ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND PAPER

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND PAPER
David Perchard Focus on the Future PrintNZ
Conference Wairakei Resort, Taupo 12 October 2006
1 College Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire,
AL3 4PW, United Kingdom Tel [phone]
227 Fax [phone] Email
info_at_perchards.com Web www.perchards.com
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SUSTAINABILITY AND PACKAGING THE KEY QUESTIONS

• Where are the biggest environmental impacts?
• What can we do to reduce them?

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TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE
Consumption
Distribution
Production

• Responsible use
• End of life management

• Design
• Raw material sourcing
• Manufacturing

• Supply chain management
• Packagingsystems
• Logistics

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SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION
Raw material sourcing
Design
Manufacturing

• Product performance
• System efficiency
• Minimizing hazardous substances

• Waste
• Releases to the environment

Minimizing

• Raw materials
• Energy

Preventing over-specified design
Preventingexcess use of natural resources
Preventing failure andmalfunctions
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SUSTAINABLE DISTRIBUTION
Supply chain management
Packaging systems
Logistics

• Optimize product flows
• Maximize transport loads
• Minimize warehousing

• Simplicity in design
• Efficient control and security systems

• Fit for purpose
• Minimizingwaste to final disposal

Preventing over-complexity
Preventing loss and spoilage
Preventing under-utilization
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SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION
End of life management
Use

• Responsible use
• Optimize function
• Maximize value

• Recovery
• Recycling
• Reuse

Preventing unnecessaryuse or misuse
Preventingproduct waste to final disposal
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WHAT CAN YOU DO? 1

• Dont consider packaging in isolation
• Packaging has to be designed to protect the
  product throughout the supply chain and help
  consumers live more sustainably
• detergent tablets prevent over-dosing and are
  more resource-efficient than powders, even though
  they use more packaging
• No material or packaging has a monopoly of
  environmental virtues whether inert,
  compostable, recyclable, reusable, containing
  recycled material, made from renewable or
  non-renewable resources, it must be fit for
  purpose
• recycled board boxes which are fine in UK may not
  be sturdy enough for more humid Sweden, where
  virgin is preferable

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WHAT CAN YOU DO? 2

• Re-examine your products and processes, including
  transport,
• periodically, taking a whole life-cycle approach,
  with four main
• priorities
• More efficient energy use / reduce global warming
  potential
• less reliance on fossil fuels, more emphasis on
  low carbon economies
• Minimise water use
• Maximise resource efficiency
• Minimise waste impacts (volume / hazardousness),
  and maximise recovery of value from waste

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POLLUTION AVOIDANCE

• All industrial processes consume resources and
  generate pollution
• Best way of minimising these adverse impacts is
  through an environmental management system aimed
  at keeping performance under continuous scrutiny
  and addressing any weak points found
• Depending on the size and type of company, this
  may not need to be as heavy as the full ISO 14001
  procedures, but the ISO standard does make a
  useful statement of the issues involved

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MINIMISING USE OF PACKAGING OR PACKAGING
MATERIALS 1

• A systematic approach to packaging minimisation
  is within the reach of every company.
• The European standard on prevention by source
  reduction (EN 134282004) specifies an assessment
  procedure so that companies can ensure that the
  weight and/or volume of the pack is at the
  minimum commensurate with the maintenance of
• functionality,
• safety and hygiene, and
• acceptability of the packed product to the user
  or consumer.

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MINIMISING USE OF PACKAGING OR PACKAGING
MATERIALS 2

• May not be necessary for NZ companies to follow
  the standard in its entirety, but it does provide
  a sound basis for assessment and improvement
• Also, adoption of this procedure protects
  exporters from competitive disadvantage if EU
  customers insist on an assurance that suppliers
  comply with the packaging minimisation
  requirement in the EU Packaging and Packaging
  Waste Directive

The standard can be purchased from BSi
info_at_bsi.org.uk EUROPEN has prepared an
excellent guide see http//www.europen.be/wha
ts/whats_details.html
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MINIMISING USE OF PACKAGING OR PACKAGING
MATERIALS 3

• EN 134282004 is based on a self-assessment
  approach based on working through a checklist to
  identify the critical area which governs the
  achievable limit for source reduction, i.e. if
  the packaging is reduced further, it will fail to
  meet the listed performance criteria
• Product protection, packaging manufacturing
  process, packing/filling process, logistics
  (including transport, warehousing and handling),
  product presentation and marketing, user/consumer
  acceptance, information, safety, legislation and
  any other relevant issues.

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MINIMISING USE OF PACKAGING OR PACKAGING
MATERIALS 4

• If no critical area is identified, the pack does
  not comply with the standard and the potential
  for (further) reduction must be investigated
• If on the other hand tests show that further
  source reduction will result in an unacceptable
  increase in the packaging failure rate, the
  critical point has already been reached
• An unacceptable failure rate must be a matter
  of commercial judgement it may be different for
  a high-value product than a low-value item, and
  for products where leakage could endanger people
  or property

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MINIMISING USE OF PACKAGING OR PACKAGING
MATERIALS 5

• In the UK, the amount of energy locked up in the
  production of goods is at least ten times that
  used for the packaging
• J M Kooijman Environmental impact of packaging
  performance in the household (2000)
• Therefore, underpackaging not only creates more
  waste than overpackaging, but also uses more
  resources

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MINIMISING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF
TRANSPORTATION 1

• Big potential savings from more efficient
  distribution of packaged goods
• Using new IT to
• improve routeing,
• share loads and increase backloading, and
• improve efficiency of central warehousing
  operations.
• Minimising empty running and other improvements
  in distribution efficiency could also generate
  big cost savings.

Possible KPI Reduce freight km travelled per
tonne of packaged goods delivered
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MINIMISING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF
TRANSPORTATION 2

• Tesco initiatives which cut vehicle distance
  travelled by 4.8 million km,
• saved NZ 2.25 million in fuel expenditure and
  reduced CO2 emissions
• by 23,000 tonnes
• Supplier collection scheme, where a returning
  store delivery vehicle collects goods from a
  suppliers factory and takes them to the
  retailers distribution centre.
• Onward delivery, where a suppliers vehicle
  offloads goods at the retailers distribution
  centre and backloads with supplies for one of the
  retailers stores, delivered on the way back to
  the suppliers factory.

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MINIMISING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF
TRANSPORTATION 3

• A confectionery manufacturer has estimated that
  abandoning the monthly
• payment cycle allowed it to reduce vehicle-km by
  10
• If customers are invoiced at the end of the
  month, they have an incentive to order at the
  beginning of the month so as to maximise the
  interest-free credit period.
• By moving to a rolling credit system, the
  supplier can even out freight traffic levels and
  increase vehicle loadings.