Packaging Newsletter

This month has gone incredibly fast - much happening - much to do! The packaged goods industry is like rust..it doesn't sleep!

Dominant this month has been the Government's discussion paper on PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP & WATER EFFICIENCY LABELLING. Questions are being asked as to how does / will this affect packaging?

Under the New Zealand Waste Strategy a number of waste products were specifically identified and it was accepted that packaging waste would be included. The development of the Packaging Accord 2004 goes a long way to meeting this requirement but the need to ensure maximum participation in this, and any other voluntary process, has always been realised.

The release of the discussion document provides the opportunity for the packaged goods industry to consolidate its voluntary position but more importantly, signals a mechanism for the widest possible participation.

Also high on the agenda is the preparation of data for the first Accord Annual Report. This document, once complete will be presented to the Minister for the Environment and the President of Local Government New Zealand prior to public circulation.

Important - MfE consultation meetings on the proposed Extended Producer Responsibility
Legislation. Click here for details.

Product Stewardship Discussion Paper. The Packaging Council will make a submission to the Product Stewardship discussion paper and has accepted the opportunity to establish other sectors views in advance so as to have the widest appreciation.

PACKAGING COUNCIL OF NEW ZEALAND
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING SYNOPSIS
OF THE MEETING HELD ON THE 7TH JULY

FINANCIAL PACKAGE
The Financial Package for the April / May period was adopted. Expenditure was 106% of budget within income 136%.

SECTOR ACTIVITY
Environmental Beverage Action Group (EBAG) - focus on recovery of plastic beverage containers. Coca-Cola's trial initiative to launch 21 July at Botany Town Centre - Auckland.

Food & Grocery Council & Retail Group - focus on support mechanisms for the collection of Mass Balance Data.

Food & Grocery Council - Technical Project Team - focus on packaging design, dissemination of information of environmental policies, internal communication and customer liaison re marketing for the environment. Possible development of a logo to prove good corporate citizenship.

What can be recycled vs what is recycled? Survey to go out to PAC.NZ members to glean this information. Information collected will be reviewed for comparison with the Recyclability Index currently being prepared by RONZ.

Plastics Flexible Group - will meet for a second time late July to progress focus. Keen to work with the Brand Owner / Retail Sector.

Glass - levy process working well and being administered by PAC.NZ. A number of long term solutions are under consideration. Co mingled collections raise concern.

Paper - NZPPA research/survey on consumer attitudes recently completed with results highlighting that most consumers recognised that they had a responsibility for their disposal choices and did not expect the manufacturer to take all responsibility.

Steel - major effort to improve returns from local authorities. Kerbside collection an issue - many collectors not picking up cans larger than 1 litre. To be raised at Governing Board level. Steel promoted well in consumer survey conducted by the NZPPA.

Aluminium - main emphasis = production facilities = water and energy consumption.

GOVERNING BOARD
Meetings in year one had been held bi-monthly. Governing Board must be able to make decisions without the need to go public especially when critical confidential industry information is at stake.

NEW ZEALAND WASTE STRATEGY
Product Stewardship report released 6.7.05 raised definition of "waste" in conflict with the recent by-law licensing and waste levy to be applied by Rodney, North Shore and Waitakere Council's.

PAC.NZ's role - take a cohesive approach on behalf of its members.

LITTER
Litter group met in Wellington - 22 June - PAC.NZ attended. MfE considers there is a relationship under the NZ Waste Strategy and the Packaging Accord. Some PAC.NZ members remain directly involved in Keep New Zealand Beautiful. Litter to remain on the PAC.NZ agenda.

WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

Mass Balance Figures - Methodology being looked at to ensure ongoing accurate, robust data. 2004 Mass Balance Table available August.

Promotions
PAC-IT - kit is to be made available FOC. Website to be reviewed.

Awards for Excellence Programme - entries closed. Judging 14 July. Presentation evening 26 August - Villa Maria. See website for further details.

2006 Foodtech Packtech - PAC.NZ to co-host.

MEMBERSHIP
Working with 9 prospective members. Target = retailer. No resignations.

GENERAL BUSINESS
Waste by-laws for Rodney, North Shore and Waitakere discussed further. Outcome - letter to be forwarded to Central Government on behalf of Exec Committee outlining concerns.

Awards Presentation Dinner
26 August 2005
Environmentally Acceptable Packaging Awards.
The Judges deliberated on the 14th July their decision is final. We will find out who has "lifted their game" or "who's game has lifted them / their profile" at the gala dinner on 26 August 2005 at Villa Maria's new award-winning winery at Airport Oaks, Mangere. Minister for the Environment the Honourable Marian Hobbs will again present the Awards. This is an invitation only event.

The Executive and staff of the Packaging Council would like to thank and acknowledge the generous support of the Awards sponsors without whom the Awards would not be possible:

3M New Zealand; OI New Zealand; Aperio Group; Amcor Flexibles Australasia; Auckland Regional Council; British American Tobacco New Zealand; Coca-Cola Amatil (NZ) Ltd; The Steel Can Assn of New Zealand (SCANZ); Vertex Pacific Ltd.

PAC-IT Packaging Educational Resource. This popular comprehensive teaching resource will now be available free of charge from PAC.NZ.

PAC-IT is a multi-disciplinary activity illustrating packaging's benefits, the processes and methodologies associated with its production. Details of the resource are available here.
Please contact Deb Statham if you would like to take advantage of this offer.

Discussion document on PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP & WATER EFFICIENCY LABELLING
7 July 2005

The Ministry for the Environment has released the anticipated discussion document on product stewardship and water efficiency labelling. This represents the beginning of the Ministry for the Environment's formal consultation.

It is time to put product stewardship policy in New Zealand on a more formal footing, Environment Minister, Marian Hobbs, said today.

The minister released a discussion document outlining the government's options for encouraging businesses and consumers to accept responsibility for the environmental effects of products.

"If we are to live in a fair society and on a healthy planet, we have to get better at reducing the amount of waste we produce, as well as reusing and recycling more of it," the minister said.

"The discussion document reflects the government's commitment to sustainable development. We want to grow our economy while maintaining a healthy environment ...more

The closing date for submissions on the discussion document is 31 August 2005.
Submissions can be sent to the Ministry for the Environment - Product Stewardship Submissions, Ministry for the Environment, PO Box 10362 , Wellington . Alternatively you may send an electronic submission to productstewardship@mfe.govt.nz

You are invited to one in a series of consultation meetings to outline issues raised in the Ministry's discussion document.

"Product Stewardship and Water Efficiency Labelling Standards - New Tools to Reduce Waste"

This will be an opportunity to meet Ministry representatives, as well as other stakeholders interested in product stewardship and / or water efficiency labelling. The meeting will allow discussion of the broader issues of product stewardship and water efficiency labelling, and how it relates to you or your organisation.

Wellington
Tuesday 2 August
2.30pm- 4.30pm
Environment House, 23 Kate Sheppard Place , Thorndon

Christchurch
Wednesday 3 August
1.30pm-3.30pm
Blackwell Room, Copthorne Hotel, Durham Street , Christchurch

Auckland
Thursday 4 August
1.30pm-3.30pm
Upper NZI Room 4
Auckland Convention Centre, Aotea Centre, Queen St

Please RSVP to productstewardship@mfe.govt.nz including which workshop you would like to attend so that they have an indication of numbers attending the workshops.

On 25 July the Ministry for the Environment launched a new toolkit: This is an exciting new web resource for business wanting information on sustainable business practice and it is well worth a look.

The Simply Sustainable website explains what sustainable business practice is, its benefits, gives plenty of case studies and tools and resources. All of this should be useful to you and your business - and don't forget to tell your friends. To find out more check out www.sustainability.mfe.govt.nz . Also remember to check out MfE's online sustainable industry newsletter at http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/about/signals/

The tax deductions cover environmental expenditure towards preventing, remedying or mitigating the discharge of contaminants, monitoring the effects of pollution and testing options to deal with environmental issues.

Examples of environmental improvements include earthworks or ponds to reduce the effect of contaminants, and planting trees to reduce the risks of erosion. More information on the tax changes is available at www.ird.govt.nz . Media releases and local presentations will take place during July and August 2005. For information on this program contact Arti Prasad (04) 439 7634; email arti.prasad@mfe.govt.nz.

Ministry walks-the-talk with new building
13 July 2005 - Environment House open for business
23 Kate Sheppard Place - Wellington

The Ministry for the Environment's new home in the heart of the government zone in Thorndon, Wellington is a sign of its leadership role on the environment, the Environment Minister Marian Hobbs said today.

Environment House at 23 Kate Sheppard Place , officially opened by the minister today, is one of the few purpose-built office buildings constructed in Wellington in the past 20 years. As head tenant, the ministry had a say in the construction ensuring the building fit-out incorporated sustainability principles

Auckland Shared Policy Office
4 July 2005 - Four government agencies have established a shared policy office in Auckland to improve the incorporation of Auckland perspectives into the policy making process, and engagement with Auckland stakeholders.

Staff from the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry for the Environment , Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Transport are now co-located in the heart of Auckland city. Known as the Government Economic and Urban Development Office , the office's shared focus will be on sustainable economic and urban development policy. more

The first industry solution to public place recycling has been launched by Coca-Cola Amatil (NZ) Ltd and the Minister for Environment, Hon Marian Hobbs, at Botany Town Centre, Auckland.

The launch, which included a free concert by New Zealand band Fast Crew was all about celebrating the first attempt by industry to provide New Zealanders with public place recycling or 'out and about' as coined by Coca-Cola Amatil.

The twelve month trial supports the targets of the 2004 Packaging Accord, a voluntary accord supported by government and industry to reduce waste. One way to achieve that goal is to recycle more of our waste and therefore significantly cut down on our need to use unsightly landfill.

There are some very straightforward ways to do this and kerbside recycling from our homes is a good example, said Managing Director, George Adams.

"Kerbside recycling has demonstrated that New Zealanders are prepared to 'Do the Right Thing'. The challenge now, is to encourage people to 'Do the Right Thing' away from home. The trick is to make it easy and convenient," said George.

"We strongly believe that the time is right to improve recovery of materials from public places. We believe that public place recycling should be available in all key locations within five years by the introduction and installation of recycling bins at public collection points and at large indoor / outdoor events.

"We will work in partnership with the government to ensure that people get the message that recycling responsibilities exist when we are out and about, just as much as they do when we are at home. All we have to do is use the right bin and recycle!" said George.

Glomedia, a start-up company, design, install and run the bins and they have contracted Street Smart Recycling to collect the materials. Glomedia sell the advertising space from the bins to cover the costs.

The initial trial involves 10 bins strategically placed throughout the Botany Town Centre. If this trial works it could provide a replicable program for the rest of New Zealand

Botany Town Centre assistant centre manager Sean Seeto said Coca-Cola Amatil was to be congratulated for taking a lead in redirecting the country's waste.

"Botany Town Centre is looking forward to the partnership. Our 'village-like status' provides the perfect environment to monitor trials of this nature."

An international best-practice study in the Retail Sector is being conducted using New Zealand examples in the case studies. Representatives from UK environmental project consultants PIRA, and Waste and Resources Action Plan (WRAP) visited New Zealand searching for best-practice in grocery and household products resulting in minimised food and packaging waste in the home.

New Zealand has been selected as one of the destinations through a review of the international literature on environmental practices. The study will recommend practices that can be adapted and adopted for use in England , Scotland and Wales.

The study team met with John Webber and Deb Statham of the Packaging Council to receive a briefing on the New Zealand situation before visiting three supermarkets at Botany. The visitors said they are impressed at how advanced waste minimisation practices are generally in New Zealand.

The programmes referred to in the June newsletter are now operational with levy monies being received and appropriate payments made. This service is being undertaken by the Packaging Council.

A number of other uses for cullet currently under investigation which include the obtaining of standards to allow for the inclusion in roads, the manufacture of new materials such as tiles and glass-crete, the assessment of glass as a drainage medium and inclusion in sewage programmes. Work is also being carried out to establish the viability of exporting the glass in an unprocessed form from locations other than Auckland.

A number of approaches to develop alternative uses for cullet have been made and we are awaiting formal application to cover these.

Local government representatives met with PAC.NZ and MfE earlier this month to discuss the short-term processes to protect kerb-side collections and evaluate the parameters surrounding any long term options. There was a co-operative approach recognising the economic factors now applicable.

This meeting followed an equally constructive meeting with the recycling industry facilitated by RONZ (Recycling Operators of New Zealand).

Local government representatives met with PAC.NZ and MfE to discuss the short-term industry solution for glass. There was also discussion of development of the longer-term solution, with local government being committed to being involved in the solution, and seeking active involvement in the development of the solution.

LGNZ has been involved in reviewing the benchmark survey of local government recycling practices with a view to making this information available in an accessible format to other sectors to the Accord. Over the next few months we will be setting up a project, in conjunction with MfE, to consider best practice in kerb-side recycling.

LGNZ is co-ordinating input from local government into the MfE Discussion Document on Product Stewardship and is continuing involvement in cross-sector initiatives including EBAG and the Governing Board. LGNZ will also be working on guidelines for event recycling.

15 July 2005 - More Waitakere businesses than expected are taking part in the recycling collection causing the Council to order 1500 more of the blue and yellow wheelie bins.

More than 50% of businesses want a mobile recycling bin for collection of "domestic" recycling, largely generated from employee snack and meal times. Only 25% used the much smaller crate service beforehand.

The Council says businesses have said they prefer the 140L mobile recycling bins over the 45L open-top crates because they are a lot tidier and safer to use.

The Council visited all businesses in May and June inviting them to take part in the new service.

Onyx Group Ltd will supply the additional bins at no extra cost to the Council. In the interim Onyx will borrow bins from North Shore City , which have a surplus stored for an anticipated growth in the service. Waitakere's surplus bins have already been distributed.

"We are obviously very pleased with the uptake of the recycling service," says Waitakere City Councillor Janet Clews. "It's terrific to see that businesses are taking the initiative to reduce what domestic waste they are sending to landfill. Every little bit like this counts."

Waitakere and North Shore cities had anticipated that more than 15,000 tonnes of recycling (excluding paper and cardboard) would be collected every year from both regions as a result of the new service. This figure was expected to increase by more than 200 tonnes per month within a year's time.

The NZPPA has carried out initial research on the collection and flows for paperboard fibre types - this has reinforced the complexity of paper flow within the industry. The NZPPA will be looking to how it can best utilise the information and what further investigations should be carried out to clarify some of the identified issues.

During July the NZPPA has been collating information for the sector to forward to the Accord Secretariat for inclusion in the first year Accord Annual Report. It was pleasing to 'put down on paper' the considerable progress that has been made over the year to meeting the sectors commitment to the Accord.

NZPPA recently distributed the new Paper Sector Code of Practice to all members and will be working with companies to see its implementation. If any other groups or employers are interested in obtaining a copy of the COP, contact Ashley@printnz.co.nz

Ket Bradshaw has taken over from Carolyn Cox as the Environmental Manager for Plastics New Zealand while Carolyn is on maternity leave. Carolyn has raised the profile of the Plastics New Zealand and set the scene for the Plastic Sector's contribution to the Packaging Accord. We wish her well and thank her for her great contribution.

Ket has been appointed, on a part time basis, to manage the Environmental portfolio. She negotiated the Accord while working for the Ministry for the Environment and is now a private contractor. Ket has worked in a number of countries in management, leadership of groups, forestry and the environment. Ket will be based in Christchurch and can be contacted on ketbrad@clear.net.nz or next month ket@plastics.org.nz.

Ket will be working closely with Nikki Withington, who has been appointed as the Environmental Officer, based in the Plastic New Zealand offices in Auckland. Nikki has been working on an End of Life plastics project and can be contacted on nikki@plastics.org.nz. Shasi Vohora has been appointed as Best Practice Programme facilitator for Year 3 of the Best Practice Programme. Year 3 will concentrate on Design for the Environment. Shashi is based in Dunedin and can be contacted on shashi@plastics.org.nz

The 2005 plastics survey has been completed and the results are collated for the first Accord report.

NZ plastic manufacturers reported an outstanding 41% increase in the use of recovered material in their products from the previous survey in 2003. This represents over 8,000 tonnes of recovered material. That 67% of plastic manufacturing companies now have a purchasing policy promoting the use of recovered material, is further good news.

The Steel Can Association has commissioned a survey of canned products on supermarket shelves to see how recycling information is included on canned food. A group of students has been deployed to cover the larger supermarkets to check for recycling logos and how they appear on canned goods.

SCANZ Programme Director Bruce Gledhill says "The objective is to provide information to enable us to work with brand owners to raise the profile of can recycling."

The researchers are investigating size, placement, legibility and colour contrast of all canned SKUs. Information gathering is nearly complete. Bruce expects the analysis to be complete in a few weeks. "We are looking to be pro-active in providing practical assistance as labels are being designed," says Gledhill.

In response to concern about increasing litter a group of stakeholders has formed a working group to be known as the Litter Alliance. The alliance represents central government, local government, industry and Keep NZ Beautiful. The group will be working on strategies to address concerns related to litter.

The beverage industry will be represented on this group through the Environmental Beverage Action group which is also working hard on activities related to litter reduction through increasing recycling in public places and at public events. The launch of the Coca-Cola sponsored recycling bins at Botany town centre represents the start of a new approach to waste minimisation in public areas. See story above.

2-4 August 2005
Ministry for the Environment Consultation meetings
Extended Producer Responsibility and Water Efficiency Labelling

Wellington, Tuesday 2 August
Christchurch, Wednesday 3 August
Auckland, Thursday 4 August

26 August 2005
Environmentally Acceptable Packaging Awards Presentation Dinner
at Villa Maria - invitation only. For further information contact Deb Statham

1-3 November
Wasteminz Conference, Rotorua
Information and program here

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.