Packaging innovations can reduce cost and the impact on the environment.

New Zealand’s industry leaders were recognised at the biennial Environmental Packaging Awards, which celebrate companies and individuals who champion environmental issues and packaging product stewardship.

Held in Auckland by the Packaging Council of New Zealand, this year’s Awards reflected the direction the council is taking with the introduction of its Packaging Product Stewardship Scheme and Code of Practice for packaging design, education and procurement.

Packaging Council of New Zealand executive director Paul Curtis says everyone in the packaging industry, from manufacturers and brand-owners to retailers and recyclers, has a responsibility to reduce the impact packaging has on the environment.

“New Zealanders expect the packaging industry to reduce the amount of packaging waste going to landfill and to develop packaging which uses fewer resources.

“It is for that reason the Packaging Product Stewardship Scheme has been introduced. The aim is to improve packaging design and systems to reduce packaging waste, increase reuse of packaging, increase recycled content in packaging and increase consumer awareness and understanding of sustainable packaging.

“Many companies deliver cost-effective, sustainable solutions for reducing packaging and minimising its impact on the environment. The Environmental Packaging Awards are to support and encourage progress within the industry and we’ve seen some outstanding contributions this year,” says Curtis.

The Supreme Award which recognises the greatest contribution towards environmental excellence was awarded to the Environmental Education for Resource Sustainability Trust (EERST) for its Paper4Trees programme.

The community waste minimisation educational programme, which awards native trees to schools that recycle paper and cardboard, has been running in more than 2700 schools and pre-schools for over 10 years. In that time 46,982 trees have been planted, 11,745 tonnes of paper and cardboard have been recycled and 93,964 cubic metres of landfill space saved.

EERST also received the Cadbury Community Education Programme Award for its Paper4Trees programme as an outstanding example of a waste minimisation education programme that has delivered compelling metrics of waste reduction.

Among other highlights, Convex Plastics received The Foodstuffs Packaging Design Award for its GreenSACK compostable wheelie bin liners, which will help reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill, and are of particular interest to the hospitality industry.

Clever crate a winner for the environment

The Sutton Group Award for Supply Chain Influence on Packaging Systems was picked up by Progressive Enterprises and CHEP NZ for their shipping and display supermarket produce crate. The cost-effective, reusable, foldable crate (pictured) provides improvement in transport efficiency and product protection. Introduced in 2008 with an initial pool of 480,000 crates, demand is now approaching 7,000,000 across produce suppliers.

PEL and CHEP NZ worked closely with manufacturers to design the crate that is made of strong polypropylene, which prevents breakages during transport, and with less throw-away packaging (only the cardboard label), so overall there is less packaging material used.

The foldable crate comes in a range of sizes and is supported by a pricing mechanism that isn’t just cost effective, but encourages a quick turnaround.

Richard Manaton, general manager strategic planning at Progressive Enterprises, says the crate is the principal crate for all the fruit and vegetables coming in to Countdown, with the only exception being produce from overseas.

CHEP NZ national retail manager Erin Shanks said it was great to work with PEL and come up with a solution for transport packaging that met environmental commitment standards.

“The pleasing aspect of the award is the recognition of the partnership between CHEP and Progressive and the way we have worked together to create a solution for packaging problems on such a large scale.”

The Sutton Group Award recognises initiatives where the supply chain influence on packaging systems has provided positive environmental outcomes.

“Progressive and CHEP have worked together taking a complete assessment of the supply chain to maximise transport efficiencies, minimise space and storage requirements – meaning fewer journeys required and less CO2 emitted,” comments Curtis.

The Lion Award for an employee who has championed environmental issues and driven change went to Spring Humphreys of Fonterra and Karen Warman of Resene. Both were recognised for their ongoing contribution to environmental excellence within their organisations.

Manager of eco efficiency at Fonterra, Humphreys is a long time eco-champion. He was seconded away from his operational role at Fonterra in 2003 to head up a new initiative aiming to minimise, if not eliminate, waste.

Key initiatives were to maximise recycling, maximise transport efficiencies, minimise waste sent to landfill and provide equipment that was health, safety and hygiene compliant.

The programme, which was initially trialled at five sites around New Zealand, has emerged as a model of best practice and eco-efficiency now being implemented across 136 of Fonterra’s sites, stores and offices.

When the programme started seven years ago, over 18,000 tonnes of waste was going to landfill and last year that dropped to just under 5000 tonnes. The company is diverting 92% of waste back into reuse or recycle.

Spring says in the past seven years Fonterra has recycled over 45,000 tonnes of cardboard and plastic.

“So that has put the ‘eco’ into economics. It has turned a cost stream into a profit centre. But the beauty of the programme is that the staff are the ones that come up with the initiatives and they are responsible for driving them.”