced by North Shore and Waitakere councils in 2005 has led to a breakage rate upwards of 25-30% and that a similar rate for Auckland and Manukau could result in an additional 10,000 tonnes per year that cannot be re-used in the manufacture of glass containers.

David Carter, Chair of the Glass Packaging Forum says that the study was commissioned to raise awareness amongst councils that co-mingled collection and processing reduces the amount of high quality recycled glass available for reprocessing into glass:

"When Waitakere and North Shore introduced mixed wheelie bin collections, it was without input from industry and the result is around 8000 tonnes of glass mixed with other materials being stockpiled down the road from New Zealand's only glass manufacturer O-I in Penrose. We are very concerned that the changes proposed by Auckland and Manukau will result in large quantities of glass which are too contaminated for O-I to use. This isn't just a waste issue but has major issues for Auckland's ability to manage its energy use and Greenhouse Gas emissions because using recycled glass requires significantly less energy than using raw materials."

Mr Carter said that despite meetings with officials at both councils and recycling operators, industry is not convinced that the proposed new state of the art sortation system or MRF will deliver what ratepayers expect.

"Nowhere in the world does a recovery facility exist that is capable of delivering the vast proportion of glass to the quality required for glass making. We know that the councils would like to bring the best technology in the world to Auckland but the required technology is not proven and, even if it were, the likely cost will be prohibitive. It will require a huge leap of faith by Auckland's rate payers to spend much more than $20 million on an untested system."

"And if ultimately they decide that they can't afford this level of technology, any compromise will mean we just keep adding to the stockpiles of glass and risk also contaminating paper recycling at which we are currently world leading. At the end of the day householders who go to the trouble of recycling, expect that materials will be used especially when there is both a glass manufacturer and a paper recycling mill on the doorstep."

The report will be available on this webpage.

Contacts:

John Webber, General Manager: 021 949 215
Lyn Mayes, Communications: 021 471 261

For Information

The Glass Packaging Forum comprises over 100 member companies who make, fill, import or sell glass containers in New Zealand. All members are levied according to how much glass they use making it the first large scale product stewardship initiative. Funds raised are available to assist local councils, recycling operators and communities develop commercially viable uses for recycled glass.

It was initiated to address the issue of supporting local communities for whom it was not economically viable to return glass to Auckland however is now responding to the impact of co-mingled collections and processing in the Auckland region.

Click here: Manawatu Standard Press Release - 21 May 2006

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: John Webber  General Manager Glass Packaging Forum PO Box 10 - Maraetai Mail Centre  Manukau City - New Zealand Telephone:  (09) 536 6078 Fax:  (09) 536 6092 Email: john@glassforum.org.nz

John's interest in the environment started in 1975 when, as Sales Manager for NZ Glass (now O-I) he was asked to become involved in the Industry Committee of Keep New Zealand Beautiful and deal with a number of public issues related to injuries from broken glass packaging.

The heightened public awareness of environmental issues and the expectations that industry would be further involved resulted in his appointment as the company's first Environmental Manager.

His first significant achievement was the development of the National Glass Reclamation System to collect consumer waste glass nation wide. For this he received a Government Award and a travel grant to America and Europe from the country's first Minister for the Environment, Joe Walding.

This was followed by the establishment of the New Zealand Glass Awards Programme for Schools whereby requests for funding for projects of environmental benefit were submitted to a broad judging panel including the Minister's representative. In the early years up to fifty applications were received for each six monthly judging round.

John's ongoing senior involvement with K.N.Z.B. ultimately resulted in his receiving Life Membership.

With increasing pressure on Central Government to follow the approaches of some Western European countries and legislate against packaging waste the packaged goods industry responded by forming PAC.NZ and advocating the voluntary approach and John was involved as a consultant in assisting the Council's first Executive Director, Dr. David Warburton in negotiating the first voluntary packaging ACCORD in 1996.

At the end of that year John became Executive Director and was subsequently the Industry representative on the Government's working party which developed the National Waste Strategy. Since then John has played the principal industry role in the creation of the second Packaging ACCORD. With a twenty year interest in the glass industry it has been a natural move for him to become involved in the recently formed Glass Packaging Forum as General Manger.

His lifelong interest in sailing has produced three national titles and New Zealand representation. He has been a National Measurer and Commodore of three sailing clubs and is a life member of one.

Quicksilver "the Quintessence of Wooden Boats". Photograph taken at the Aircalin New Zealand Classic Yacht Regatta, Auckland - 27 February 2004

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PACKAGING COUNCIL OF NEW ZEALAND
ACTING AS THE NZ PACKAGING ACCORD SECRETARIAT
77 Greenmount Drive, East Tamaki, Auckland
PO Box 58899, Greenmount, Auckland
PHONE: 09 271 4044, FAX: 09 271 4041