“Is there a Climate of Change toward a sustainable Packaging Industry?” was a question supposed to be answered after two solid days of debate by professional presenters and attentive audiences at the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) 2008 National Conference recently held in Sydney last week.
“The answer’s a Pineapple” sort of fits the bill here; but wait!
There may not be enough arable land for growing pineapples, the climate may not enhance ripening ,the pineapple may become another food stuff that is spirited away to produce bio-fuel or on the other hand progress towards a sustainable Packaging industry will continue unabated.
Emeritus Professor Harry Lovell OAM in summarising the two days said “Sustainability is like a maze and we need an indication to find our way”.
He went to the heart with “the real impact was brought home when we heard that Grange may be in plastic bottles [1]” and finally “if you don’t like the contents you can eat the package”.
The undertone of most presentations was that change has, is, and will happen irrespective of one’s personal considerations and that most of the change being driven in the Packaging Industry is in consideration of the environment.
Some may have regard to the climatic environment but a number are clearly in respect of the changes instituted or proposed by the Climate of Change in legislative arenas.
Angela Nicholls an Al Gore Ambassador, Global Warming Leader commenced proceedings with an update Australian version of An Inconvenient Truth.
If an orange is dipped in varnish the coating is equal to the atmosphere of planet Earth was her example of the fragility of the protective layer that is claimed to be on the edge of destruction.
Daily sampling of the atmosphere by the group (since 1958) shows that CO2 and temperature follow the same pattern.
Blame is sheeted at inefficient production methods and the use of energy coupled to the population explosion, science and technology innovations and our way of thinking.
In a slick performance supported by carefully selected visual examples Angela Nicholls held most of the delegates spellbound.
One of her confreres had an office view of Mt Kilimanjaro for over fifteen years but had not noticed that his view had changed from snow covered slopes to desolate rocky outcrops.
The message was that like this person we are not conscious of the changes that are occurring and as earth is the only place we have to live we need to focus more.
Another presenter mentioned that diseases previously under control are recurring and the blame is with climate change.
It seems that a new disease called Climate Change Myopia (2) is loose in the world but there are sufficient medicines available to combat the effects.
In any assembly there will always be conflicting views and one came from Gerard Van Rijswijk MAIP, Senior Policy Adviser, National Association of Retail Grocers of Australia.
Gerard brought to notice a number of reports or made bold statements to reinforce the message “much of what we do for the environment is not sustainable”.
He mentioned a forthcoming book debunking An Inconvenient Truth and other reports entitled Little Green Lies.
The first international speaker James Tupper ECR learning and change manager at IGD from the United Kingdom showed by video clips how the UK grocery industry is approaching the goal to reduce the social and environmental costs of domestic food transport by 20% in the next four years (2012).
Collaborate distribution has been accepted as one initiative and even the cynics have embraced the opportunities arising.
Nestle and United Biscuits arch rivals in the market place now share distribution tasks and are saving in kilometres travelled, fuel used and increasing tonnes delivered.
More freight was moved but five million miles of travel were saved in one example and Walmart have declared that if their trucking fleet can be one mile per gallon more fuel efficient the fuel companies will not get $50 million in a full year of operation.
All aboard the Tesco Express!
The Tesco Express, a freight train exclusively for the company is busy saving over 16,560 truck journey miles every year.
It delivers stock between distribution centres in Daventry and Livingstone, taking over 180,000 freight tonnes off the road and saving five million over the road miles.
The Carbon Footprint was the thrust of the first breakout session and we had consensus from two competitors in the collection and disposal of waste.
Both Mike Ritchie, National General Manager, SITA Environmental Solutions and Nicholas Harford, General Manager Environment, VISY explained that the recently released Australian Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is flawed as waste diverted from landfill and recycling is not included in credits.
Both companies and the waste collection industry are discussing this issue with the Government but any opportunity from Packaging Companies to reinforce the emission [3] in data collection is probably worthwhile.
Meanwhile delegates who selected the stream Measuring the Impact were brought up to date on the Buy Recycled Business Alliance activities and the operation of a comprehensive and interactive web site.
The site has been two years in development and is still a work-in-progress but will be a powerful management tool when calculating KPI for the National Packaging Covenant (NPC) or for other reasons when needing to declare the percentage and origin of recyclate material used in a process.
Lara Barclay the Executive Director of BRBA also highlighted an emission like that in ETS.
The Australian Standards do not recognise reutilised material as it is claimed to be just good business practice. BRBA is not exclusive to recycled packaging materials as the reasons to buy a recycled brick is the same as buying reclaimed paper - reduction of landfill and associated impacts, support markets for recovered materials and preserve natural resources.
The aim is to also list all suppliers of reclaimed materials and to have a clear and consistent terminology to reduce the confusion often caused by vague or (often unwittingly) misleading descriptors.
Lara Barclay advised that one tonne of paper in landfill produces 2.2 tonnes of methane the greenhouse gas most deleterious to our environment.
Mike Ritchie talked about embodied energy which reinforces BRBA actions.
CO2 emissions are highly correlated with the energy consumed in manufacturing packaging materials, aluminium is higher than average and glass is lower. On average, 0.098 tonnes of CO2 are produced per gigajoule of embodied energy.
He went onto say that if we do recycling correctly the saving in Greenhouse Gas Emissions is equivalent to that of all motor cars in Australia.
There appears to be much misinformation- the much maligned plastic bag is one thousandth (1/1000th) of the waste stream yet of the 20 million tonnes of waste 8.6 is organic material sent directly to landfill and contributes over 10 million tonnes of CO2e to the atmosphere.
The story is the same from Visy but Nick Hartford did say that Packaging is a very small part but is often too conservative when entering any debate about contributing the environment.
Visy policy is “we make it we take it”.
Ninety eight per cent of production is recyclable and 30% of energy used in production is produced from the recycling process.
Australian industry overall recovers 55% of packaging materials produced but Visy reclaims more that it produces giving a figure of 165%.
The CO2e from operations and savings as a result is also known:
- 0.003 tonnes of CO2e is produced to collect one tonne of waste
- 0.59 tonnes of CO2e is produced to make one tonne of paper from recycled material
- 1.07 tonnes of CO2e is produced to make one tonne of paper from virgin material
- 300 thousand tonnes of CO2e is saved each year by using recycled paper
The message delivered by both Waste Recovery representatives was reinforced by the penultimate plenary speaker Lee Smith general manager public affairs and marketing of Visy Recycling who addressed the subject "Where to From Here"in the framework of recycling.
More emphasis is being put on recycling and recycled content in tenders, particularly those of Government bodies.
He noted a trend toward greater promotion of sustainability and said “much more CO2e can be saved in household by increased recycling than from the highly promoted new technology electric light globes or cold water washing”.
Delegates tucked into lunch and visited the exhibition halls and then returned for more edification.
The aforementioned Gerard Van Rijswijk MAIP boldly fronted the assembly to give his counter views.
His main thrust is that things like ETS will increase costs across the whole supply chain and will drive innovation on a return to the past in some instances.
Round containers are less efficient than square and he suggests that if square watermelons are possible the development of more efficient pallet loads should be a given.
The second biggest cost for grocery retailers (and in the home) is electricity for refrigeration and lighting all of which can be addressed in collaboration with packaging designers.
Gerard, and others, contends that the cost of energy will rise to offset greenhouse “saving” initiatives from Government.
The difference in energy cost will reflect on the price of packaging and whilst it is now promoted as a cost benefit recycling will start to get competition from other means of disposing of used packaging depending on the carbon price.
In the session entitled "Sustainable Design", Areli Avendano MAIP a PHD Scholar at RMIT University reinforced an issue that has many times being highlighted - packaging design is not considered to be part of company structures.
She developed her packaging design skills in Mexico where any contender to sell packaging in the North American market employs a Packaging Design team.
She made some poignant thought provokers:
- Packaging is part of the product -people don’t buy the packaging
- Australia is more interested than time and money than design
- There is a very marked emphasis on self interest. [5]
Tony Mahar, Director, Sustainable Development, Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) pointed out that “sustainability is actually complex” and went onto explain that it is judged on environmental, social and economic impacts and that it must never be taken as a synonym for environmental.
Company’s sustainability has to compete both locally and with imports and the evolving consumer that now want more transparency. Trust me no longer cuts it!
But although wanting to be involved the consumer is often confused but clearly do not accept that sustainable food is their responsibility. However ethical aspects are becoming more widespread -one supermarket chain no longer sells poultry products sourced from caged birds.
Bio-fuel production is impacting on food production.
A 200% increase in the cost of corn has seen producers on Navy Beans used by Heinz turn their back on low return bean crops [6]
As Noel Ayre, Managing Director of Tetra Pak Oceania was preparing for his keynote session others enjoyed an afternoon tea break.
All back together and on time to get indoctrinated into the Tetra Pak understanding on any Climate of Change!
Twenty five years ago the company looked at and acted upon all of the issues that are now “flavour of the month”.
Ruben Rausing started the company underpinned by “a package should save more than it costs” and has engrained environmental impact into the heart of the Tetra Pak family.
The company environmental policy is based not on the 3 Ps but 4 Rs.
Recycling, Renew-ability, Reduction, Responsibility determine the outcome of all packages that must end up being economically and environmentally advantageous.
Traceability is also flavoursome in many board rooms but at Tetra Pak it is the board that is traceable.
That is the board that is converted into packages not the management!
Being a signatory to the Forests Stewardship Council (FSC) not only means 100% traceability of material from forest floor to factory floor but niche market opportunities.
Sainsbury (UK) launched a liquid food package with the FSC logo on the package and won immediate acceptance by consumers.
Tetra Pak have runs on the board but look for high scores at every innings.
One hundred per cent traceability, 83% recyclability, 7% reduction in CO2e emissions and 50 thousand tonnes of polymer saved look good on the score sheet.
They can demonstrate that a 10% reduction in cost became a 35% increase in sales.
As Ayre recited in his extract, “There is no one golden bullet that will solve this problem (global warming) but as we move forward Tetra Pak’s response has further developed with the concept of sustainability.”
All the way from the UK via his company exhibition stand Andrew Streeter Director of Pack-Track came to tell us about global trends in consumer packaging and their impact on the future sustainable agenda.
Pack-Track captures details of all new packages and analyses them for edification and marketing information for its clients.
History established by Pack-Track throws up some valuable insights into consumer behaviour and packaging costing.
- 11% of purchases are purely on price
- Therefore 9 out of 10 consumers seek some value.
- Anywhere between 10 and 70% of the cost of goods is in the brand.
- Engaging the consumer leads to a successful package
- On the go packs are becoming more prevalent.
- Lifestyle matching will result in increased sales
- Packaging waste is a misnomer ----it is resource.
Many informative slides reinforced Andrew’s messages but spoken words worth repeating include: - Japan is Packaging—Packaging is a desirable device for consumable products.
His thought provoking comment was “In over 25 years I have never seen so many package changes.”
With that to ponder the end of day one and the Conference Dinner became the focus of many.
The Conference Dinner was where presentations and awards were made to members who had contributed to the AIP in the preceding year and the first appearance of the newly elevated National President Craig Wellman MAIP.
All work and no play make Jack or Jill a dull child so work gave way to some play.
The package presented was a two part act when a dummy and ventriloquist twins took the audience to the height of enjoyment and some selected members into the act.
One delegate seemingly oblivious to the act on stage engaged in “throwing his voice” down a mobile phone and then into the ear of a colleague as he bid her good night!
Day two commenced - not with throwing voices but bits of paper scrunched up to replicate snow balls.
Simon Cant an Independent Innovation Consultant engaged the audience with motivational tasks and sought to find definitions of motivation.
His definition revolves around three “eyes”----Insight Ideas and Impact with four barriers to achieving same being attitude, structures, behaviour and skills reinforced by the statement “no great idea looks good on paper!”
Ignore drivers of change at your peril was his message and he mentioned people such as Henry Ford and Richard Branson and companies such as Apple Computers and South West Airlines.
These people adopt an attitude such as that of Cortez who invaded America and on arrival immediately burnt the boats forcing his army to stay and fight.
A truly innovative company will have the right structure and people with good behaviours that can be built upon.
Signal to people what you want to achieve and seek proposals that can be enhanced even if it may mean reducing any “toxic” people in the team.
Dr Mick Blake Group Sustainability Manager Amcor Limited controls six business units across the world and focuses on creating shareholder value in diverse markets.
In many countries legislation about climate change or sustainability is already in place with exposure to the impact of climate change now a material risk for corporations.
Blake indicated that Australian companies have been slow to react to cutting greenhouse gas emissions [GHG] which belies his advice that the share price of companies that have a sustainability focus are better.
Sixty percent of companies surveyed said that the benefits and opportunities equal or outweigh the risks. Amcor Limited supports the GHG protocol and seeks to reduce both direct and indirect emissions in collaboration with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.
In many cases the product that is packed may have a greater environmental impact than the package.
His take home message was “climate change is the dominant change affecting industry.”
The National Packaging Covenant [NPC] is the Packaging Industry response to issues raised in regard to the environment and a whole session was dedicated to the cause.
Frank Bova FAIP, Packaging Manager-South Asia, Kimberly-Clark Australia [KCA] left the audience with no doubts about his opening statement “KCA reaches into people’s everyday lives and thereby has a responsibility to be a socially and environmentally responsible corporation.”
He continued “NPC is part of KCA daily business.”
Before signing onto NPC the company had an optimum packaging outlook but now a Packaging Justification statement is required for all products before they can be marketed.
Each SKU has a comprehensive specification which is dynamic and is also a tool to check new materials.
The NPC objectives are written into position descriptions of people involved in product development.
In 2007 the company achieved a 19% reduction of packaging and recycled 15000 tonne of product wastes with 80% of packaging used being recyclable.
To achieve these sort of results Frank say you need to understand the structure of materials and benchmark your operations (KCA compares other KC plants and competitors).
The Australian Standard for toys is the benchmark used for heavy metal checking of materials.
KCA conducts seminars with suppliers so that they understand KCA requirements and KCA personnel visit Municipal Recycling Facilities to access the impact of KCA on those operations.
The company find that graphics on packages are powerful advantages for marketing products but to get the environmental message across Frank Bova says that you need to publish your NPC plans and successes.
Axel Striefler president of Equity Square talked about the Cold Chain Deficiencies Dilemma and opened with advice that spoilage of food has an annual negative result of $35 billion.
The cold chain is, by its need for refrigeration or other temperature control measures, a major contributor to GHG emissions.
Equity Square focuses on the measuring of the cold chain in operation rather than the physical attributes of transport and storage units.
RFID tags are able to be embedded into products and monitored throughout the supply chain and in truck tracking of product using GPS technologies enhances the management information from the in product tags.
The tag may show a spike in temperature of the product and the ability to marry that information to the location of the transport vehicle is good for problem solving.
Cao Xiao Ning, MD of Shanghai Zijiang Metallization Packaging Materials Co came to discuss packaging materials used by the Chinese Tobacco Industry and had some significant numbers for consideration.
A ten year trend shows annual growth of 10% in sales and 3-6 % in quantity with one third of the world’s population of smokers being Chinese. (Estimated that by 2025 there will be 320 million smokers in PRC)
Cao Xiao stated that the Government has put much regulation aimed at protecting the environment in place such as the recent banning of lightweight plastic bags and temporary bans on smoking in the Olympic Games precincts.
“Any green idea has great opportunity in China” led his main discussion which covered the changes in cigarette packaging taking place.
With 32 manufacturers offering 100 different brands and selling 60 million cases competition for attention is fierce.
Shanghai Zijiang Metallization Packaging Materials Co has developed new technologies and replaced aluminium-foil laminated inner liners with metallised paper.
The company also applies holographic images and anti-counterfeiting implants onto materials.
Impressive results in restricting volatile organic compounds entering the waste stream to compounds that dissolve into inert substance in 60 days and the saving of 20 thousand tonnes of solvent were demonstrated.
All materials used in cigarette packages have been reduced and 2870 tonnes of aluminium previously applied to inner liners by Cao Xiao’s customers was saved and additionally all plastic film used is recyclable.
With 160 thousand tonnes of laminated foil being the annual production for cigarette packet inner liners the market is virtually untapped but metallised paper is no doubt one application that will continue to be good for the environment.
Packaging relies on science albeit Packaging Technology is somewhere between an art and a science from a pure science perspective the august CSIRO is second to none.
It was Dr Andrew Scully who represented CSIRO’s Biopolymer Composites division and led discussions about biopolymers supported by Chris Fice Technical Sales manager of Plantic Technologies and Peter Clydesdale MD of NatureWorks Asia Pacific.
Bioplastic technology is arguably the most debated of the newer technologies in the packaging industry and very much like the environment it polarises the whole community.
CSIRO has ramped up research and development in all aspects of bio products over the last four years.
Reliance on non renewable synthetic polymers from oil to reliance on renewable sources of feed stock is the thrust of research.
The technical challenge is to equal existing materials and some of their unique properties both in application and price and at the same time deliver environmental benefits.
Plantic Technologies according to Chris Fice expects about a 230% growth in the next five years.
The price of oil has added emphasis to biopolymers with current prices giving price parity with some PET products and emphasis of the potential growth in North America due to an alliance with DuPont were standout remarks.
Earlier we had heard that navy bean production was under threat due to farmers growing corn for bio fuels but Chris Fice assured us that Plantic is not diverting corn away from food as it is a special seed that is not suitable for human consumption.
Peter Clydesdale offered some relief to the doubters when he advised that longer term their products would come from agricultural waste streams not from crops.
NatureWorks products had been prominent throughout the whole conference for delegates had been supplied drinking water labelled “The world’s first carbon neutral spring water in a biodegradable bottle”.
Clydesdale said that consumers have an awareness of becoming green but although confused about many issues will pay a premium for green packages.
Consumers will accept additional costs for green packages but clearly expect Government or Industry to pay for solutions.
Overall media, both industry and consumer directed, remain strong on biopolymer research and products produced according to Clydesdale.
Clydesdale gave thought as to how to finalise this report when he stated “Perfect is the enemy of good”. [7]
Over two days of concentrating on presenters’ spoken word and graphic support (often distracted by the knowledge that just behind the white mesh window shades was the inviting waters of Sydney Harbour and the magnificent views of the bridge and other landmarks) one would say that we are closer to the enemy.
To expect a conference to be perfect would be foolhardy but this one was very much beyond good!
Like beauty being in the eye of the beholder knowledge from a conference is very much a personal outtake.
We all expect hobby horses to be presented and bias will always come to the forefront but on balance any delegate that did not learn something or meet someone of interest is probably one that came along with a closed mind.
Once asked what you expect to learn from this Conference a colleague replied “if I knew that I would not need to go.”
There is definitely a Climate of Change toward a sustainable Packaging Industry but time alone will tell if the extremist or conservative views are correct.
Perhaps we can paraphrase KCA's Frank Bova [op.cit] for a summary and a going forward position:
“Packaging reaches into people’s everyday lives and thereby has a responsibility to be a socially and environmentally responsible.”
Notes:
[1] Russell Johnson Compliance and Research Manager Fosters Group-Wine Aust/NZ mentioned when discussing wine in plastic bottles.
[2] Based on Marketing Myopia that occurred in industries like the Swiss Watch Company that did not acknowledge that the days of wind up watches was past.
[3] A play on words obviously the word is omission!
[4] Natural light is great for the environment but plays havoc when it shines through the screen where graphics are displayed. Lara had to suffer this malfunction and she is credited with an outstanding attitude in the circumstance.
[5]] Reflects the Japanese Feudal Empire where the Warlord with the biggest army won the battles. Packaging Design has a very small army
[6]Some encouragement for the environment may be had from the reduction in human methane production!
[7] Or perhaps Maxwell Smart’s good will triumph over evil!
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