PACKAGING COUNCIL (SECRETARIAT)

Plastics Sector

Recycled plastics up by 11% as new markets open up

Approximately 35,000 tonnes of plastic packaging were recovered, up by an extra 3500 tonnes over the previous year, delivering a 22% recycling rate. This is equivalent to saving 472 Gigawatt hours (1.7 petajoules) or the annual electricity required by 75,000 households (Recycling Calculator: NSW Dept of Environment & Conservation).

This reflects a combined and consistent effort by the plastics industry and brand owners to design for the environment and by local councils and recycling operators to increase the types of plastics which they recover.

The plastics industry is worth $1.8 billion to the economy and packaging makes up over 57% of the plastic produced by 8000 people at 160 plastics processing companies. 32% of this is exported as protective packaging for our dairy, meat and horticultural products (see case study).

As a small market, New Zealand imports over 30% of products either as packaged goods or in ready-to-use packaging. Plastics used in this packaging are able to be recycled or incinerated for energy recovery in other countries but may not yet have the economies of scale to be collected and recycled in New Zealand.

The principal post consumer recycling stream has concentrated on PET and high density polyethylene (HDPE) (plastic identification codes 1 &2 respectively). As the range of plastics collected extends, recyclability is increasing. The majority of plastics packaging is still recovered from the low density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic film and pallet wrap used in manufacturing processes. However up to 9000 tonnes of high density polyethylene (HDPE) were recycled last year by households and industry, and polypropylene (PP) usage is growing and predicted to be the next viable material for community or kerbside collection, with more councils offering this service. There is now a thriving domestic industry processing this plastic into new products such as bin liners, pallet sheets or bins. In addition, over 8000 tonnes of PET containers (e.g. drinks containers) were collected, baled and exported to markets in Australia and Asia.

The manufacturers and users of plastic packaging are meeting the challenge through the Accord to improve the recyclability of their products. Plastics New Zealand published their Design for the Environment Guidelines 2006 which provide a checklist to guide manufacturers through the design process.

The production of these Design for the Environment guidelines is a first for New Zealand industry. They lead the way for plastics manufacture with specific guidelines on packaging, electronics, construction and agriculture. Plastics NZ wanted the guidelines to reflect plastics manufacture and use in New Zealand as well as assisting our companies to meet the requirements of their export markets.

By using Design for the Environment principles a good-quality, desirable and cost-effective product can be developed that also has a reduced impact on the environment. Plastics NZ worked closely with government and recycling operators to produce these guidelines. They are now being used as part of the training programmes to up-skill and educate people within the plastics industry in New Zealand.

Whilst the Accord's focus is packaging recovery and recycling, it asks industry to consider its wider role as product stewards. Brand owners select packaging to protect food products and ensure reasonable shelf life and cost competitiveness. Increasingly these decisions are being made on the basis of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), comparing alternative packaging materials. Recyclability is one parameter and Plastics NZ is developing Key Performance Indicators to assist manufacturers to measure the energy used in producing the raw materials and the packaging, distribution and storage costs and the overall carbon dioxide footprint.

The technology for recycling and recovery processes is continually improving. The energy contained in plastics is recovered by incineration processes in Europe and Asia and Plastics New Zealand is currently conducting trials to assess the potential for plastics as a source of energy in this country.

The plastics sector is committed to driving out waste and promotes technological innovation to design better packaging products. Accordingly it supports the retailers' campaign to reduce the use of plastic bags by encouraging shoppers to reduce and recycle and to use reusable bags. It has also continued to work with recycling operators to ensure that brand owners and retailers correctly identify and label all their products.

There is high interest from brand owners and retailers in plastics made from renewable resources and those that break down in the environment. The interest is high for a range of uses, initially in the packaging applications such as trays, film and water bottles, e.g. PLA (polylactic acid) water bottles. There are two distinct streams under the umbrella of degradable plastics; the first being bioplastics made from renewable resources such as corn starch. The second are conventional plastics made from petrochemicals to which a prodegradant is added to help the plastic to break down.

Plastics NZ has been actively working towards the smooth introduction of degradable plastics into New Zealand through the preparation of a product stewardship guide. As the range of degradable plastics increases there is a need to help the brand owners and consumers understand where the best applications for these plastics are and the recycling and disposal options. This will reduce the risk of contamination of the main plastic recycling and composting schemes.

Case Study: Sealed Air Ltd's 20kg Cheese Bag Vacuum Brick Pack

This innovative package design has cleverly reduced packaging weight while still retaining the pack integrity. Using a new pack processing technique, which utilises the existing primary packaging, the need for an outer cardboard carton is eliminated. The result is very low amounts of packaging used for the weight of the product being packed.

About the product
This 20kg cheese pouch is a silent yet iconic achiever, rarely seen by the general public. It demonstrates Kiwi innovation in flexible packaging, an area where New Zealand has excelled over the last 30 years. Its significance lies in the leading edge design and applied polymer technology used to enhance the quality and safety of our exported products. The cheese pouch is exported from Hamilton to cheese factories throughout the world.

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