What's My Packaging Made Of?

The use of cardboard is all around us. It is mainly used as protective packaging for products but is becoming more commonly used in food packaging. It allows for people to neatly organize oddly shaped items into an easy to maintain shape. Board is a lot more rigid than paper, but cannot hold the same amount of weight as plastic due to its rigid nature. Most board can be recycled and so is seen as
environmentally friendly but there is more to this than many are aware of.

Benefits of Board packaging:

• Board can be easily recycled in New Zealand with approximately half of collected board being recycled here.
• It provides a rigid option for protecting products while in transit.
• Provides a platform for marketing your brand and product.

Issues around the use of Board packaging:

• Ensuring that it is disposed of appropriately is key. Although easy to do, some people are still unaware of the correct options.
• Some board options can have plastic liners, laminates and coatings included which can make these unrecyclable without being separated.

Board recycling in New Zealand:

There are a variety of options for disposing of your board in New Zealand. The most common option is for your board to be put into curbside recycling. Commercial operations are also available to collect larger quantities of board from businesses. Recycling in New Zealand is running at full capacity. In July 2020 the Government announced that $124 million will be invested in recycling infrastructure. Oji Full Circle provide collection of board products so that they can return these materials back into more products. They are closing the loop on this material to reduce the need for virgin material.

Paper is a useful material that we encounter on a day to day basis. Whether that be in your office, at your home or packaging your food, it has a wide reach. The general thought is that paper is more environmentally friendly as it can be recycled and will eventually break down due to its basic elements. What people often don’t take into regard is the combined carbon footprint and environmental impact of this material.

Benefits of Paper use:

• If sourced properly paper bags can be made from sustainably farmed forestry.
• Approximately half of the paper and cardboard waste collected is processed here in New Zealand. Check your local council for guidelines around what paper is acceptable in your bins.

Issues with Paper packaging:

• The energy used to create a paper bag is more than 4 times than that of a plastic bag.
• Paper bags generate 70% more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.
• The process to recycle paper is extensive as you need to collect it, sort it, wash it, purify, flatten, dry, colour and bleach it before the paper can be packaged and sent out again.
• Paper packaging is not useful for jobs that involve heavy or sharp products and can wear and tear due to moisture and tensile strength.

Paper recycling in New Zealand:

Paper collection is done by curbside collection or commercial businesses collecting a business’s waste. These items are then sold to make other products. Some of New Zealand’s recyclable waste is dealt with here but most of it must be shipped overseas to be dealt with. This increases the carbon footprint to a material that is often perceived as environmentally friendly.

As referred to in the cardboard section, the government are investing $124 million in recycling infrastructure.

Since the 1950s plastic has been a part of our everyday life. We see plastic products everywhere as they have become an essential part of how we currently live. There is a lot of information currently circulating about plastic, but what is the truth behind this staple of modern life?

Benefits of plastic packaging:

• UK based research shows that it takes 91% less energy to recycle plastic than it does paper.
• A plastic bag can carry 2,500 times its own weightand is resistant to changes in the weather. Hot, cold, wet and dry temperatures won’t damage plastic as much as it will paper or cardboard.
• The use of plastic packaging can help improve the life cycle of food. Individually packaged products can mean less food is wasted and as a result a reduced carbon footprint for that product. Plastic is still the best way to reduce food wastage.
• Plastic products are often more re-usable than their paper alternatives.

Issues around the use of plastic packaging:

• Plastics that fall under the degradable category can leave residual plastic particles in the environment.
• Plastics 3-7 are difficult to process in New Zealand with councils struggling to process them.

Plastic recycling in New Zealand:

Your curbside bins are the most common form of plastic recycling while businesses can have their plastic recycling picked up commercially. Items like pallet wrap and plastic film can be collected by Reclaim and Waste Management with bins and cages available for use. Currently Auckland, Hamilton, Bay of Plenty, New Plymouth, Wellington and Christchurch have access to The Soft Plastics Recycling Inititative. Through this grocery bags, bread bags, bubble wrap, plastic liners, plastic wrappers of products such as biscuits, chips or anything you buy that has a soft plastic cheath are recycled. These items are then recycled into innovative fence posting, buckets, ducting, slides and plastic sheets.

In New Zealand some common plastics can be recycled. Your packaging should have a plastic identification code printed on it to help the user understand what type of plastic has been used. Recycling capabilities vary depending on what council you are a part of. To get a better understanding of what plastic you can recycle, refer to your local council’s website.

MORE THAN 70 PERCENT OF NEW ZEALANDERS WILL HAVE ACCESS TO SOFT PLASTICS RECYCLING BINS.