The Forum is a prime example of a voluntary product stewardship initiative and is operating successfully without requirement for legislation.
With around 5% more glass packaging recovered from homes year on year and the introduction of a 60% increase in container manufacturing capability, New Zealand needs to find increased volumes of quality material as well as additional sustainable alternative uses for mixed glass. To finance research and development into these issues, the Glass Packaging Forum has established a voluntary levy on all those making, using or selling glass containers in New Zealand.
The Forum is keen to help councils collect quality glass and find more local solutions for surplus mixed glass. Already there has been the modification of specifications by Transit New Zealand, which allow for the use of up to 5% glass cullet in the base course for roads. Separate trials in Nelson and Palmerston North have been assessed covering different methods of crushing glass into an aggregate mix. This has the advantage of using glass in local infrastructure projects and reduces the need to separate the material by colour. Already glass has been successfully used in hard stand areas, paths, cycle tracks and trial areas of roads.
To assist in these opportunities mobile crushing facilities have been introduced by the Forum as well as the development of small local crushers in specific areas.
Research is being undertaken to assess alternative means of collection in order to provide the best quality material for subsequent use.
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Trials are underway with the New Zealand Turf Institute to assess glass as a material for 'coring' on golf courses and the use of glass as a mulch in the wine industry. |
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Work continues with the development of glass as a blasting medium which is already established commercially and as a filtration material.
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Investigations continue into the opportunities of glass as an aggregate in the manufacture concrete. |
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Other organisations continue to explore opportunities with recycled glass in the production of decorative tiles and bricks.
Successful trials have been completed utilizing glass in the construction of building slabs and a Formal Engineers Report is available on request - donna.glassforum@xtra.co.nz
In 2006 the Forum was created to address the critical issues of market opportunities and price for waste consumer glass. In essence those parties collecting glass, be they contractors or councils were, up until the end of 2004, able to sell all the material to New Zealand's only container manufacturer, O-I New Zealand. The collections in 2004 did, for the first time, exceed the volume that O-I could use and therefore there were collections for which there were no markets.
The Forum's origin was in the Glass Users Group, which was set up in 2005. That group had already provided over $1 million to assist Recycling Operators with the recovery of glass.
In order stop government intervention, stop gap measures were taken by some enterprises utilising glass packaging while an equitable approach embracing all in the supply chain was developed under the Forum.
The program designed to find alternative uses for the excess glass does not include subsidies but supports R&D for the development of local uses.
The Glass Users Group now formally the Glass Packaging Forum, has worked with a core Steering Committee since 2005. At the August 2009 Annual General Meeting the following were reconfirmed as the Steering Committee.
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CHAIRMAN David Carter Lion Nathan www.lion-nathan.com |
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Gareth Cartwright Frucor Beverages Ltd www.frucor.co.nz |
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Jeremy Wright Pernod Ricard www.pernod-ricard-nz.com |
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Gary Shuttleworth O-I New Zealand www.recycleglass.co.nz |
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Donald Nelson Lion Nathan www.lion.co.nz |
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Kevin Ferguson Foodstuffs (Auckland) Ltd www.foodstuffs.co.nz |
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John Webber Glass Packaging Forum C: 021 949 215 Email : john@glassforum.org.nz |
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Lyn Mayes Mad World Ltd Communications Email : lynmayes@madworld.co.nz |
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Donna Hellens Glass Packaging Forum Email : donna.glassforum@xtra.co.nz |
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Deb Statham Nautonnier Marketing Email : deb@nautonnier.co.nz |
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Following two successful Hip Hop concerts in Auckland this year to promote recycling to young people, the Glass Packaging Forum has teamed up with the 2010 MORE FM Winery Tour to take the message to a wider audience.
The 18 shows start at Ascension Wine Estate in Matakana, Warkworth on February 5 and finish at Villa Maria Estate in Auckland on March 6 with a nationwide tour of 16 locations along the way. The Glass Packaging Forum will be organizing glass recycling and promoting GLASS MATTERS at each location so that the estimated 50,000 people attending the concerts will be able to recycle their bottles.
These spectacular events present Tim Finn, Bic Runga and Dave Dobbyn: On Stage Together; along with Boh Runga and Che Fu.
John Webber, General Manager of the Glass Packaging Forum said the decision to support the Winery Tour is a natural next step for its nationwide, public education programme:
"Our research shows that whilst the majority of people polled said they supported any initiative to promote anti-litter and recycling messages to young people, many suggested that other age groups need to be targeted through their own musical genre. The Winery Tour and the performers on the tour appeal to all ages and we believe that this tour will have as powerful an impact as the rap artists have had with our young people."
"Research also highlighted the importance of having the right recycling infrastructure to allow public place recycling. 74% of those polled said they wanted to see recycling at concerts. We need to make it easy for people to recycle so that's what we are going to do with our GLASS MATTERS recycling bins."
"It is our view that future programmes will have broader scope with regard to the message and materials. We are currently working on ways to achieve this and look forward to involving other sectors of not only the packaging but commerce in general"
The Forum will report on the amount of glass recovered at each venue. New Zealanders are now recycling 64% glass each year and an improved infrastructure for recycling at events and away from home is key to continual improvement.
In 2007, the inaugural More FM Winery Tour was launched nationally in wineries around New Zealand. It was a national sell out success of eight stunning wineries and estates from Matakana in the North to Millbrook in the South. The event has grown in popularity year on year and now in its fourth year has increased to 18 shows throughout 16 stunning locations, and this year presents Tim Finn, Bic Runga and Dave Dobbyn: On Stage Together; along with Boh Runga and Che Fu. The Tour delivers a unique concert opportunity in environments that combine some of NZ's most spectacular scenery with the vibe of this country's creative energy, making the shows a platform for fans to enjoy the best live music, wine, food and environment that NZ has to offer.
For more information on the MORE FM Winery Tour see www.thewinerytour.co.nz.
John Webber, General Manager: 021 949 215
Lyn Mayes, Communications: 021 471 261
The Glass Packaging Forum was proud to be a principal sponsor of the 2009 WasteMinz Conference held in Christchurch in October.
Click here to download the presentation "GPF Roles and Responsibilities". [1604 KB pdf]
Click here to download a Product Stewardship overview from Tony Nowell, Chair of the Accord Governing Board.
On Wednesday 12th August 2009 the Glass Packaging Forum held its 3rd Annual General Meeting at Ellerslie Event Centre in Greenlane, Auckland.
David Carter, the Chairman in welcoming the guests noted the presence of Sheryl Stivens, Ian Featherson, Warwick Jaine all of whom have agreed to be part of the Glass Forum’s Advisory Board under its Product Stewardship Scheme. Apologies had been received from Chris Pepper and Neil MacKenize-Hall who are also members of the Forum’s Advisory Board. David commented on the successful 64% recovery rate for glass over the last year and thanked the Steering Committee Members for their contributions. He noted that the political landscape had changed since the last AGM.
John Webber, the General Manager reported on the last year’s activities and those issues he felt would be of importance over the coming twelve months as the Forum develops procedures supporting its Product Stewardship Scheme which was being developed for submission to Government.
The highlights of the afternoon were an address by Rob Fenwick, Chairman of the Government’s Waste Advisory Board clarifying its role in support of the new Waste Minimisation Act and a DVD presentation on the first Pick it Up Concert with Che Fu and other artists.
Click here to download a copy of Rob Fenwick's speech. [47KB pdf]
The Chairman and all Members of the Steering Committee were re elected as officers of the Forum.
Thank you for inviting me to join you this evening at the Glass Packaging Forum's AGM. I have been asked to provide a perspective on the Packaging Accord which industry signed with government in 2004; to chart its four year progress and perhaps most importantly to look forward to the challenges which lie ahead in terms of a subsequent Accord and the impact of the Waste Bill which finally passed into law last week.
The Packaging Accord which we are currently signed up to is actually the 2nd agreement around packaging. The first Accord was an agreement between packaging manufacturers and government signed in 1996 but it did not include brand owners and retailers. To be effective it was recognized that those who make and sell consumer goods need to be part of the solution for effective product stewardship.
On the 10th August 2004 I signed this current Packaging Accord on behalf of the Brand Owners and Retailers sector joining then Minister for the Environment Marion Hobbs, the President of Local Government NZ Basil Morrison and representatives from each of the packaging materials sectors and the recycling operators.
It was certainly not plain sailing. Right up to the day of signing, there was opposition from some councils and environmental groups that a voluntary accord had no teeth; the targets were too light and that legislation was required. This is still a familiar argument today.
In fact the Packaging Accord is unique because unlike other voluntary agreements it is predicated on partnership between all sectors of industry and local and central government. This collaboration has been a major point of difference to overseas models and is crucial to success.
Almost immediately the glass sector was faced with a serious challenge to the Accord from changes in the market for glass cullet. The subsequent reduction in the rate paid to recycling operators for glass recovery put the onus on industry to find a workable solution which would enable kerbside collection to continue. I can assure you that the way in which industry responded was a defining moment for this Accord. But we can be under no illusion that if the newly emerging glass sector had not agreed to a voluntary levy at this time, the government would have responded with legislation.
Some might argue that we have ended up with legislation anyway with the passing of the Waste Bill. But the Accord was always a 5 year finite agreement albeit with the expectation on our part that if we met or exceeded targets, then legislation would be less likely. What I can say is that the voluntary levy payable by the glass industry is acknowledged by Government as an exemplar of voluntary product stewardship working.
The Glass Forum is to be congratulated on turning adversity into opportunity. To have achieved a 62% recovery rate particularly with the challenges posed by commingled collections is an outstanding success. The investment in research and development, operational solutions and education is clearly paying off.
Is it enough and what next?
Last year the Governing Board of the Packaging Accord spent time on a strategic review of the Accord identifying what would be needed to reach the overarching vision of zero waste.
We need to face up to facts. There is public concern about over packaging and packaging waste as was indicated in surveys by the Business Council for Sustainable Development recently. Their ShapeNZ nationwide poll shows 74% public support for a waste levy. It also found that New Zealanders see agrichemicals, batteries, oil, tyres and computers as the biggest waste problems and want ways to clean up their act. The next priority wastes are "dead" vehicles, TVs, paint, packaging, mobile phones, disposable nappies and then other electrical products.
They are also very concerned about everyday products and packaging made from petroleum based plastics.
It was perhaps not surprising therefore to find wide cross party support for the Waste Bill. And as Benjamin Franklin once said: "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." Last week the Waste Bill made its final passage through Parliament after almost two years of deliberation. There will be a waste levy which will initially be set at $10 per tonne of waste material to landfill. This is additional to any existing charges payable.
The product stewardship part of the Waste Bill is less easy to predict. The same survey by the Business Council found that New Zealanders were now increasingly saying they would buy a product in a stewardship programme over one which wasn't.
There does not however appear to be any differentiation in consumers' minds between product stewardship schemes which are voluntary such as the Packaging Accord or the Glass levy and proposed mandatory schemes -as long as they are working and all inclusive.
And unequivocally the Packaging Accord is working. Earlier this week the Packaging Council announced the recovery rates for all packaging types. They tell an excellent story.
Overall we are recycling 60% of the packaging consumed and we have now met or surpassed the individual recycling targets for paper, glass, aluminium, plastic and steel. Four years into the Packaging Accord, the numbers show that recycling is becoming a way of life whether at home or at work. It also shows that voluntary targets are effective and efficient ways of getting results. New Zealand is achieving on a voluntary basis what many nations are struggling with under an expensive legislative framework.
However the jury is still out on whether this will be enough to remove packaging or indeed any of the individual materials from the potential list of priority products. How products are determined to be priority will be part of a long consultative process and given the Waste Bill has taken almost two years, it is anybody's guess how long the next phase will take.
So it simply isn't clear whether packaging will be deemed a priority product. But it's worth remembering that in the Business Council poll packaging is listed ninth as a product of concern.
However thanks to lobbying by the Glass Packaging Forum and the Packaging Council as well as other industry groups, public concern has been removed as a criterion for declaring a product to be a priority product.
The decision to allocate a product priority status will need to be based on environmental, social and economic benefits of introducing a scheme outweighing their costs. In addition the effectiveness of voluntary product stewardship scheme has to be taken into account before declaring a product to be a priority product.
The Minister will then have to consult with stakeholders and those directly affected before declaring a product to be a priority product.
For glass and other drinks containers there is another fish hook in that even non-priority products could still be regulated (e.g. take-back services, refundable deposits, etc.), although the Minister would have to be satisfied that the total benefits from regulation exceeded the total costs.
Again based on cost benefit analysis conducted for the packaged goods industry, this should be a no-brainer. The cost of introducing container deposit legislation for beverage containers would incur an additional cost for New Zealanders of up to $90 million and in terms of making a difference it would mean that instead of achieving a 60% recovery rate as we have just reported, it would have been 66%.
Under any reasonable analysis it would be hard to see how that could be deemed an economic or environmental benefit but there is still a popular voice calling for mandatory refund systems.
So if you ask me to star gaze tonight and tell you whether packaging, glass, plastic bags or any other product might be deemed priority I will simply remind you of a particularly apt quote for this forum:-
"He who lives by the crystal ball soon learns to eat ground glass."
What we can however do as an industry is recognize that there will be change.
The Ministry for the Environment has been an important part of the existing Accord represented on the Governing Board and providing part funding for the secretariat function. Under the new Bill, the Ministry will be playing a different role involved as a gate keeper.
Local Government NZ is communicating with its own membership about its potential future role in an Accord. Whilst LGNZ is the overarching organization for local councils it cannot speak for individual councils and regions. There are 85 councils each with different views on what can be recycled and how; who should pay and how costs are allocated.
We can see all of this as a threat or we can accept it as an opportunity and be masters of our own destiny.
The packaged goods industry must collaborate and work even closer than it has over the past four years. Under this current Accord, those who make packaging, select it for their products or buy it to sell in their stores have recognized that they have a responsibility for choice of packaging. New Zealanders are not generally speaking good listeners but it's only by listening to other sector's issues that we will make the next step change.
When brand owners change packaging from a recyclable container to a composite which can no longer be recycled in this country - for what may be excellent economic reasons and which may make great sense in terms of reducing overall energy consumption and green house gas emissions - the recycling industry along with local and central government feel that we have failed to deliver on our part of the Packaging Accord deal. The packaged goods industry signed up to make more packaging recyclable so making changes to packaging which render it less recyclable challenge our integrity.
The issues facing the packaging industry are a microcosm of those facing NZ economy as a whole:-
· We need critical mass to compete globally. Instead as often bit players on the world stage we are the recipients of other countries choices about packaging. To respond we also need commercial capability to commercialise new recycling markets here.
· We are starting to see the signs of manufacturers moving off shore which will reduce our domestic packaging production and see an increase in packaging imports. We need to manage the environmental quality of the imported product and its packaging and ensure its recyclability in our market.
· Consumption has slowed down - over the past three years packaging consumption has increased by just 1.3% whilst the amount of materials recycled as increased by 14.5% over the same period.
It is important that we have a clear road map otherwise industry will be buffeted by political whim.
We have a code of practice and we must not be afraid to use it to challenge companies that pose a threat to our voluntary position.
Whilst 85% brand owners are part of the Packaging Accord, we still only have three retailers hence we will continue to be challenged about what we are doing to address free-riders.
As part of the Governing Board's strategic review which I referred to earlier, we discussed targeting the top ten producers; the top ten retailers and the top ten councils to bring them all into the process. The criteria for selection could be size in terms of sales, people, environmental footprint or a combination of all of these.
By bringing together these large scale representatives from the private and public sector, we would build on the collaboration process which has already started.
I am sure that many of you here tonight will have your own thoughts on how we can make another step change in our packaging product stewardship performance. There will be an opportunity to do this at a seminar being held next month at Food Tech Pack Tech by the Packaging Council.
We can do this ourselves or we can wait for the government's legislative whip - and whether it's a Labour or National led government after November 8th, there is unlikely to be any significant change to attitudes to waste minimization.
As joint signatories to the Packaging Accord, each sector committed to advocate, innovate and educate. I congratulate you on a job well done and look forward to working with you to close out this Accord and negotiate the next set of commitments.
This will not be easy. As I have said it is likely that the Ministry for the Environment and Local Government will play a different role in any future agreement and will no longer sit on the Governing Board. I am sure they will still be involved but I believe they will be supportive rather than an integral part of the team. This puts the onus on us as industry to collaborate across sectors and the value chain. Packaging manufacturers, brand owners, retailers and recycling operators must work together to deliver against new and much more rigorous targets.
Just as stretch targets are set for us in our own companies, the Waste Minimisation Act will expect us to set and agree tougher recycling targets. So what might this entail?
Firstly government will be looking towards the highest recovery rates in the world and challenge us to do as well.
Secondly expect greater challenges on packaging which is not recyclable in New Zealand - either to create recycling markets or to change the packaging.
Thirdly brand owners should think about taking responsibility for arranging recycling their packaging if they sponsor events and:-
Finally there is increasing scrutiny on recycling statistics. Third party independent verification of the mass balance data is likely to be a part of any future Accord.
As I said it will be challenging and requires us now to raise our game to another level but we either do this ourselves or we let others drive the agenda -and I know which option I prefer.
Thank you
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| OBSIDIAN OR VOLCANIC GLASS |
POURING MOLTEN SAND |
SILICA | LIMESTONE | SODA ASH |
Glass exists naturally as obsidian, or volcanic glass. People make it by fusing together several inorganic materials at high temperatures and cooling the liquid mass quickly, so that it solidifies to a vitreous or non-crystalline condition. This means its structure is as disordered as a liquid, and it has not distinct melting or solidification temperature. It becomes more viscous as it cools, until it reaches a temperature where it becomes rigid. Most glass used for packaging is soda-lime glass, made by fusing silica sand (silicon dioxide), limestone (calcium carbonate), and soda ash (sodium carbonate), along with other minerals which help in its processing, improve clarity, or provide colour.
We generally have positive feelings about glass, perhaps from the length of time that humankind has used glass, its manner of manufacture from common materials and fire, and its versatility and effects on lights. This feeling is exploited in packaging, where glass is used to give the impression of highly quality.
 | Early fabricated glass lacked the translucency of the naturally occurring glasses, but could be given form and decoration, had permanent colouring and was - unless broken - practically imperishable. Middle Kingdom glass beads Source: Petrie Museum, excerpt |
Glass has been used for over 5000 years, first as a decorative material and later for making vessels. The earliest existing man-made glass objects, mainly non-transparent glass beads, found in Egypt and eastern Mesopotamia, date back to around 3500BC.
In all that time it is only now that we are beginning to fully explain the structure and properties of glass. The lack of explanation didn't prevent technologists, craftspersons and artists during that time from producing a full range of items from utilitarian containers to wonderful works of art.
The composition and making of glass has changed little since these instructions were written in cuneiform text in Mesopotamia (now Iraq and Syria): "Take sixty parts sand, a hundred and eighty parts ashes from sea plants, five parts chalk, heat them all together, and you will get glass." The sand needs to be silica, the ash is soda ash or sodium carbonate, and the lime is calcium carbonate (adding calcium reduces attack by water).
There are various theories about how humankind discovered glass. The most common are:
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Observation, by seeing a lightning strike in a sandy area and noticing that glass was formed (no estimate date given) |
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Accidentally, when Phoenician merchants in Syria about 5000BC rested their cooking pots on blocks of natron (sodium nitrate, occurring in soda-lake deposits). The blocks melted with the heat and mixed with the sand to form an opaque liquid which solidified when it cooled (According to the Roman historian, Pliny, AD23-79). Coincidentally, while making glazes for pots. In central Mesopotamia, in 3000-4000BC, pot glazes used similar raw materials to those for glass. Perhaps sand contaminated with limestone became mixed with the glaze materials and formed glass when heated. |
Packaging in glass became possible only after hollow glass vessels could be made. The earliest glass pots date from about 1500BC and were produced in Egypt. Glass blowing, both free-form and inside moulds, probably began between 27BC and AD14, and has changed little since then in both method and tools. Today, the greatest advances have been in controlling the composition and annealing of glass and in automated moulding under highly controlled conditions.
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| CORKING A BOTTLE:1855 |
CHAMPAGNE TODAY | CARBONATED DRINKS | PRESERVES | COFFEE |
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Our thanks to the Packaging Council of New Zealand's PAC-IT Education Kit for the above information. The PAC-IT kit can be ordered on line www.pac-it.org.nz |
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MORE FM Winery Tour to Champion Recycle MessageThe Glass Packaging Forum has teamed up with the promoter of the 2010 MORE FM Winery Tour - Civic Events - to take the recycling/recovery message to a wider audience. |
| Recycling, with an emphasis on glass will be promoted at each of the 18 Winery Tour shows nationwide so that the estimated 50,000 people attending the concerts will be able to recycle their bottles more » | |
