Accord Annual Report 2008

In 2004 we signed a voluntary agreement which set five year targets for reducing packaging waste to landfill. The New Zealand Packaging Accord is unique because unlike other voluntary agreements it is predicated on partnership between all sectors of industry and local and central government. This collaboration has been a major point of difference to overseas models and is crucial to success.

Today we are recycling 60% of all packaging. This is 69000 tonnes more than four years ago and represents a concerted effort by all signatories to not just meet targets but exceed them. I am proud to report that every packaging sector has already met or exceeded its 2009 target. This is a huge achievement by packaging manufacturers, brand owners, retailers, waste management and recyclers, local councils and central government.

There will no doubt be those who argue that the targets were not tough enough but this is to detract from the sheer hard work which has gone into accelerating our packaging recovery ahead of the European Union, Australia and USA.

The Accord is however 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:-

There has been continuous innovation in packaging design, development of new end use markets and investment in recovery facilities.

Major education and awareness campaigns including the roll out of Government’s public place recycling; the Glass Forum’s education campaign featuring Che Fu; the steel sector’s Hanable the CAN-able school’s competition and the supermarkets’ plastic bag reduction initiative Make a Difference which has now been picked up by other retailer

The issues facing the packaging industry can be seen 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. New markets have opened up in New Zealand and internationally for recovered materials with an estimated value to the economy of around $100 million. As with all tradable commodities this value will fluctuate. We need to continue to commercialise new recycling markets here.

However 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. We are also starting to see the effects of production moving overseas which will reduce domestic packaging production and increase packaging imports. We need to manage the environmental quality of the imported product and its packaging and ensure its recyclability in our market.

Whilst O-I New Zealand’s decision to build a 3rd glass making furnace in Auckland will significantly increase the market for glass cullet once it is operational the furnace will require a supply of high quality cullet which may not be readily available if there is a wholesale shift to commingled collections.

As we await the impact which the product stewardship requirements of the Waste Minimisation Act may have on a subsequent Accord, cooperation between all parties will continue to be 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. As we progress through the final year of this Accord I am confident that the measures that every sector has in place are robust enough to deliver continual improvement.

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 come 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 contribution.