After a decade, the Glass Packaging Forum has changed its name to The Packaging Forum.
David Carter, founding Chair of the Glass Packaging forum, said the new organisation marks the start of a new chapter for the packaging industry. He said, “We already operate two voluntary product stewardship schemes for glass packaging and public place recycling which received accreditation from the Minister for the Environment under the Waste Minimisation Act (2008).
The Packaging Forum will set new targets for glass recovery
“During our three year term managing the Love NZ public place recycling programme which commenced in 2011, we worked with brand owners, manufacturers and the hospitality sector to increase the recycling of paper, cans and plastic packaging and have established partnerships with 33 local councils to improve collaboration between industry and Local Government. With the accreditation of our second voluntary product stewardship scheme (Public Place Recycling), it became apparent that something needed to change either as an industry or as an organisation so that our two accredited schemes could be part of a multi packaging association.
“We have changed our structure to become a broad based packaging organisation operating supported and coordinated individual schemes seeing this as the best way forward for industry and the community. Our focus is outward. This means that in addition to looking after the needs of our members we also seek to look after society’s needs. The two are not mutually exclusive.”
The Packaging Forum has embarked on an annual national litter count which will provide baseline data enabling industry to work with local government and communities on strategies to change behaviours and reduce littering. This data will provide a snapshot of litter in eight urban areas where 53 per cent of the population reside. The packaging Forum says this will help inform not just the packaging industry but other industry groups whose products are discarded in public places.
It will also conduct annual market research to better understand what people are recycling and how. This year plastic bottles have replaced glass bottles as the waste item most people think they can place in a recycling bin. The Packaging Forum says that 41 per cent of people say they have public place recycling bins in their area and 31 per cent see a problem with litter in their area.
The Packaging Forum will set new targets for glass recovery, public place recycling and litter reduction. It will also conduct work to measure the overall packaging recovery rate for all packaging materials and to set targets for recycling as part of new material specific product stewardship schemes. The European average recovery rate of 78 per cent in 2012 with a 65 per cent recycling rate compares to 56 per cent in New Zealand (2010 data).
Carter said, “We believe that with effective product stewardship schemes in place this will help increase packaging recovery as has been achieved with glass over the past decade which has moved from a 50 per cent to 69 per cent recycling rate. As a member of the government’s Waste Advisory Board, I am aware of the need for robust data to support waste minimisation. The Packaging Forum will play a major role in commissioning and communicating data around packaging statistics, packaging waste and litter.”
