Page 16 - Packaging News Magazine Jan-Feb 2019

16 SUSTAINABILITY www.packagingnews.com.au January-February 2019 Iconic brand puts a
green foot forward
Campbell Arnott’s was recognised for outstanding achievement in packaging design at the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation Awards earlier this year. Among the many sustainability initiatives the company has implemented, two in particular clinched the award.
Lindy Hughson reports.
AS IS the case for any major FMCG brand
owner in this day and age, sustainability is front and centre of any decision mak- ing process in the packaging depart-
ment at Campbell Arnott’s.
“We continuously try to improve
packaging efficiency through packag- ing material reduction and we evaluate 100 per cent of new packaging formats using our internal proprietary sustainable packaging assessment methodology,” says packaging director Liza Vernalls (see facing page).
While the company has set high stan- dards in packaging reduction over the past seven years, Vernalls notes that it has be- come more difficult to reduce material fur- ther as most opportunities have already been exhausted.
“We have shifted our focus to our envi- ronmental impact, and to closed loop sys- tems,” she says.
As a case in point, Vernalls cites two im- portant projects that led to the company clinching top honours at the 2018 APCO awards (as reported in PKN September-Oc- tober 2018).
“Up until 2017 all of our shelf friendly packaging (shipping cases) were made out of white lined bleached paper sourced from China. Campbell Arnott’s saw an opportu-
nity to convert from imported bleached board to domestic corrugated board, which is sourced locally from Orora’s B9 paper mill in Botany, NSW,” she explains.
The project was by no means a small un- dertaking, as it involved converting 186 SKUs in six months.
“We successfully converted 1488 tonnes per year from imported, bleached white board to domestic brown board. Full analy- sis such as ECT (edge crush tests) were con- ducted to enable a speedy qualification throughout all Campbell Arnott’s produc- tion sites,” she says.
The new liner is made from cartonnes and other paper and board products col- lected from kerb sides throughout Austra- lia. This is then re-processed and convert- ed to recycled board at Orora’s paper mill just outside of Sydney. The result is a com- plete closed loop recycling system.
In another material savings endeavour, the company’s iconic Tim Tam brand un- derwent a graphics update as well as a change in the printing process employed.
Vernalls explains: “In 2017 we updated the graphics of our Tim Tam core range. At this time, we took the opportunity to de- sign the print process for sustainability, moving from the traditional gravure pro-
ABOVE: When Campbell Arnott’s updated the graphics of its Tim Tam core range, it took the opportunity to design the print process for sustainability, moving from the traditional gravure process to a flexographic process, cutting ink usage significantly.
LEFT: Campbell Arnott’s has converted 1488 tonnes per year of imported, bleached white board to domestic recycled board from Orora.
cess to a flexographic process. At the same time we reduced the number of print colours significantly.”
According to Vernalls, designing to print was a key process in achieving the desired result, as the colours had to be made up of process colours versus the traditional spot colours of the previous gravure design.
The successful implementation has result- ed in significant savings for the popular Ar- nott’s brand. Based on annual sales of the nine core SKUs, 11 tonnes of material were saved due to reduced ink weight. The change also resulted in a 25 per cent reduction to fos- sil fuel emissions during the print process.
“The level of success in the four-colour process printing would not be as impres- sive without ‘high definition’ flexo plate technology,” Vernalls says. “Furthermore, new pre-press computer imaging technol- ogy plays an important role, as does four- colour flexo printing skills in which our supplier Amcor has proven expertise.”
“A reduction to just four colours means that all the SKU designs are printed with four print stations,” she says. “Further- more, the inks in these print stations re- main unchanged while printing all the SKUs. Historically, the Tim Tam range re- quired two to four ink station changes per design; therefore the new process reduces ink waste as well as the number of printing stations and printing cylinders required.”
These are just two of many other sustain- able packaging initiatives across the group, including partnering with RedCycle and, in the near future, rolling out the Austra- lian Recycling Label on its packaging.
For Vernalls and her team, it goes with- out saying that sustainability is the first consideration when creating new packag- ing design, and the company prides itself on the leadership it has shown, whether it’s via collaboration with like-minded suppli- ers or efforts to educate consumers. ■