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PACKAGING RECYCLING IN NZ
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KEY FACTS The Packaging Council represents manufacturers, fillers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers of packaging and has worked since 1992 to provide a holistic approach to the issue of packaging waste and has worked with all key players in government, industry and the community The Council was set up to provide information about the environmental effects of packaged goods, waste packaging, and waste materials collection, recycling, reuse and residual management and to initiate voluntary action addressing the issue of packaging waste across the product chain from raw materials to retail sales.
Preserve and Protect. The most obvious benefit of packaging is to preserve foodstuffs and protect other consumer goods from damage. One international study found that the loss of foodstuffs between grower and consumer is about two percent in the developed world and up to 33 percent in the developing world. The difference is largely due to packaging.
Packaging makes up less than 12 percent by weight of the New Zealand municipal waste stream. Landfill Reduction through Light-weighting and Design. Recycling and lighter weight packaging have reduced potential packaging waste volumes by more than 40 percent over the past 12 years. There are many misconceptions about the amount of waste caused by packaging. In actual fact, light-weight materials and improved designs have led to big reductions in the weight of product packages over the past 10 years. The Packaging Council estimates that the packaging industry has reduced the unit weight of packages by more than 20 percent in the past 12 years. Over 50 percent of packaging waste is imported into New Zealand.
Recycling and Reuse. Over 95% of New Zealanders have access to facilities to recycle paper, glass, cans and plastics 1 and 2 and 77% of New Zealand councils offer households a kerbside recycling service. Recycling facilities are now available to over 95% percent of New Zealanders and research in New Zealand shows that packaging waste in 1994 accounted for just 11.8 percent by weight of total solid municipal landfill waste. However as the percentage of packaging materials recovered has risen from 29 percent in 1994 to an estimated 39 percent in 1997 it is likely that the volume of packaging waste to landfill has fallen. For further information about RECYCLING IN NEW ZEALAND click here |
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TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING |
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77 Greenmount Drive, East Tamaki, Manukau |