The Australian Packaging Covenant was formed by industry to strive for environmentally responsible packaging. The recent annual awards ceremony has celebrated the brands making a real difference through responsible packaging.
The outstanding achievement winners included outdoor retailer Kathmandu (Member of the Year), food manufacturers Smiths and Sakata (Outstanding Achievement in Design), skincare company Jurlique (Outstanding Achievement in Packaging Stewardship), and Nestlé (Outstanding Achievement in Recycling).
APCO enables businesses, government and industry to design and utilise more sustainable packaging throughout the supply chain to reduce the environmental impact of packaging in Australia. Previous examples include:
- Australia Post partnering with global recycler TerraCycle, enabling customers to repurpose products such as toothbrushes, cosmetic items, coffee pods and postal satchels by redirecting them through a network for recycling
- Blackmore's adoption of the Australian Recycling Label and effort to massively reduce their waste to landfill
- Unilever making major changes to packaging to save tonnes of plastic and metal waste through recycling, and
- Smith's Snackfoods increasing plastic recycling by 47%.
Finalists and winners were selected based on their performance in sustainable packaging design, comprehensive recycling systems and product stewardship activities to develop sustainable supply chains. In addition to the industry sector awards, four businesses were also celebrated and awarded in the categories of Outstanding Achievement in Design, Recycling and Packaging Stewardship, as well as the APCO Member of the Year award for the brand that showed high achievements overall.
"With the spotlight now firmly on the waste and recycling industries, there has never been a better time for Australian businesses to reduce their environmental footprint. We commend all our finalists and award winners who are leading their industries toward a more sustainable future, and toward an Australia where packaging resources are used and disposed of wisely to minimise our environmental impact." said Brooke Donnelly, CEO, APCO.
Find out more...
- Paper vs Plastic - Life Cycle Analysis TED - Leyla Acaroglu
Positive Actions You Can Take:
- Look for the Australian Recycling Label and contact manufacturers of products you buy to encourage them to use responsible packaging
- Know exactly what you can and can't recycle in your kerbside system
- Support recycling by buying it back. Where possible, purchase recycled products and packaging to support an economy for resources recovered by recycling
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