Sustainability in its essence is the capacity to endure. Future-proofing your business can encompass the concepts of responsible resource use and new technologies that minimise the impact on our environment.

Sustainability has many facets, from store design to green vehicle fleets and waste management.

Some industries are very active in managing their energy use by increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy emissions. According to Statistics NZ about 90% of public administration and safety organisations had energy-saving initiatives in place in 2010. In the food services industry, 60% monitored their use or the cost of energy; 50% provided information on energy savings to staff and 50% had installed energy-saving technologies.

Reduced carbon footprint

Progressive Enterprises’ commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility encompasses all areas of the company, from distribution to checkouts, says Richard Manaton, general manager, planning and compliance at Progressive Enterprises.

He explains: “In 2007 we set ourselves a goal to achieve a 40% reduction on anticipated growth in our company’s carbon footprint by 2015, bringing it back to 2006 levels. This goal means we are working hard to make our stores and our operations greener, with a range of initiatives. Outside of our stores, we have introduced a fleet of trucks which are the most advanced EEV (Enhanced Environmentally friendly Vehicles) in New Zealand. In addition, our car fleet has been converted over the last three years to more fuel-efficient, smaller and safer cars.

“All our stores participate in an Eco Ambassador programme, in which we recruit team members to communicate environmental initiatives to their teams and look for opportunities to save power and reduce waste. In store, our new generation Countdown supermarkets include a low carbon footprint CO2 refrigeration plant. In addition, significant energy efficiency benefits are achieved from refrigeration night blinds, sliding covers on freezers, heat reclaim off the refrigeration coils, energy efficient lighting and the use of natural light in roof panels where applicable.”

The sustainability strategy also reaches out to customers in tangible ways – whether it’s the promotion of reusable shopping bags, or the policy to pack at least seven items in plastic bags. Catalogues are also printed on paper with at least 50% recycled content.

“We are already seeing the benefits of some of these sustainable initiatives – our newer stores are achieving power savings of up to 20% per square metre versus the company average,” says Manaton.

Modern supermarket design

The New World store in Lincoln is an excellent example of sustainability practices at Foodstuffs. Sustainability was a key factor in both the construction and day-to-day running of the supermarket, with wind turbines to generate some of the power, a newly developed non-PVC flooring system, and CO2 refrigeration. Most of the new Foodstuffs’ stores reclaim heat generated from cooling units for heating water, and air curtains are used to minimise the loss of hot or cold air from temperature controlled areas. Night blinds or refrigeration curtains are also used to reduce energy use during non-trading hours.

All newer and refurbished Foodstuffs’ stores make good use of skylights and energy efficient lighting, including lighting sensor technology, and the use of lower levels of lighting for after-hours functions such as shelf-filling and cleaning, or during periods of energy shortages.

Freight deliveries continue to be consolidated and back-loaded where possible to reduce vehicle movements and emissions. Reusable pallets and bins are utilised in Foodstuffs’ distribution systems to reduce waste and transit damage and improve load space utilisation, and transport efficiency.

Wineries lead the way

New Zealand wineries have entered over 1500 wines into this year’s Air New Zealand Wine Awards with over 75% of entries being sustainable wines.

The introduction of the new sustainability criteria in 2010, has led to an increase of over 330% in sustainable entries since 2009 and an increase of over 80% in sustainable entries over last year.

Any 2010 or 2011 vintage wine must be recognised as being 100% sustainably produced to enter the Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

New Zealand Winegrowers’ global marketing director Chris Yorke is delighted with the strong entry numbers, given the challenging economic environment and the stringent sustainability requirements for entry.

“The entry numbers demonstrate that the industry values both the competition itself and producing sustainable, quality wines as we move towards the industry goal of 100% sustainability by 2012,” says Yorke.

Organised and owned by New Zealand Winegrowers, the Air New Zealand Wine Awards is the country’s most prestigious wine competition, and regarded as the official competition of the New Zealand wine industry.

Going for glass

Glass is a re-usable, recyclable resource and a recent study showed that Australian consumers overwhelmingly prefer glass packaging – not just for their wine bottles. According to the study, 88% of Australians believed glass packaging best demonstrated high quality food products, and 76% high quality beverage products, compared with other packaging types. Brian Slingsby, general manager O-I Australia, said the research identified increasing consumer desire for more foods and beverages packaged in glass because it delivered optimum quality, taste and health benefits.

“The research clearly reveals that glass packaging is preferred by consumers across multiple categories, beating other forms of packaging on a number of important attributes including recyclability, transparency and the ability of glass to preserve the flavour of foods and beverages,” said Slingsby.

O-I, the world’s leading glass packaging manufacturer, has recently won the Supplier of the Year and Innovation awards for its Lean+Green lightweight wine bottle range at the Wine Industry Suppliers Australia (WISA) Supplier Awards in Adelaide.

O-I Australia’s wine marketing manager Maria Armstrong said, the win confirmed Lean+Green as one of the most innovative packaging developments in the Australian wine industry’s history.

“These are the seventh and eighth award wins for Lean+Green since its introduction in 2009,” said Armstrong.

“The awards highlight the major benefits of Lean+Green including greater freight efficiency as well as less water and energy use, helping to reduce carbon emissions.”

O-I’s Lean+Green range is manufactured at O-I’s Adelaide plant. Narrow neck press and blow technology is used to reduce the weight of wine bottles by up to 29%, while maintaining their premium look and feel.

The Lean+Green range is not manufactured in New Zealand at this stage, but O-I welcomes inquiries from local winemakers. O-I NZ has developed a 407 gram 750ml BVS Burgundy-style bottle with the same design footprint as the Australian Lean+Green range. This bottle is 43 grams (or almost 10%) lighter than the current 450gm 750ml BVS Punted Burgundy bottle. Crucially, the bottle delivers the premium image and significantly reduces the amount of glass packaging produced in New Zealand.

In addition to the new lighter-weight Burgundy bottles, O-I New Zealand is also developing a range of 395 gram 750ml BVS Bordeaux-style bottles. Once available, the Bordeaux bottle range will further reduce the amount of glass packaging produced in New Zealand by an estimated 650 tonnes per annum.

Biodegradable materials

With all the joy that babies bring – it’s a sad reality that the huge amount of nappies needed to care for them are damaging our environment. Did you know that every disposable nappy sent to a landfill since their invention in 1961 is still there and will be for generations to come?*

That’s why eco-brand Little Genie decided to introduce Bio-Nappies – a compostable nappy made from approximately 68% of biodegradable materials. The new Bio-Nappies aim to give consumers an eco-friendly choice and to lessen the amount of waste going to landfills. Little Genie products are stocked at Progressive supermarkets.

The outer layer of Little Genie Bio-Nappies is made with environmentally sustainable viscose from bamboo, which is a renewable and sustainable resource. Bamboo is extremely fast-growing, does not require pesticides and naturally possesses antibacterial and hypoallergenic properties.

*Source: Canberra Environment and Sustainability Resource Centre.

Managing resources

SCA Hygiene Australasia (SCAHA), manufacturer of brands such as Purex, Sorbent, Handee and Tork and local employer of over 600 New Zealanders is committed to the sustainable development of its business, taking economic, environmental and social issues into consideration. SCA places strong emphasis on the renewability and recyclability of the raw materials it uses and strives to offer environmentally sound products and services.

In conjunction with internationally recognised third party certification schemes, SCAHA also runs an internal pulp supplier due diligence programme, which ensures that only pulp from non-controversial sources is used in its products.

“Purex and many Tork products are certified to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSCTM) standard, meaning all the pulp used is accredited as sourced from responsibly managed forests,” says Andrew Taylor, manager health, safety and sustainability at SCA Hygiene Australasia.

FSC promotes the responsible management of the world’s forests, ensuring that the harvest of timber does not destroy the habitats of endangered species and take away precious resources from the people and economies that depend on them.

SCAHA’s locally manufactured commercial range, Tork, first gained Environmental Choice New Zealand (ECNZ) certification in 2002 and since 2007 the Purex toilet tissue range has also had (ECNZ) certification, meaning best practices have been used in the production of these products to reduce the impact on the environment.

SCAHA also markets Sorbent toilet tissue in New Zealand, which is manufactured at the company’s Box Hill, Melbourne plant. Sorbent toilet tissue is PEFC forest management certified – PEFC is an umbrella organisation that endorses national forestry standards and leaves the enforcement of the standard to the national body.

“Sorbent is certified to the Australian Forestry Standard, which in our opinion is an exacting standard,” says Taylor.

Purex, Handee and most Tork products are manufactured by SCA at its Kawerau, NZ plant. An integral part of the tissue making process at Kawerau is steam. Instead of using natural gas to generate steam, in a world-first for tissue production, SCA now uses geothermal steam, piped from the nearby geothermal field, in its manufacturing process. This has reduced the plant’s carbon footprint by an impressive 39%, compared to its previous emissions.

To reduce waste to landfill or incineration, a new shredder/baler has also been installed to enable the recycling of all pre-consumer waste from Te Rapa and Kawerau converting operations, and a new pulper to process baled pre-consumer water.

“Our parent company SCA has received much recognition for its achievements in sustainability including being voted one of the world’s most ethical companies – for the past four years – by the Ethisphere Institute (US),” says Taylor.

For SCA, sustainability is not a buzz word; it is an integral part of its operations and part of the strategy for growth and value creation. SCA has a long tradition of taking responsibility for people and for nature. All around the world, SCA is demonstrating its commitment to a sustainable future, says Taylor.