positive packaging, edition 5, autumn 2012
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In This IssueCurrent News
New ISO Packaging Standards
Edge Guards at arvato
The Repak Awards 2012Preview to Best Prevention Initiative Award
The Prevent&Save Newsletter: Autumn 2012
Positive Packaging
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If you have topics or issues you wish to share with Repak and the wider community please send them to:
Positive Packaging,Repak Limited,Red Cow Interchange Estate,1, Ballymount Road,Clondalkin, Dublin 22.Telephone: 01 467 0190Email: [email protected]
Repak would be delighted to hear of new packaging ideas that reduce waste and saves cost. We are also keen to promote examples of good packaging systems through this newsletter and through other media.
Printed copy or e-mail version? Repak would love to hear your views on how we should publish this newsletter in future.
Positive Packaging is produced and compiled by: Colm Munnelly, John Coleman and Niamh MacKenzie; Membership Services Department of Repak Ltd.Design: Baseline CSPrinted on Freelife Symbol
Welcome to the latest edition of Positive Packaging.
It is pleasing to see that the work undertaken by Repak in packaging prevention is recognised as the exemplar for other waste compliance schemes.
The Waste Policy Strategy document “A Resource Opportunity” published by the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, re-emphasises the importance of the waste hierarchy – placing prevention, minimisation and re-use ahead of recycling and other waste management options.
Repak has firmly adopted this policy. While Repak is committed to driving packaging recycling in Ireland, we have also placed considerable emphasis on packaging reduction and minimisation – on the basis that prevention is better than cure, as a waste management option. Our Prevent And Save Programme has been firmly taken on board by member companies. The results are positive. Less packaging, more saving.
Now, the Environment Minister is recomending this approach to all PRIs.
The Waste Policy Strategy now insists that all Producer Responsibility Initiatives will be required to implement significant waste prevention and reuse initiatives for their particular waste streams. This is a welcome and timely development.
Dr Andrew HetheringtonChief ExecutiveRepak
Chief Executive’s Welcome
During the first half of 2012 Greenbusiness and the Green Hospitality Programme (GHP) jointly delivered numerous free ‘Regional Workshops’ under the umbrella of the EPA’s BeGreen programme. Repak collaborated at many of these events where invaluable waste-saving advice was being offered to those in attendence.
These workshop sessions included top tips, case studies & opportunities to achieve environmental certification. Businesses also had the opportunity to quiz experts on their bills, resource consumption and received solutions for some of the common challenges facing them when dealing with Waste, Water & Energy.
These workshops will run again throughout the second half of the year and a list of these workshop dates and locations will be updated here.
For more information either contact Greenbusiness, or Colm and John in Repak.
Greenbusiness workshops in the Autumn.
The Packaging Optimisation Newsletter 3Current News
Repak and PMCA Economic Consulting have compiled a report which shows that substantial savings have been delivered in Ireland through packaging reduction and optimisation from 2005 to 2011. These savings have been achieved by designing out waste from the packaging systems in Repak member companies.
Pat McCloughan (Managing Director of PMCA) will be launching this report at the Repak Members Conference on October 4th in Croke Park.
Substantial savings due to packaging reduction.
The 2012 Repak Members Conference will be held in the Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin on October 4th and begins at 9:30am.
The speakers will include:
• William Vermeir – Managing Director, Fost Plus (Belgian Compliance Scheme)‘Producer Responsibility: Alternatives and Best Models’
• Chris Culleton - Ferrycarrig Hotel‘Waste Awareness and Management: The Benefits for the Hospitality Sector’
• Dr. Pat McCloughan - MD, PMCA Economic Consulting‘Savings Through Packaging Optimisation’
• Conor McDonald - Supply Chain Manager, Microsoft Operations Ireland Limited‘Packaging Minimisation and Innovation’
The conference will be followed by Lunch and Presentation of Repak Recycling Awards 2012.
Invites for the conference and awards ceremony have already been posted out but if you have not yet received yours please contact John or Colm in Repak and we will be in contact.
Repak Members Conference 2012
William VermeirManaging Director, Fost Plus
Preview to Repak’s Best Prevention Initiative Award 2012
4Packaging OptimisationThe Packaging Optimisation Newsletter
The annual Repak Recycling Awards take place on October 4th in Croke Park so here is a quick preview to the Best Prevention Initiative award.
The aim of the award is to promote the optimisation of packaging, with specific focus on the prevention of packaging waste entering the supply chain. Previous winners of this much sought after award include Symantec, HJ Heinz, Microsoft, Green Isle Foods, Kenco Coffee & Arvato Digital Services.
The 2012 Award shortlist comprises:
• MicrosoftEMEAOperationsCentre
• Odlums
• eircomGroup
Microsoft replaced many of their products packed in DVD cases with a download card format which helped to reduce global packaging by almost 268 tonnes.
Also, by reducing the size of the user manuals for Xbox games Microsoft managed to remove 160 tonnes of packaging from the global market.
Odlums have done significant work in reducing the amount of shrink-wrap and stretch-wrap they use on their products.
Over 10 tonnes of plastic has been saved by lightweighting their shrinkwrap (reduced from 90µm to 75µm).
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The company also saved over 7 tonnes of plastic by lightweighting their stretchwrap (reduced from 23µm to 11µm).
In addition, Odlums have implemented a pallet (wooden and plastic) return system with most of their suppliers and for all remaining suppliers they insist on using CHEP reusable pallets.
Meteor, a part of the eircom Group, had a 71% reduction in their back door waste in 2011, while maintaining their 100% recycling rate.
One of the main drivers behind this reduction was the removal of the Meteor branded box (below left) which used to accompany their products when sold to their customers. This has resulted in significant savings in packaging waste by removing 100% of these boxes.
The other main driver resulted from a clever reuse of transit packaging which was previously recycled after a single use. This is now returned to central distribution for repeat usage and has helped to dramatically reduce cardboard waste in Meteor stores.
Also, because the phone packs are now much smaller (due to the removal of the Meteor branded box) it is now possible to fit 20 phones per transit box in contrast to only five previosuly. These steps combined have allowed for a 71% reduction in brown transit boxes.
Last year arvato won the Repak ‘Best Packaging Prevention Initiative’ award for a project that involved the re-design of their cardboard case packaging. Not resting on their laurels, they then widened their focus to consider any packaging involved in packing a pallet of product for distribution. While working on this project they examined their use of pallet corner boards or ‘edge guards’ to see if any savings could be made. What they found is of interest to anyone who uses corner boards on their pallets.
The goal of arvato’s project was to identify the optimum type of corner board to be used to fulfil customer requirements while reducing the cost impact by 20% and their environmental weighting, also by 20%. Before the project commenced, arvato used 27,000 units annually at a cost of €9,000. The main corner protector used was 1.3m in length, although 1.44m and 1.56m lengths were also used as well as some more unusual lengths.
On analysis, arvato found they were using over 6 tonnes a year in corner boards from 5 different purchased lengths. All of the boards had the same profile of 35mm x 35mm x 3mm. They also found that there was no specific customer
requirement for this profile and the 1.3m length was an industry norm rather than a specific requirement.
After a trial period, arvato found that they could change the profile of the corner protectors from the standard 35mm x 35mm x 3mm to a new design of 25mm x 25mm x 2mm. This gave a 57% reduction in the weight and volume of their corner boards in all board lengths and did not affect the performance of the boards for any of arvato’s products. The use of this new design along with better management of corner board lengths to suit pallet sizes resulted in a saving of €4,700 for arvato in a year purely from the use of the new corner boards.
This new design is now the only type that arvato purchase from their supplier (Wraptite) and their packaging specifications have been modified to include the new design. For further information please [email protected] or [email protected] or contact wraptite directly:
Paul Smith,Sales Director,Wraptite Packaging Ltd.,Unit 5 The Stables,Old Quarry Business Campus,Northwest Business Park,Blanchardstown,Dublin 15
‘Edge Guards’ at arvato Hightech EMEA
6Case StudyThe Packaging Optimisation Newsletter
New ISO global standards for packaging are due to be published in October meaning the packaging industry will be taking steps to address issues like packaging optimization, packaging reusability, material recycling, composting, and energy recovery. The primary objective behind this set of ISO standards is to create a harmonized approach to packaging and the environment around the world.
This set of standards transforms the already existing CEN standards into global standards. The ISO standards however have been developed to be more user-friendly and to widen the scope so that packaging is not simply considered as a negative thing that has to be reduced.
The new ISO standards on Packaging and the Environment, together with the supporting reports, provide a set of procedures which aim to decrease environmental impact, support innovation and prevent trade barriers.
New ISO packaging standards
Packaging DevelopmentsThe Packaging Optimisation Newsletter
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The 6 standards and 2 technical reports agreed are:
ISO/IS 18601 can be referred to as the ‘umbrella standard’ as it identifies the different requirements and procedures for the remaining five standards in the package as well as their interrelationship.
ISO/IS 18602 is a standard on optimization of the packaging system and should contribute to reducing the environmental impact of packaging. It contains requirements that should make sure that an optimal packaging weight / volume is used in relation to the packaging functions.
ISO/IS 18603 outlines the requirements that need to be fulfilled in order for packaging to be classified as reusable.
ISO/IS 18604 outlines the requirements for packaging to be classified as recoverable through material recycling and contains procedures for assessment of meeting the requirements of this standard.
ISO/IS 18605 specifies the requirements that need to be fulfilled in order for packaging to be classified as recoverable in the form of energy recovery. By using the technical concept of ‘calorific gain’, the standard provides information on how to determine calorific gain and specify the theoretical minimum net calorific value.
ISO/IS 18606 sets out the requirements for packaging to be classified as suitable for organic recycling. It makes clear that in order to be considered as suitable for organic recycling, all of the individual packaging components need to comply with the requirements outlined.
Relationship between the new ISO standards
Click on the image for larger version
Prevent & Save Website
Repak have a website dedicated to packaging optimisation and packaging waste prevention. On it you can find breaking news related to packaging, case studies and toolkits, previous editions of this newsletter and guidance on packaging waste regulation through the ‘Self-Audit’ tool.
Keep browsing www.preventandsave.iefor further details
Repak LimitedRed Cow Interchange Estate1 Ballymount RoadClondalkin Dublin 22
Tel: 00 353 1 467 0190Fax: 00 353 1 467 0197
8 ContactsRepak’s Packaging Technology ServiceRepak provide services to their members to help them improve their packaging. These include:
Packaging Optimisation Surveys - where a Packaging Technologist will visit a company and produces a report detailing where packaging can be optimised and savings can be made.
Case-Studies, Reports and Tools which are aimed at helping Repak member companies optimise their packaging.
The prevention web-site www.preventandsave.ie where these resources can be accessed.
By telephone where advice and direction can be given in relation to packaging design, choices of packaging materials, or how current and future packaging legislation can affect you.
To avail of any of these services please contact our Packaging Technologists Colm or John at:
Colm Munnelly Telephone: 01 461 9237Email: [email protected]
John Coleman Telephone: 01 461 9229Email: [email protected] For enquiries or submissions to Positive Packaging please contact our editor Niamh at:
Niamh MacKenzie Telephone: 01 461 9217Email: [email protected]