Reducing packaging waste: A guide to the New Zealand Packaging Accord 2004

Reducing packaging waste: A guide to the New Zealand Packaging Accord 2004

Packaged goods make a huge contribution to the New Zealand economy. Packaging can be vital to the quality, health and safety of goods it contains. It stops perishables going off and makes products attractive and recognisable to consumers.

The waste from packaging needs to be reduced along with its impact on the environment. About one eighth of the rubbish we send to our landfills for disposal is used packaging. Each New Zealander throws away 83 kilograms of used packaging every year.

We can reduce our consumption of packaging and we can increase the packaging we recycle.

This is where the Accord comes in.

What is the Packaging Accord?

The Accord is an initiative to cut down on wasteful packaging. Those signing it — industry, local and central government — are voluntarily committing to doing what they can to reduce the proportion of packaging in our total waste stream.

Accord signatories are aiming to save resources when they design, make and choose packaging and do their best to recover and reuse the materials.

This means producers and packaging users will take more responsibility from the beginning to the end of the packaging lifecycle. This is an example of “extended producer responsibility”, a core principle of the New Zealand Waste Strategy 2002, supporting sustainable development.

Sustainable development includes meeting our needs today without making it harder for future generations to meet theirs.

What is the packaging lifecycle?

It starts with designing packaging and choosing the raw materials. Once made, goods are put into the packaging in New Zealand or products are imported already packaged. Consumers then decide what to buy, taking packaging into consideration.

When the packaging is no longer needed consumers make the decision to send it for recycling (when available) or put it in the rubbish to go to landfill.

If the packaging (such as a bottle, or a carton) is recycled, it will be used for more packaging or another product, and the lifecycle continues by “closing the loop” on packaging waste.

Who is responsible for the Accord?

The Accord’s main signatories are the Minister for the Environment, the President of the Packaging Council of New Zealand, the President of Local Government New Zealand and the Chair of the Recycling Operators of New Zealand.

Key packaging sectors involved are steel, paper, plastics, aluminium and glass as well as brand owners and retailers.

Around 200 organisations have signed up to the Accord. Leading companies which also helped develop sector action plans include 3M New Zealand, ACI Glass, Carter Holt Harvey, Fisher and Paykel Appliances, Griffins Foods, Lion Nathan, McDonald’s, The Warehouse, and major supermarket chains, Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises. Key associations involved include the NZ Food and Grocery Council, NZ Paperboard Packaging Association, NZ Retailers Association, Plastics New Zealand and Steel Cans Association of New Zealand.

Each signatory will work to increase the number of companies and organisations that sign up to the Accord.

Why is industry supporting the Accord?

Industry groups and business leaders want to address packaging waste. They want their products to appeal to shoppers, and they want to be environmental leaders who take responsibility for the sustainable use of resources.

Developing sector action plans and signing the voluntary Accord means industry can take a lead. Industry is able to plan how it will reduce packaging waste in the design, use and recovery of packaging, as a normal part of business.

How can my organisation join the Accord?

Companies and organisations can join the Accord through one of the four main Accord parties. Those from the packaged goods industry can join the Packaging Council. Smaller companies can choose to join through their sector organisations.

How will we know the Accord’s working?

Nine sector action plans have been developed for the Accord’s main parties and key packaging sectors.

These detail what each sector will do over the Accord’s five years to improve the design of new and existing packaging when changes take place. Companies will use the Packaging Council Code of Practice. The plans also address the production, use and recovery of packaging materials. This includes finding markets for reused and recovered packaging materials and adopting purchasing policies that assess the packaging lifecycle.

Each action plan details the commitments and activities expected to be achieved over the next five years and how the sector will achieve them, both on its own and working with other sectors.

Benchmarking activities and progress will take place in the first two years, with measurable improvements expected in years three, four and five.

Joint targets include recovering a proportion of the five main packaging materials so they can be used again. Recovery targets for 2008, as a percentage of consumption, by weight, are 65% of aluminium used in packaging, 55% of glass, 70% of paper, 43% of steel, and 23% of plastic.

Alongside this, brand owners and retailers are working to reduce the number of plastic checkout bags used.

Annual progress reports will be available on the Packaging Council and Ministry for the Environment websites www.packaging.org.nz and www.mfe.govt.nz.

For more information visit:

Ministry for the Environment — www.mfe.govt.nz
Packaging Council of New Zealand — www.packaging.org.nz
Local Government New Zealand — www.lgnz.co.nz
Recycling Operators of New Zealand — www.ronz.org.nz