Mark Brosnan - Outgoing President

Last year, the Packaging Council launched its new logo and positioning statement: PAC.NZ - towards sustainable packaging. To live up to this aspirational goal, we recognized that we have to collaborate with a wide number of stakeholders. The Packaging Council's Executive Committee is of one mind that talking and working with our stakeholders, and often with community groups which may take a different view to us on how best to manage our environment, does not compromise the organization, but offers greater opportunities.

This approach has put the Packaging Council in a strong position as an advocate for its members because we are seen as being the voice of reason on packaging waste management and product stewardship. This position enabled us to influence a change to the definition of waste, before the Waste Minimisation Bill was enacted last year, to exclude material diverted for recycling. This means that local councils now cannot demand commercially sensitive data from recycling companies collecting material from your businesses.

We are also of the view that while collaboration is important, so is decisive action. With the Packaging Accord finishing in October this year, the Packaging Council's Executive Committee agreed that we need to be on the front foot in developing a product stewardship scheme to replace the Accord. Work began in October 2008 and in February 2009 the Packaging Council hosted a public meeting, which attracted about 130 people from a wide cross section of the community. The purpose of the public meeting was to open the door to the wider community and invite a broad range of views on the most effective, economically viable packaging product stewardship model for New Zealand, with the aim of minimising the environmental impact of packaging and improving packaging recovery rates, within the framework of the new Waste Minimisation Act.

Our proactivity has been rewarded. The Ministry for the Environment's recent discussion document on implementing the Waste Minimisation Act states, 'There is a proposal for industry to develop a further voluntary product stewardship scheme once the Packaging Accord finishes in mid-2009. The Ministry will monitor this and, if it is effective, no further action will be taken'.

This is a clear a message for us to 'get on with it'. As Tony Nowell, Chair of the Packaging Accord Governing Board, said at the public meeting, 'At a time of unprecedented economic crisis, when industry and government are cutting budgets, we cannot afford to spend months and even years trying to reach an agreement, which is what happened last time'.

Despite the recession, we cannot shy away from the fact that there is no let up in consumer's environmental expectations of industry and that packaging is often used as the 'poster boy' for waste in general. We know that packaging saves more waste than it creates, but we have got to do a much better job of explaining to the public why the packaging is necessary and that it does not make any commercial sense for a company to over package.

I am proud of what we have achieved under the Packaging Accord and the fact that New Zealand's packaging recycling rate of 60% is on a par with Australia and the European Union. Our challenge for the future is to raise the quality of the debate and move the discussion on from just looking at New Zealand's packaging recycling rate as the only criterion for measuring the success of product stewardship. Parameters such as energy consumption and supply chain efficiencies take resource efficiency into account, and that is where I believe we should be heading under any replacement product stewardship scheme to the Packaging Accord.

After two years as President, it's time for me to step down. I would like to thank the Executive Committee and the staff of PAC.NZ for all their support and energy. I look forward to seeing a packaging product stewardship scheme develop which benefits all New Zealanders. PAC.NZ represents many teams across industry - together we will succeed.

President
Mark Brosnan

Regional Manager

Progressive Enterprises Ltd

Woolworths Ltd, Progressive Enterprises Limited parent company, aims to move to a leadership position on sustainability. Our group wide Sustainability Strategy for 2007-2015 sets out our major commitments and targets:

• 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2015 from facilities

• 200 million litres of water to be saved

• 3.4 million reusable crates to replace single use wax boxes

• Zero waste in general stream by 2015

• 25% reduction in CO2 per carton delivered by 2012

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TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

77 Greenmount Drive, East Tamaki, Manukau
PO Box 58899, Greenmount, Auckland
PHONE 09 271 4044, FAX 09 271 4041
EMAIL: pac.nz@packaging.org.nz