Page 21 - Packaging News magazine March-April 2022

March-April 2022 | www.packagingnews.com.au | SUSTAINABILITY
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APCO receives product stewardship accreditation
The Australian government has given the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) its tick of approval as an accredited national product stewardship scheme working to ensure that the country’s packaging can be recycled, reused and kept out of landfill.
accreditation for our ongoing work to support the Australian industry on the pathway to achieving the 2025 National Packaging Targets, and to provide the Australian supply chain with further opportunities, as they collectively continue to deliver tangi- ble, measurable and inspiring action towards the 2025 Targets,” Brooke Donnelly, APCO CEO, told PKN.
As part of the new accreditation, the minister for the environment can now call out either individual companies or the entire packaging industry to meet their obligations and take responsibility for the environ- mental impacts of packaging.
“This announcement puts free- riders on notice. I have written to eligible businesses to encourage them to join APCO, and to play their part in meeting the 2025 National Packaging Targets,” said Evans.
APCO is the fifth national product stewardship scheme to be accredited by the federal government. ■
APCO CEO Brooke Donnelly is chairing a panel discussion on sus- tainability at the AUSPACK Leaders Forum on 18 May.
ACHIEVING the accreditation sig- nals that the government strongly backs APCO’s work with business to increase the circularity of packag- ing, and achieve the ambitious 2025 National Packaging Targets.
“APCO is working at pace with industry to achieve the national target of 100 per cent of Australia’s packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025,” said Trevor Evans, assistant minister for waste reduction and environment manage- ment. “APCO is also working with its members and industry partners to establish programs to recover and recycle packaging materials, like plant pots, that cannot be recycled through our kerbside bins.
“Government accreditation recog- nises APCO’s hard work in helping industry to step up, and take respon- sibility for the environmentally sound management of products and packaging materials over their whole
lifecycle, including at disposal.”
As an accredited product stew- ardship arrangement, APCO and its members can now also use the Australian government’s official product stewardship logo, which demonstrates to both businesses and consumers that it has the gov-
ernment’s stamp of approval.
“We are thrilled to have received
ABOVE: PCR plastic bales ready for processing at Circular Plastics Australia (PET)
– a JV between 4 APCO members (see page 10).
New Formakote: “no waiting” NZ-made boxboard
Printable materials and consumables distributor, Ball & Doggett has launched Formakote, a range of packaging boxboards sourced from ‘across the ditch’.
PRODUCED at Ball & Doggett’s Whakatane Mill in New Zealand, the folding boxboard range is avail- able in Natura, Sherpa, Spectra and White, which are said to be “as tough as they come” .
Ball & Doggett marketing manager Tony Bertrand says the company’s converting facilities allow for custom- ers to order the exact size of material as required.
He says, “No waiting means meet- ing customers’ expectations is easier than it’s ever been.”
Formakote boards are made with a three-layer structure combining virgin kraft pulps and mechanical fibres, and meet all FSC certification, FSSC 22000 Food Safety Management
System, ISO 9001 requirements.
“All our paperboard is produced to the highest quality from virgin fibres for the greatest product safety and optimal performance,” says Bertrand, explaining that the Formakote boards are clay coated, “to meet the require-
ments of the end users.”
“Providing sustainable options for
customers is a key principle, and the addition of Formakote to its extensive range of carton boards continues to drive better solutions for our custom- ers,” adds Bertrand.
Formakote is stocked locally in Australia and distributed via Ball & Doggett, reputed to be Australasia’s only manufacturer of coated paperboard grades for the packaging market. ■