The Packaging Council of New Zealand elected David Carter, group environment and technical projects director Lion Nathan, as its new President, at its AGM last week. Also at the meeting, Melissa Hodd, executive director Foodstuffs NZ, was appointed vice president.
The Packaging Council said the fact that both senior positions are held by representatives from brand owners and retailers reflects the importance which these two groups have on addressing changing consumer attitudes to sustainable packaging.Carter has 20 years of experience with Lion Nathan including international responsibilities for engineering, packaging and as managing director for Lion Nathan in China before moving into his current global role.
Outgoing President Mark Brosnan, regional manager Progressive Enterprises, told members that whilst New Zealanders had made excellent progress in reaching a 60 per cent recycling rate under the Packaging Accord, there were new economic and environmental challenges ahead.
He said, “Over the past year, our focus has been on developing the framework for a packaging product stewardship scheme to succeed the Packaging Accord which concludes mid-year. We have always advocated that a voluntary scheme will deliver best cost results for New Zealand and were delighted that this is also the recommendation of the Miniῳtry for the Environment."
Brosnan continued, "At a time of unprecedented economic pressure all organisations are looking for ways to reduce their expenditure. However we cannot shy away from the fact that there is no let up in consumer’s environmental expectations of our industry and that packaging is often used as the poster boy for waste in general."
Meanwhile, Carter thanked Brosnan for his leadership over the past two years, which has coincided with the passage through parliament of the Waste Minimisation Act. Carter commented that the Packaging Council now has an opportunity to be one of the first to have its voluntary product stewardship programme accredited.
He said, “The Act effectively requires all those involved in the life cycle of packaging to take responsibility during the design, use and ultimate recycling process and to help ensure that the costs of waste are reflected in the production and management process. We can be one of the first cabs off the rank, leveraging our experience of dῥlivering successfully the targets set out in the Packaging Accord coupled with a collective understanding about the importance of using resources efficiently when designing packaging.
Carter continued, “There is now increasing international support for voluntary schemes to deliver the most cost effective solutions for waste minimisation. Australia’s Environment Protection and Heritage Council published its research into the most cost effective and productive method of recovering beverage containers. This concurs with the research which we commissioned in New Zealand last year.
“The Australian study shows that Advance Disposal levy systems (ADS) would deliver the greatest packaging recovery; followed by programme-based options including improved recovery from the hospitality and retail sectors and workplaces. We will be using this information to inform our work.”
A proposed framework for an umbrella packaging product stewardship scheme was discussed with members and is now subject to consultation with industry, local government, recycling operators and community network groups prior to a stakeholder meeting in Auckland on July 30.
