For grocery retailers and suppliers, packaging changes are rarely simple. A different wrapper, bottle or carton can affect product protection, supplier specifications, costs and what customers can recycle after use.
That is why preparing for extended producer responsibility (EPR) starts with understanding what packaging businesses put on the market today, and looking for ways to improve packaging sooner rather than later.
A system that works in practice
The Government has confirmed that it will not introduce new waste legislation this Parliamentary term. However, businesses can use this time to prepare, rather than waiting until the details of an EPR framework are settled before considering what it could mean for their packaging.
At The Packaging Forum, we aim to lead New Zealand towards a circular packaging future. We support well-designed product stewardship that improves packaging outcomes and works in practice for businesses and communities. We want to help businesses prepare and draw on experience from across the packaging value chain to develop an effective framework.
A well-designed EPR system can create investment and incentives to improve packaging design, reduce waste, and support changes in how people use and return packaging. It can help build viable reuse and recycling systems and strengthen markets for recovered materials, which can in turn become feedstock for new products.
To achieve that, EPR needs to connect packaging designers and manufacturers with brand owners, retailers, consumers, collectors and recyclers. Collection systems need sufficient volumes, suitable sorting and processing capacity, and markets for the materials they recover. A workable system must also account for the cost of managing material that enters collections but cannot be utilised, ensuring each material funds its own pathway to reuse.
The Forum’s voluntary recycling and recovery schemes for soft plastics, caps and lids, food and beverage cartons, and glass provide us with direct experience of these challenges across packaging materials. They demonstrate what industry can achieve voluntarily through collaboration and help us identify what a broader EPR framework would need to address.
Lessons from other markets
New Zealand businesses do not make packaging decisions in isolation. The European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is introducing requirements across the packaging lifecycle in phases. For businesses exporting to Europe or supplying multinational customers, those requirements should already be influencing packaging specifications.
Australia is also considering packaging reform. Many New Zealand businesses sell products on both sides of the Tasman, so it makes sense to track developments there. Where approaches align, there may be opportunities to simplify requirements for businesses operating in both markets.
The practical lesson for exporters and importers is to know where their products are sold and to consider those markets' requirements early. Packaging needs to suit the product, every market it enters, and New Zealand’s recovery systems.
What businesses can do now?
First, get your packaging data in order. At a minimum, set up a database or spreadsheet to track how much packaging your business uses each year, by material and format, and whether any of it contains harmful substances.
Ask suppliers about the recycled content of each packaging item and confirm it complies with the legislative requirements in every market where your products are sold.
Take the opportunity to review existing packaging, too. Could a design change improve performance, logistics, or cost while also reducing the amount of packaging you are placing on market? For new products, consider making packaging changes early, before a later redesign becomes necessary.
Future EPR systems may use fees that vary according to packaging design (eco-modulation), with lower fees for packaging that is reusable or easier to recycle and higher fees for packaging that is more difficult to recycle. Reliable data will help businesses understand potential costs, prepare for reporting and make informed decisions as the details become clear.
Some Packaging Forum members already manage their packaging data and review designs in-house or with external support. The Forum’s Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme has recently begun working with expert global compliance organisation Valpak to help members report data. We encourage other retailers, suppliers and brand owners to begin this work, join relevant stewardship schemes, and share their practical experience as the framework develops.
Businesses interested in joining a Packaging Forum scheme or seeking support with their packaging are welcome to get in touch. This is an opportunity to understand the packaging we use, improve what we can and help shape a system that works across the value chain, while working collaboratively across industry to prepare for a future mandatory EPR system here in New Zealand.
By Craig Miller, CEO, The Packaging Forum
