Recycling deal wrapped up

By ANNE BESTON

A revamp of a main agreement on recycling everything from biscuit boxes to toothpaste tubes is about to be finalised but critics say it is too little, too late.

The Packaging Accord, drawn up in 1996, has been rewritten and is due to be put before Government ministers in November.

But Green Party MP Mike Ward said the accord was drawnout and ineffective.

"Since the first voluntary agreement, packaging volumes have escalated," he said.

"The issue requires more than nice words, it needs some real teeth."

Driven by the Packaging Council of New Zealand, the accord is a voluntary agreement between Government and business aimed at reducing packaging waste from the more than 140 members of the council.

Members produce goods from oil to plastics to health food. For the first time, the new accord sets targets for each industry on how much of their packaging should be recovered and recycled.

But while new targets for plastic are up - the present recovery rate is estimated at 18 per cent, the new one is from 25 to 40 per cent - the amount of aluminium the industry is charged with reclaiming is down, from 70 per cent to 60 per cent.

"Aluminium has been steadily losing to glass in the beverage industry so we have had to be conservative," said Packaging Council executive director John Webber.

He rejected criticism the accord lacked transparency by not making public the amount of packaging produced by individual firms, and said the council worked hard to get the best estimates on waste recovery.

"It's not likely the figures are overstated, if anything they are understated due to the competitive nature of the recovery business."

The accord is due to be signed off by Environment Minister Marian Hobbs and Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton in November.

Despite the critics, it is staunchly defended by recycling operators who have been closely involved in drafting the accord this time round.

"We're all working together and we only wonder why we didn't do this years ago," said Recycling Operators of New Zealand spokeswoman Melissa Arseneault.

The co-operation between manufacturers and recyclers has meant when mistakes do occur, recyclers have been able to ring alarm bells.

A recent example was full-length PVC labels on new "sports drinks" bottles which immediately rendered the bottle unrecyclable unless the label was removed.

"We raised that issue and the companies weren't aware of it," she said. "The designers thought, 'wow, this is a great new product' but we thought, 'oh my god'."

The firm, Frucor, decided to change the label.

Frucor general manager Eric Wilson said the firm, second behind Coca-Cola in the New Zealand drinks market, thought the PVC-labelled bottles would be recyclable in New Zealand.

"We'd been down a number of tracks on this, thinking we were doing the right thing," he said.

"While the changes will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars we accept that's the way it's going to have to be."

But one of New Zealand's highest-profile firms, The Warehouse, decided it could be an environmental leader without the accord and left the Packaging Council three years ago.

"We set ourselves a goal of zero waste to landfill, I don't think they have that same goal," said spokesman Richard Morley-Hall.

Some Warehouse stores recycle 98 per cent of packaging from products before they go on sale and the rate for all stores is 70 per cent or more.

The firm also uses its big-retailer clout to pressure manufacturers into reducing packaging. Examples include thousands of pairs of gumboots which now come loose in a cardboard box instead of individual plastic bags, and blank newsprint to pack CDs instead of polystyrene balls.

"Poly chips are a recycle nightmare so instead we asked for fish and chip paper which doesn't cost them any more and they can feel like they're helping save the planet," Mr Morley-Hall said.

Like Mr Ward, he believed the Government should step in on the packaging issue.

"There's an awful lot happening overseas but the New Zealand Government is supporting and encouraging industry to lead the way."

But the Warehouse isn't uniformly regarded as an environmental good-guy.

Its version of down-market retailing, with the emphasis on low cost not longevity, earns it an environmental broadside from former Tindall Foundation manager Warren Snow.

The charitable foundation was set up by Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall but Mr Snow left, disillusioned, two years ago.

"Retailers strip quality out of products to get the price down, the retailers are in power now and controlling the brands," he said.

"A few have such huge control over the supply chain, that to compete with each other they drive quality out, the vast majority of retail these days is junk."

Meanwhile Mr Ward has turned his attention to plastic carry bags in supermarkets. He has a private member's bill in Parliament's ballot system that would force supermarkets to impose a levy on the bags.

Mr Webber said his members would strongly oppose that kind of Government regulation.

"Draconian programmes overseas might achieve their objectives in one sense but they are very expensive in others," he said.

Packaging waste is estimated to make up around 12 per cent of total waste going to urban landfills.