New Zealand Packaging Accord 2004: Recycling Operators of New Zealand Sector Action Plan
1. Introduction
This Accord replaces the 1996 Packaging Accord. Participating parties agree to cooperate to work towards an agreed objective, which places them under a strong moral, but not legal, obligation.
Signatories to the Accord are:
- Minister for the Environment (MfE), on behalf of Government
- New Zealand Packaging Council (PAC.NZ), on behalf of brand owners, retailers/importers and packaging manufacturers
- Recycling Operators of New Zealand (RONZ), on behalf of the resource recovery industry
- Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), on behalf of local government interests.
The Accord recognises that there are many participants in the lifecycle of a package and that each has an important role to play. The resource recovery industry is recognised as having a key role in the collection of materials for recovery, the range of materials that are recovered and the marketing of recovered materials.
The objective of the Accord is:
“Improving the sustainability of packaging used in New Zealand by:
- better partnerships, policies and processes
- brand owners and retailers taking the primary responsibility for product stewardship throughout the packaging lifecycle
- greater material and energy efficiency in the production, use and recovery of packaging materials
- supply chain initiatives that foster markets for sustainably-made packaging, including more use of recovered packaging materials.”
Unlike the previous Accord, the new Accord will be based on the “extended producer responsibility” concept. The new Accord recognises that the packaging brand owner and retailer/importer has the greatest control over decisions relating to materials selection and product design, whereas the previous Accord considered the manufacturer was responsible for these decisions.
2. About this sector
The Accord recognises that there are many participants in the lifecycle of a package and that each has an important role to play. The resource recovery industry is recognised as having a key role in the collection of materials for recovery, the range of materials that are recovered and the marketing of recovered materials.
Packaging materials represent a high proportion of the materials recycled by RONZ members. RONZ’s participation in the Accord will lead to an improved dialogue between the recycling and packaging sectors, ensuring designers are aware of the impacts their choices of materials and construction methods have on both suitability for, and ease of, recycling. This should ultimately result in a higher proportion of packaging being easily recycled and in the elimination of problematic packaging types.
3. This sector action plan
As part of the process, all parties to the Accord have prepared sector action plans. Sectors represented in the Accord are:
- Aluminium
- Brand Owners and Retailers
- Central Government
- Glass
- Local Government New Zealand
- Paper
- Plastics
- Recycling Operators of New Zealand
- Steel
This sector action plan identifies the contribution that the sector and the organisations it represents will make to the achievement of New Zealand Packaging Accord 2004 objective and, in so doing, related aspects of the New Zealand Waste Strategy.
It reflects the collaborative approach of the Accord process, which encourages all parties to work towards achieving a common objective and, of necessity, acknowledges that there are different ways of doing this.
Each party to this plan has agreed to the implementation of the activities/outcomes it lists as a minimum commitment to the Accord. The actions agreed to within the sector are detailed in the tables that follow, along with the timeframe the sector has to plan, implement and, where stated, achieve each of its commitments.
4. Parties to this plan
As a party to the Accord, RONZ will represent the interests of the resource recovery industry, enabling consultation with the packaging sector on decisions that affect the resource recovery industry.
To develop its sector action plan, RONZ created a steering committee of individuals appointed on the basis of their knowledge, experience and expressed interest rather than as representatives of companies or organisations. The RONZ Packaging Accord Steering Committee met on 13 February in Auckland. Present were: George Gray, Sarah Gordon, Bruce Gledhill, John Forbes, Gary Kelk, Peter Thorne, Louisa Palmer, Ken Johns, Melissa Arseneault (Project Leader — Packaging Accord) and Bruce Middleton (Writer).
5. What this sector action plan contains
The sector has agreed to address all eight Accord measures of progress as listed below. It was agreed that not every measure will be equally applicable to individuals within the sector. However, as the areas are interconnected they should be read and interpreted in a synergistic manner. The measures for action are:
- Mass balance data
- Trends of annual estimated packaging waste to landfill (or other disposal methods) per person
- Packaging design and procurement
- Development of sustainable markets for reused and recycled packaging materials
- Programmes to achieve national targets (including plastic shopping bag reduction target)
- Consumer information and involvement
- Accord promotion
- In-house waste reduction and resource recovery.
In general, during the first two years of the Accord (Years 1 and 2) the sector will work towards benchmarking its activities and progress. In the last three years (Years 3-5) there is an expectation of improvements being made. The sector will work with all other sectors to reduce the consumption of packaging and improve its recovery. It will report annually on the activities listed in this sector action plan.
6. Sector action plan activities
1. MASS BALANCE DATA (CLAUSE 20)
PAC.NZ will report aggregates annually on behalf of brand owners, retailers and packaging manufacturer groups. Weights of packaging materials consumed and recycled will be collected and presented in formats used since 1994, thus allowing year-by-year comparisons. Reporting methodology will be improved and data will be independently reviewed.
|
Commitment |
Activities |
Year |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Company/ organisation | Contribute to packaging consumption (including imports) and collection data. | N/A | |
| Sector | Collate data by packaging types by sector. | RONZ recognises the importance of accurate data collection and will work towards collating data from the recycling industry. | Years 1-5 |
| Discuss with the recycling industry the best way to gather and disseminate data and develop a methodology for doing so. | Years 1-2 | ||
| Identify weaknesses and inconsistencies in national method. | Years 1-2 | ||
| Joint | Improve/revise format for mass balance data to achieve transparency. PAC.NZ reports annually. Independent review of PAC.NZ findings. |
Work on defining terms such as “packaging” and “pre” and “post industrial”. | Years 1-2 |
| Find appropriate ways to use data for general education and promotional purposes. |
Years 1-2 |
||
2. TRENDS OF ANNUAL ESTIMATED PACKAGING WASTE TO LANDFILL PER PERSON (CLAUSE 21)
Annual estimates of packaging waste to landfill (or other disposal method) per person by material (paper, plastic, glass, steel, aluminium, composites) and in aggregate, by weight. An eventual reduction in these rates will be one of the important indicators of the Accord’s success.
|
Commitment |
Activities |
Year |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Company/ organisation | Collect data and report findings to all sectors on packaging types. | Individual organisations may assist RONZ and other sectors to develop protocols for data gathering. | Years 1-2 |
| Sector | Improve packaging format for Solid Waste Analysis Protocol (SWAP). | RONZ will endeavour to be involved with the development of protocols for ensuring waste analysis data is relevant to the Accord. | Years 1-2 |
| Joint | Decrease in per capita rates of packaging waste to landfill. | Work towards a national definition of “recyclability”. | Years 1-2 |
| Consult with MfE. | Years 1-2 | ||
3. PACKAGING DESIGN AND PROCUREMENT (CLAUSE 22)
Annual sector action plan reports will document:
- Packaging design: a drive for sustainability in packaging design by creating and participating in better design industry training programmes, reviewing new and existing packaging against codes of practice, cooperating with the resource recovery sector during packaging design, and dealing with non-compliance with the PAC.NZ Code of Practice;
- Packaging procurement: improving policies and practices by adhering to codes of practice for sustainable packaging procurement and through supply chain initiatives.
|
Commitment |
Activities |
Year |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Company/ organisation | Ongoing review process for new and existing packaging using PAC.NZ Code of Practice. | Individual organisations may assist RONZ with the review process. | Years 1-5 |
| Sector | Report the number/percentage of companies that have implemented a review process of new and existing packaging. | N/A | |
| Industry training programmes. | RONZ may assist with development and implementation of training programmes for designers as required. |
Years 1-5 |
|
| Rectify non-compliance complaints. | RONZ may assist with complaints procedures as required. | Years 1-2 |
|
RONZ will investigate:
|
Years 1-2 | ||
| Joint | Design a checklist for packaging reviews, identify and address design issues. | RONZ will become a key player in the development and dissemination of information for the design of packaging and procurement. | Years 2-4 |
4. DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOR REUSED AND RECYCLED PACKAGING MATERIALS (CLAUSE 23)
Closing the loop on waste by developing and fostering sustainable markets for reused and recycled packaging materials. Annual sector action plan reports will document cooperative ventures between industry sectors, identify any barriers to, and any frameworks supporting, sustainable resource efficiency industries in New Zealand, and any results from joint initiatives.
|
Commitment |
Activities |
Year |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Company/ organisation | Develop purchasing policies that encourage the use of recovered materials. | Individual organisations may adopt “green” purchasing policies to support the use of products made from recovered materials. | Years 1-5 |
| Sector | Report the number/percentage of companies with purchasing policies that encourage the use of recovered material. | RONZ will continue its advocacy and facilitation role in developing markets. | Years 1-5 |
| Facilitate communication between material buyers and markets. | Years 1-5 | ||
| Advocate and promote the use of recovered materials (website, advertisement). | Years 1-5 | ||
| Consult within the industry on developing national standards for kerbside recovery of materials. | Years 1-5 | ||
| Joint | Work with other sectors to develop and support sustainable markets for recovered packaging materials. | Investigate the development of a national label of recyclability. | Years 1-2 |
| Continue to work on improving council recycling contracts by developing best practice guidelines for kerbside recycling and resource recovery centre contracts. | Years 1-2 | ||
| Coordinate and seek funding support to host a series of workshops with councils regarding kerbside and resource recovery centre issues and other issues such as identifying barriers to recovery of packaging materials. | Years 1-3 | ||
| Identify barriers to development of markets. | Years 2-5 | ||
| Facilitate extended producer responsibility initiatives. | Years 2-5 | ||
5. PROGRAMMES TO ACHIEVE NATIONAL TARGETS (CLAUSE 24)
The following are 2008 national recycling targets for recovery of packaging materials (by weight as a percentage of consumption):
- Aluminium 65%
- Glass 55%
- Paper 70%
- Steel 43%
- Plastic 23%
All sectors will review these targets and materials within two years of signing the Accord. A plastic shopping bag reduction target, by quantity, will be identified in the Brand Owners and Retailers Sector Action Plan.
|
Commitment |
Activities |
Year |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Company/ organisation | Contribute to recovery and recycling systems. | Individual organisations may work with RONZ to investigate barriers to wider recovery of materials. | Years 1-5 |
| Sector | Use mass balance (and SWAP) data to track and report progress against targets. | Investigate barriers to wider recovery of materials ie. plastics and steel cans. | Years 1-2 |
| Joint | Identify and address recovery issues. Meet agreed national recycling targets. |
Ensure data used for developing and monitoring targets is accurate. | Years 1-2 |
| Assist other sectors in reaching targets. | Years 1-2 | ||
| Work with other sectors to develop a methodology to determine targets based on sound information and monitoring. | Years 1-2 | ||
| Seek funding to produce information sheets on specific materials to identify issues, challenges and barriers. |
Years 1-2 |
||
| Identify problems with data collection to monitor progress towards targets. | Years 1-2 | ||
| Raise the issue of development of separate targets for North and South Islands. | Years 1-2 | ||
| Investigate economics of recovery for more materials. | Years 2-5 | ||
6. CONSUMER INFORMATION AND INVOLVEMENT (CLAUSE 25)
Ways of informing consumers and involving them in sustainable packaging design and packaging resource recovery programmes must be developed. Consumers must be made more aware of packaging issues and empowered to act on their decisions about packaging purchases, recovery and disposal.
|
Commitment |
Activities |
Year |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Company/ organisation | Implement relevant parts of the programme. | Individual organisations may contribute to the development of consumer education. | Years 1-5 |
| Sector | Assess programme and develop an implementation strategy at the sector level. | Raise awareness of the issues related to packaging. Have consumers make appropriate decisions about package purchasing and disposal and act on them. |
Years 2-5 |
| Joint | Develop a communication strategy for consumer information on the Accord. | Establish a representative working group to:
Inform consumers about the need for and the role of packaging eg. health and safety, tampering/pilfering, social and economic issues, its contribution to the total solid waste stream, levels of packaging recovery and recycling, the environmental footprint of packaging types, gains made in packaging performance and recovery to date and the part consumers can play in the Accord. |
Years 1-2 |
| Monitor and review results and improve consumer information and education strategies as required. |
Years 3-5 |
||
7. ACCORD PROMOTION (CLAUSE 26)
Ensuring target sector and consumer audiences know about the Accord and that its issues involve them, as well as ensuring they understand the commitments embodied in sector action plans. It is also important to promote and recognise excellence in environmentally acceptable packaging.
|
Commitment |
Activities |
Year |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Company/ organisation | Promote the Accord within the company/organisation. | Individual organisations may promote and raise awareness of the Accord through internal communications. | Years 1-5 |
| Sector | Promote the Accord within the sector. | RONZ to publish ongoing information on its website and in newsletters, and will investigate other opportunities. | Years 1-5 |
| Joint | Work with other sectors to promote the Accord. Target audiences:
|
Develop concise and consistent messages for promotion within extended sector groups. Promote and encourage participation in environmental awards programmes such as the Environmentally Acceptable Packaging Awards (PAC.NZ) and the Green Ribbon Awards (MfE). Provide ongoing assessment of the delivery of these messages. |
Years 1-5 |
8. IN-HOUSE WASTE REDUCTION AND RESOURCE RECOVERY (CLAUSE 27)
Promoting in-house waste reduction and resource recovery across sectors and reporting annually on any initiatives.
|
Commitment |
Activities |
Year |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Company/ organisation | Initiatives to reduce waste and improve resource recovery. | Individual organisations may develop in-house waste minimisation programmes. | Years 1-5 |
| Sector | Report the number/percentage of organisations with initiatives. | Encourage members to operate businesses in an environmentally responsible manner. Ongoing promotion and education through newsletters, website and workshops. RONZ and its members may assist other sectors by providing information and services. |
Years 1-5 |
| Joint | (no joint commitment) | ||
