APC Annual Report 2013-14

Australian Packaging Covenant

Annual Report 2013-2014

Annual Report 2013-14

Contents

Chair’s Report 1

Chief Executive’s Report 2

APC Council Members 3

2014 Performance Highlights 4

APC Performance 4

Drops in litter continue year on year 6

Packaging Recycling 2014 7

Overview of APC Signatories 9

Signatory Performance 10

Supporting and connecting with signatories 14

Supporting innovation in packaging design 18

APC in the Community 19

APC in the Media 20

APC Projects: Supporting recycling and litter reduction 21

Contents

1

AUSTRALIAN PACKAGING COVENANT Annual Report 2013-14

Council and all of its representatives continue to take an active interest in regulatory developments. Whilst these have been slow to resolve we are conscious of the impact which delays in regulatory certainty has on the momentum built within the scheme over these past four years, and are putting in place all reasonable measures to ensure that industry maintains its foot on the pedal. Extended delays, however, will inevitably impact on our ability to manoeuvre the activities of the Covenant to allow sufficient time to ensure that industry maintains this momentum and is able to respond to any changes which may lie ahead for the future Covenant Strategic Plan.

I would like to acknowledge the role played by the Council, the Covenant Management Committee, the Secretariat, jurisdictional staff and signatories who form the broad community of support for the APC, and thank everyone who has worked hard to assist us to deliver on our strategic aims.

Alec Wagstaff, ChairAustralian Packaging Covenant Council

Australian Packaging Covenant

The Australian Packaging Covenant is focussed on the management of post-consumer packaging Australia wide. The co-regulatory model of the APC where governments and industry work together, acknowledges that product stewardship of consumer packaging requires integrated thinking. It recognises that responsible behaviour is required, individually and collectively.

Australia’s unique arrangement has delivered consistent improvement in key indicators and the engagement of industry continues to increase.

The results presented in this report demonstrate the collective commitment and progress made by industry against the goals of the APC. Under industry and government guidance, the Secretariat has established a capable delivery team to guide Covenant signatories to achieve growth in every key metric.

Critical to efforts to strengthen the scheme is the ability to sustain and to grow and engage the signatory base. Signatories now number 928 and captures packaging across all the relevant sectors of the economy.

Brand owners have expressed a growing appreciation of the value of the services being delivered to them beyond compliance. A suite of programs and activities have been delivered during this past year which have been well received and which ultimately help to change the culture of business to design more sustainable packaging, to increase packaging recycling and to reduce packaging litter.

Chair’s Report

Chair’s Report

2


Chief Executive’s Report

The delay in Ministers making their assessment of the DRIS creates uncertainty about the future of the Australian Packaging Covenant. As a consequence of this uncertainty our analysis shows that such an operating environment could lead to a decline in the momentum of the APC. As a result of the uncertainty during the 2010 APC transition, there was a significant decline in APC project activity and a 20% drop in the number of brand owner signatories.

To ensure we are able to fully capitalise on the achievements of the Australian Packaging Covenant and its signatories, timely clarification of the future regulatory environment for packaging stewardship would help to alleviate the risk to the APC.

The momentum that has been built through the hard work and achievements of the APC Council, staff and signatories has contributed to the achievement of the current 64.2% recycling rate and significant year on year reductions in litter. I would like to congratulate all involved in the Covenant for their dedication to using the APC collaborative framework to achieve real outcomes in packaging stewardship and sustainability.

Stan Moore, CEOAustralian Packaging Covenant

Chief Executive’s ReportThe 2013-14 financial year is the fourth year of the implementation of the Australian Packaging Covenant 2010-2015 Strategic Plan. The activities outlined in this report are the culmination of a continuous improvement process which has built our internal capacity to provide support to our signatories, effectively invest signatory and government contributions in successful projects and communicate our successes with all our stakeholders. As a result of these efforts we have already achieved or exceeded some of our 2015 key performance indicator targets and are making great progress on the remainder.

The combined achievements of our signatories were particularly evident when we brought our highest performing signatories together for two awards evenings following the 2014 reporting period. The success of the APC is due to the hard work of all our signatories in demonstrating their commitment to environmental sustainability, and our high performing signatories are leading the way in packaging sustainability and innovation.

On 29 April 2014, Environment Ministers met to further discuss the Packaging Impacts Decision Regulation Impacts Statement (DRIS). The outcome of that meeting was that Ministers agreed that all jurisdictions needed additional time to assess the document and the options it examined. While the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) is a framework agreement that continues, the operation, management and funding agreement between governments and industry that enables the APC will expire on 30 June 2015. At this stage a new management and funding agreement has not been negotiated as it is reliant on Environment Ministers assessment of the DRIS.

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APC Council Members

Bruce Edwards Department of the Environment

Steve Beaman NSW Environmental Protection Authority

Elisa Nichols Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, QLD

Sarah McEvoy Department of Environment Regulation, WA

Rod Fyffe Municipal Association of Victoria

Rebecca Brown Western Australian Local Government Association

Simon Thompson Local Government Association of South Australia

Peter McLean Keep Australia Beautiful National

Dick Gross Community Representative

Paul Klymenko Planet Ark Environmental Foundation

Gavin Williams Packaging Council of Australia

Tanya Barden Australian Food and Grocery Council

Peter Bury Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association

Jason Walker Australian Industry Group

Grant Musgrove Australian Council of Recycling

Alec Wagstaff Packaging Stewardship Forum

Russell Goss Australian National Retailers Association

Val Southam Waste Management Association of Australia

APC Council Members

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DECREASELITTER 33% reduction by volume(since 2005)

27% reduction in items

(since 2005)

2014 Performance Highlights

APC PerformanceThe Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) is a sustainable packaging initiative that aims to change the culture of business to design more sustainable packaging, increase recycling rates and reduce packaging litter.

It is an agreement between government, industry and community groups to find and to fund solutions to address packaging sustainability issues. Companies, government agencies and industry associations sign the Covenant and commit to certain responsibilities, which contribute to achieving the Covenant performance targets and key performance indicators (KPIs) as outlined in the Strategic Plan 2010–15.

The APC has three broad performance goals. 1. Design: Optimise packaging

to use resources efficiently and reduce environmental impacts without compromising product quality and safety.

2. Recycling: Efficiently collect and re-use or recycle packaging.

3. Product Stewardship: Demonstrate commitment to a ‘whole of lifecycle’ approach from design to disposal.

These performance goals have a number of more specific performance indicator components. Progress against KPI targets is measured by data provided by signatories for all except KPIs two and eight which are measured by other means. Signatories are required to prepare action plans and report progress against them annually, the reports are then independently assessed and rated.

APC Performance

$16M investment in recycling and litter reduction

35 live projects

between 2013-2014

64.2%(2014)

Increase in packaging recycling

39%(2003)

93%Compliance

rate

928 Signatories

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APC Performance

KPI No. 2015 /2020Target

ACHIEVEMENT2012 2013 2014

KPI 1: Design

% of signatories that have documented policies and procedures for evaluating and procuring packaging using the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines or equivalent

70% (by 2015) 67% 73% 74%

% of signatories review all new packaging 70% (by 2015) 33% 54% 59%

% of signatories review half existing packaging 50% (by 2015) 26% 46% 57%

KPI 2: Improved recycling rates for used packaging 70% (by 2015) 63.8% 64.2% 64.2%

KPI 3: Onsite Recycling

% of signatories that apply on-site recovery systems for used packaging at all facilities/ sites 70%(by 2015) 76% 82% 82%

% of signatories that apply on-site recovery systems for used packaging at all or some facilities/ sites 70%(by 2015) 95% 98% 98%

KPI 4: Buy recycled

% of signatories that have implemented a formal policy of buying products made from recycled packaging 100% (by 2015) 43% 54% 61%

% of signatories that have a formal policy of buying products made from recycled packaging 100% (by 2015) 48% 61% 66%

KPI 6: Product Stewardship

% of signatories that have formal processes for working with others to improve packaging design and recycling 100% (by 2020) 59% 63% 63%

KPI 7: Other Product Stewardship Outcomes

% of signatories showing other Product Stewardship outcomes 100% (by 2020) 54% 55% 63%

KPI 8: Litter

Target: Reduction in packaged materials being littered

2014 Result: 18 items per 1000m2 19 19 18

2014 Result: 4.32l per 1000m2 4.68l 4.62l 4.32l

APC Performance Data 2012-14

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Drops in litter continue year on year

Packaging Litter Packaging also follows this downwards trend. The average number of packaging items per 1000m2 decreased in comparison to all previous years surveyed, to 18 items. Volume also decreased to 4.32L per 1000m2. In comparison, last year’s results were 19 items and 4.62L respectively.

Industrial locations were associated with the largest number of packaging items and volume per 1000m2 in the litter stream.

Nationally, plastic litter objects contributed the largest number of items and volume per 1000m2 to the litter stream. Plastic packaging objects accounted for an average of 11 items (unchanged from 2012/13) and 1.89L (down from 2.15L in 2012/13).

The NLI counts litter at 983 sites across Australia spanning a multitude of types; highways, retail sites, beaches, residential, shopping centres, recreational parks and car parks.

All litter This year’s data shows that litter continues its downward trend. The overall average number of items per 1,000m2 across all sites surveyed was 51, while the overall average estimated volume per 1,000m2 was 5.97 litres. This is down from 56 items and 6.13L per 1,000m2 respectively in 2012/13.

Retail sites contributed the largest number of litter items per 1,000m2 and industrial locations were associated with the highest volume. Cigarette butts were the most frequently identified item with 23 butts per 1,000m2 recorded (down from 28 butts in 2012/13), however plastic litter objects contributed the highest volume at 1.89L per 1000m2 across all sites nationally (down from 2.15L in 2012/13).

Since the start of the NLI 9 years ago, an overall 27% reduction in items and 33% reduction by volume in the national average have been achieved.

The APC again funded the Keep Australia Beautiful National Litter Index (NLI) during the 2013/14 year. The NLI is Australia’s only national annual quantitative measure of what litter occurs where and in what volume, based on counts taken in November and May during the reporting period.

Drops in litter continue year on year

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PlasticsThe plastics recycling rate continues to increase in 2013-14. Technical and design trends presenting challenges to recycling include use of film laminates and single use containers. Global recovery trends include tightening of export quality, especially with respect to mixed plastics though China’s ‘Green Fence’ policy. Positively, international innovations in processing equipment such as polymer sorters, are now achieving scale of use in Australia. By allowing for a greater capacity to separate different packaging by type and colour, this presents opportunities for higher value recyclate to be extracted from the waste stream.

In response to the increased use of flexible plastic in packaging applications, a recycling rate for flexible packaging was determined for the first time. This was calculated to be 33% in 2013/14.

Steel CansThere has been a 2.8% increase in steel can recovery rate during 2013/14. There was an increase in the tonnes recycled this year, which may be a reflection of a recent short period of higher commodity prices of steel cans following depressed prices in 2012/13. It also may be a reflection of packaging recovery programs.

Fibre packaging (Paper/ Cardboard)Recovered fibre packaging decreased marginally to 77.3% in 2013/14 after a record level of 77.9% the previous year. The increase in material recycled has been significantly faster than the relatively slow rate of consumption increase. Recovery has increased on average by 4.7% per year, whereas consumption has increased by 0.5% per year. There has continued to be a significant rise in the calculated quantity of fibre packaging around imported goods, pushing through to 1.4 Mt over the 2013-14 period. This increase is attributed to strong imports driving up household consumption, as well as delivery of small items via the internet.

Glass2013-14 saw a 2.1% increase in the glass recycling rate. Structural changes creating opportunities and challenges to better trend rates in the recovery side of the industry continue. The period 2013-2014 saw the full year operation of improved automated glass sorting facilities in NSW but also saw the closure of some secondary glass processing plants. More glass continues to be recovered than recycled which has resulted in stockpiles, as collectors search for markets or uses of a greater volume of the material.

The total packaging recycling rate for 2014 was 64.2%. The recycling rate of glass, plastics, steel cans and aluminium cans all increased from 2012-13. The fibre packaging (paper/cardboard) recycling rate decreased by 0.6% in 2014. As this material makes up a large proportion of total packaging material, it has caused the total packaging recycling rate to remain static.

Aluminium CansThe recovery and recycling of aluminium cans have historically been generally keeping pace with consumption patterns, however in 2013-14 this trend improved slightly. There continues to be some infrastructure and consumption changes, including a greater proportion of aluminium cans being consumed away from home.

Non beverage aluminium is collected separate to the can data, as it is not included within the methodology for calculating the recycling rate. The recycling rate for this material remains steady with last years reported rate at 48.6%. A key challenge continues to be raising awareness of the recyclability of such packaging.

Packaging Recycling 2014


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Material Type Total Consumption (Tonnes)

Total Recycling (Tonnes)

Recycling Rate % (2014)


Paper/Cardboard 2,611,000 2,018,000 77.3 77.9

Glass 1,259,000 597,000 47.4 45.3

Plastics 526,900 231,300 43.9 42.9

Steel cans 117,400 50,400 42.9 40.1

Aluminium cans 57,200 38,700 67.7 66.8

TOTAL 4,571,500 2,935,400 64.2 64.2

Aluminium all containers (Cans and aerosols), not included in the above calculation

64,600 42,300 65.5 64.6

2014 Recycling Rate Data

Packaging Recycling Rates 2003 - 2014

0

20

40

60

80

100

201420132012201120102009200820072006200520042003

Rec

yclin

g ra

te (

%)

Paper

Aluminium (All)

Aluminium (Cans)

Plastics

Glass

Steel cans

TOTAL

TOTALTOTAL

TOTAL

TOTAL

(%)

YEAR

9


To further ensure there is equity in the system, the APC conducts systematic identification of potential “free-riders” (companies whose packaging related turnover exceeds $5million). During the year, a total of 1032 such brand owners were investigated. Only by capturing all relevant brand owners can the APC ensure that every business that either produces or supplies consumer packaging plays its part in reducing the environmental impacts of packaging.

Overview of APC Signatories

Overview of APC Signatories

Brand owner signatories comprise 95% of all signatories, representing 90% of all packaging produced and over 80% of all packaged consumer brands sold in Australia. 92.7% of signatories were compliant with their commitments under the Covenant at the year end, with non-compliant signatories reported to government for regulatory follow-through.

At 30 June 2014, there were 928 signatories to the APC, with the total value from the financial contribution of signatories totalling $4,202,600.

Material Type Total Consumption (Tonnes)

Total Recycling (Tonnes)



Paper/Cardboard 2,611,000 2,018,000 77.3 77.9

Glass 1,259,000 597,000 47.4 45.3

Plastics 526,900 231,300 43.9 42.9

Steel cans 117,400 50,400 42.9 40.1

Aluminium cans 57,200 38,700 67.7 66.8

TOTAL 4,571,500 2,935,400 64.2 64.2

Aluminium all containers (Cans and aerosols), not included in the above calculation

64,600 42,300 65.5 64.6

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Signatory Performance


Action PlansNew signatories are contacted within three weeks of signing the Covenant, and advised to send their draft action plans to the APC prior to submission so that they are able to be reviewed and improvements made in consultation with APC staff.

Of the 860 compliant signatories as at 30 June 2014, there were 829 with registered action plans, and a further 36 that had been submitted for review. The remaining signatories consisted of a group of signatories not yet due to submit their action plans. There are 55 signatories with action plans due to expire by the end of this year (21 of which are already expired), and the secretariat is in the process of advising these signatories of their obligations regarding re-submission of a current action plan.

The success of the Australian Packaging Covenant relies on the performance of brand owner signatories in complying with the commitments which come with being part of the Covenant.

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Annual ReportingThe APC introduced a new annual reporting and assessment model in 2012. This involves each signatory reporting in a standard online format and having their achievements rated (from 0-5) by an independent assessor. The aim of the APC’s reporting system is to standardise reporting and assessments across signatories, and to ensure the availability of aggregate data against APC KPIs. The reporting system is online and mandatory for all brand owners.

The average overall rating across all signatories was 2.8 in 2014.Figure 1 shows how signatories were distributed around the average and a comparison between 2013 and 2014.

In 2014, 46% of companies received an overall rating of 3 or more, with 6% receiving a rating of 4 or more. Only 1% of companies received a rating of less than 1 and 10% a rating of less than 2. Refer to Table 1 for details.

Compared with 2013, ratings have decreased by 0.1. The proportion of signatories with ratings of three and above has decreased from 53% in 2013 to 46% in 2014. Conversely, the proportion of signatories with ratings below 3 has increased from 47% in 2013 to 54% in 2014.

One contributing factor is the relatively large number (96) of new signatories who reported for the first time in 2014. The performance among new signatories was significantly lower than among existing signatories across all the performance indicators.


Figure 1: Proportion of signatories by overall ratings

Table 1: Number and percentage of assessed signatories by rating band

Rating band2014

Number Percent*0 –0.9 4 1%

1–1.9 62 9%

2–2.9 283 44%

3–3.9 258 40%

4 and over 37 6%

TOTAL 644 100%

Not rated 3

Total reporting 647

* Decimals are not shown due to rounding, so individual percentages may add up to slightly more or less than 100%

20142013Overall Signatory Ratings

% o

f Sig

nato

ries

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

53 421

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Table 2: Average ratings by KPI

Individual KPI ratingsThe KPI ratings in 2014 were just over or below 3 across all KPIs. The pattern was more even across the KPIs than in previous years, which came about as a result of ratings for product stewardship (KPI7) and litter (KPI8) improving while other KPI scores decreased slightly (Table 2).


Satisfaction with the reporting systemSignatories were asked to provide feedback on the online reporting system. In particular, they were asked to rate the extent to which the reporting template questions and definitions were clear, and whether the template allowed them to highlight their achievements. They could also leave open-ended feedback. A total of 180 signatories (28% of the total who reported) took the opportunity to provide feedback.

The reporting system has been incrementally improved since 2012 and satisfaction levels among signatories have improved each year. In 2014, feedback shows that the reporting system met the vast majority of signatories’ expectations and effectively supported APCs management of the reporting and assessment processes.

In 2014, all signatories agreed or mostly agreed that the questions in the reporting template were clear (100%) and that adequate definitions were provided

KPIAverage

rating(2014)

Design

KPI 1 Documented policies and procedures for evaluating and procuring packaging using the SPGs or equivalent

3.2

Recycling

KPI 3 On-site recovery systems for used packaging 3.2

KPI 4 Formal policies of buying products made from recycled packaging

2.7

Product Stewardship

KPI 6 Formal processes for working with others to improve packaging design and recycling

2.7

KPI 7 Other Product Stewardship outcomes 2.8

KPI 8 Reductions in packaging items in the litter stream

2.4

Average across all KPIs 2.8

(100%). Almost all agreed or mostly agreed that the template allowed them to highlight their achievements (99%) and that it was easy to use (98%).

“Over the past 3 years the APC has really lifted its game. The emails are clear, there’s a lot of support online, the annual reports are relatively easy”.

AuditingAn independent audit was completed in relation to the reporting year to verify a statistically valid sample of reported signatory claims and ensure their corroboration against supporting evidence. Under the Covenant, signatories are deemed to be compliant if they are able to provide appropriate and relevant documentary evidence within a 60 day time frame.

For the 2014 audit, 25 signatories were sampled using a stratified sampling approach to reflect a broad cross section of the total population of brand owners. The auditors considered that brand owner Action Plans and Annual Reports were generally working towards the obligations outlined under the Covenant, and no incidences of audit non-compliance were reported.

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2014 Award Winning Signatories

The APC rewards signatories that performed ‘above and beyond’ in 2014 annual reporting.

Retailers

• Retailer:MetcashTradingLimited Australasia

• QuickServiceRestaurants:McDonald’s Australia Limited

Hardware and Homewares

• SmallHardwareandHome-wares: Fibrecycle Pty Ltd

• MediumHardwareandHomewares: ASSA ABLOY Australia Pty Ltd

• LargeHardwareandHomewares: OfficeMax Australia Ltd

Communications and Electronics

• Small-MediumCommunications and Electronics: Fuji Xerox Australia Pty Limited

• LargeCommunicationsandElectronics: Nokia Australia Pty Ltd

Clothing, Footwear and Fashion

• SmallClothing,Footwearand Fashion: Birkenstock Australia Pty Ltd

• LargeClothing,FootwearandFashion: Kathmandu Pty Ltd

Packaging Manufacturer

• Small-MediumPackagingManufacturer: CHEP Australia Pty Ltd

• LargePackagingManufacturer: Huhtamaki Australia Pty Limited

Recovery and Recycling

• Winner:VeoliaEnvironmentalServices (Australia) Pty Ltd

Transport, Fuel and Tobacco

• Winner:PhilipMorrisLimited

Most Improved

• Winner:MurrayGoulburnCo-Operative Co Limited

Food and Beverage

• Small–MediumFoodCompany: Chobani Pty Ltd

• LargeFoodCompany:Campbell Arnott’s Australia

• Small–MediumBeverageCompany: Bundaberg Brewed Drinks Pty Ltd

• LargeBeverageCompany:Coca-Cola Amatil Limited

Pharmacy and Personal Care

• SmallPharmacyandPersonal Care: McGloins Pty Ltd

• MediumPharmacyandPersonal Care: Jurlique International Pty Ltd

• MediumPharmacyandPersonal Care: Blackmores Limited

• LargePharmacyandPersonal Care: Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty Ltd

The twenty-two award winning signatories, who achieved the highest result in their industry category this year, demonstrated exactly how packaging innovations can create business resilience and avenues for earnings growth. The APC congratulates, and is proud to acknowledge, its 2014 high performing signatories in the following categories:

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The APC is committed to working with signatories to develop their capacity to implement the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines and effectively contribute to the achievement of the objective and goals of the Covenant.

Supporting and connecting with signatories

Listening to signatoriesTo further the APC’s ability to engage effectively with its members, and identify the challenges and opportunities signatories face, the APC carried out in-depth interviews with key stakeholders throughout May 2014.

Overall, interviewees reported a positive change in communication and engagement from the APC over the past 18 months. The interviews also revealed the following:

• Nearly90%ofrespondentssay the APC has improved its ability to efficiently and effectively manage packaging;

• ResourcesprovidedbytheAPC are considered very useful and tools are easy to use; and

• Actionplanandreportingprocesses are clear and simple, and the APC provides appropriate support. The public nature of plans and reporting also helps signatories push for continuous improvement.

Feedback from the interviews also revealed several key challenges, which the APC will seek to address.


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Signatory resourcesThe resources section of the APC website houses a range of resources, most of which have been developed to help signatories develop, implement and report on their action plans in the most effective way. In 2013-2014, the Member Services team developed and updated the following resources:

Design Smart Material GuidesA comprehensive resource for those involved in the design, specification and procurement of packaging, the Guides provide a ‘checklist’ of sustainability considerations to keep in mind when designing and/or specifying packaging made from particular materials.

Intended to support packaging assessments against the SPG, the guides cover fibre packaging, rigid plastic packaging, flexible plastic packaging, aluminium containers, steel containers, glass containers, composite packaging formats, compostable plastic packaging, and packaging components/closures/labels.

Sustainable Procurement Series: How to buy recycledThe APC partnered with ECO-Buy to develop a series of guides to assist signatories in developing their approach toward procuring recycled content products and thereby meet their commitments under APC KPI 4.

These documents include information about how to get started buying recycled, an introduction to recycled content materials and their applications, the opportunities available for including these purchases in different areas of your business, how to engage your suppliers in the process and how to track and report your purchases.

Action Plan Development Resources

• Actionplanrevisionprocess and coversheet for submission – for signatories wishing to revise their plans

• Actionplanguideandtables– to help signatories develop action plans that meet minimum requirements

• Betterpracticeactionsandtargets – a list of suggested actions and goals for signatories to include in their action plans

• PerformancegoalsandKPIs– an explanation of the KPIs into signatory-specific terms and requirements

Annual Reporting Resources

• 2014GuidetoQualityReporting: Describes the reporting process in detail and provides quality reporting guidance including a range of better-quality reporting examples.

• AnnualReportDataCollection Template: Designed to assist signatories with the data collation required for annual reporting, this template is intended to improve efficiency, distribute accountability, and establish a sound reference for auditing purposes.

• BetterReportingExamples:A comprehensive list of example reporting responses with explanations of why they are better practice examples, described with regards to the GRI reporting principles for defining quality.

• VIDEO–instructionalvideo which outlines how to complete the report

Signatory Health CheckThe APC Signatory Health Check is an easy self-assessment tool aimed at helping signatories togauge progress against their action plan. The assessment includes suggested activities signatories can undertake to improve performance.

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Workshops

Action Plan Development WorkshopsThese workshops support signatories in developing new, and updating existing, APC action plans. With a strong focus on peer learning and best practice sharing, attendees to these workshops receive free guidance and support regarding how to ensure action plans are easy to implement and report against, and able to deliver measurable results.

In 2013/14 four workshops were delivered to a total of 90 participants. Since 2010 the APC has delivered 34 action plan workshops to nearly 800 participants.

High Performers WorkshopsResponding to demand following two high performers workshops held as part of the 2013 Awards Breakfasts, in early December high performing signatories and key supply chain partners attended a breakfast (in Sydney and Melbourne) on the topic “What’s Measured Matters – Making the Most of Your APC Report”. The events included a presentation from NetBalance on value in reporting, and a panel of high performers discussing their APC successes and challenges.

Events

Total number of workshops (Cumulative)

Total number of people trained

3042010/11

2682012/13

902013/14

02011/12

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

(4) 2013/14

(6) 2010/11

(18) 2012/13

(0)

2011/12

17


APC Awards Nights 2014The APC held two successful awards nights to reward high performing signatories. Each event was MC’d by keynote speaker, Allan Ryan (Hargraves Institute) and had a strong focus on both networking and showcasing the key achievements of award winners. Short case studies were produced on each of the award winners, and published in a booklet provided to all attendees and available via the APC website

Consultant SessionsThe APC also held two Feedback Forums in Sydney and Melbourne in the first week of December, for a range of consultants who work with APC signatories. These forums were designed to help consultants deliver better outcomes to APC signatories through improved understanding of the APC, its goals and KPIs; and to gather feedback from consultants on how the APC could provide better information and services to signatories. Consultants have been identified as an important resource for signatories. Their capacity to support signatories hinges on having a detailed and current understanding of the APC, however as they had not been targeted in previous programs, knowledge gaps were evident prior to this workshop series.


PublicationsAPC WebsiteThe APC website is a hub of information for APC signatories requiring assistance and support to meet their commitments under the Covenant, and also an important source of information for external parties about the APC and its achievements.

Visits to the APC website have improved from an average of 1,725 unique visitors per month to 2,146 unique visitors per month.

APC E-newsletterThe APC newsletter is distributed monthly to over 2,000 recipients. The newsletter is available to all signatories and any interested stakeholder who subscribes via the website. The primary purpose of the newsletter is to draw attention to information about APC projects, member services and events, resources, publications and important compliance milestones. It also provides external information which is relevant to APC Signatories.Our open rate has improved from 26.69% in 2013 to an average of % in 2014.

APC E-Newsletter open rate

Unique visitors per month

1,725 (2013)

2,146 (2014)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

20142013

28.66%26.69

%

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Supporting innovation in packaging design

Why sponsor events?Sponsorships contribute to the achievement of the APC’s strategic aim of working in partnership with government, industry and community organisations to increase the recovery and recycling of used packaging materials. The sponsorships reinforce our commitment to packaging sustainability, have brought increased awareness of the APC brand and allow us demonstrate the positive work of signatories to a broad audience.

Member Services at the APC, hosts a session for students on the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines, as well as the role of packaging in delivering goods to consumers.

The Awards focus on developing students’ practical skills with guidance and feedback from technical staff provided prior to submission of the concepts. Finalists’ designs are then judged by key industry stakeholders to determine the placegetters.

The APC considers its involvement in the awards as a great opportunity to instil the importance of sustainability in the minds of up-and-coming designers. It looks forward to continuing to educate and promote sustainable packaging through the 2014 Cormack Innovation Awards.

Cormack Innovation Awards The APC joined the Cormack Innovation Awards for the first time in 2013 by creating and sponsoring the ‘APC Sustainability Award.’

Each year, the Cormack Awards present a design brief to industrial design students to engage and educate them on packaging options, challenges and innovation. Students are provided with a support framework throughout the program including resources from Cormack Packaging, in-house factory tours and the opportunity to examine real samples and products to inspire their ideas and concepts. Brett Giddings, Manager of

Packaging Design AwardsThe Australian Packaging Design Awards (APDA) is an annual run competition for brand owners, designers, retailers, manufacturers and raw material suppliers to enter their packaging creations. This year the APC sponsored the Overall Award for Sustainability, won by Coca-Cola Amatil for their 600ml Powerade Sport Bottle design. To be eligible for this award, entrants were required to be signatories to the APC and demonstrate that they had addressed the principles of the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines. Amcor Flexibles Australia and BioPak also received Highly Commended recognition for the sustainability criteria of their entries.

Mathew Cormack, Shelley Javier, Mariana Abdo and Brett Giddings(APC)

Supporting innovation in packaging design

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APC Staff at Tempe clean up site

Keep NSW Beautiful Litter CongressKNSWB is the leader in promoting litter reduction in NSW, and this was the first Congress in New South Wales dedicated solely to litter reduction. The two day event consisting of keynote and case study presentations and interactive panel discussions, brought people together to discuss practical solutions and strategies for reducing litter. The APC was an official supporter of the KNSWB Litter Congress and had a promotional stand at the conference.

Business Clean Up Australia DayTwenty-three APC signatory organisations signed up to participate in Business Clean Up Day (BCUD) 2014. Clean-up sites varied from the public land surrounding signatory sites to public parks and waterways, while the number of participants per organisation varied from four to nearly two hundred people.

The signatory participants who won this year’s BCUD awards were:• Mostfullbagsper

participant: Sanitarium, with 1.7 bags per person;

• Mostparticipantsonsite:Baiada, with an impressive 198 participants; and

• Strangestitemcollected:CSR Limited, with an ironing board.

The APC also ran its own Clean Up site at Tempe Recreation Reserve.

National Recycling WeekThe APC was proud to be a supporting sponsor of National Recycling Week, 11-17 November 2013. National Recycling Week (NRW) is an annual campaign run by Planet Ark to bring a national focus to recycling and the broader themes of minimising waste and managing material resources. By supporting the campaign the APC is able to directly contribute to increases in recycling education and awareness across thousands of schools and businesses.

The APC also encouraged all signatories to embrace National Recycling Week as an opportunity to elevate the importance of recycling within their business, and distributed a National Recycling Week Workplace Activity Guide to signatories to facilitate their engagement.

APC in the Community

APC in theCommunity

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APC in the MediaAn on-going focus for APC has been to increase engagement with media to facilitate increased awareness of the APC. In 2013-14, the APC issued six media releases to promote the release of annual recycling and litter data, and the achievement and activities of APC signatories and projects.

During the reporting period, the APC was the focus of, or received significant mention in 30 media articles. The most popular topics for media coverage have been the recycling data, the National Litter Index release, and the high performers.

The APC has focussed on strengthening our relationship with several key industry publications including PKN Packaging News, WME Business Environment Network and Asia Pacific Packaging.

APC in the Media

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APC Projects: Supporting recycling and litter reduction

State breakdown of 2014 approved projects

As at 30 June 2014, the APC managed a portfolio of 35 live projects representing $6.1 million in APC funding, with a combined total project value of over $16 million.1

During the year, APC committed $4.7 million to the funding of 31 new projects. The total value of these projects was $6.7 million. In addition, 33 projects with an aggregate project value of $6.4 million were completed during the year.

2014 Grants RoundThe penultimate year funding round targeted the most valuable projects with the highest likelihood of success, and which were able to be delivered by 30 June 2015.

The funding streams were based on the delivery of the following strategic goals:• MajorInfrastructure

Projects to build direct processing capacity

• LitterreductionandPublicPlace Recycling projects to increase public facilities and services

An important goal in reducing the landfilling of packaging resources is to build capacity to capture, recover, process and reuse packaging items in to the supply chain.The Australian Packaging Covenant provides funding to projects which contribute towards the achievement of the Covenant’s goals and increase the recovery and recycling of packaging waste in Australia.

The process of funding projects across Australia is a way to ‘close the loop’ between manufacture, use recovery and reuse of packaging materials. Projects which are funded by the Covenant attempt to plug the gaps in this cycle and also aim to provide market drivers to increase the ability of organisations to recover materials.


State Industry only (Sponsorship) NSW VIC SA TAS WA NT QLD ACT

Total value $327,133 $2,185,507 $2,918,483 $395,830 0 $126,800 0 $4,205,574 0

No. Projects 3 4 9 4 0 1 0 5 0

• Regional,RemoteandCulturally and Linguistically Diverse Projects to capture packaging related problems in areas which are non-metropolitan.

Sixty proposals were received in total.

Following a detailed review, those proposals which met the funding criteria were asked to progress to full application.

The final outcome of the process was very successful with 28 projects being approved with a total projects value of $10.1 million and an APC contribution requirement of $4.4 million. These approved projects collectively seek to recycle 33,600 additional tonnes of packaging materials.

1 Projects cross over financial years. This figure represents the total value of the project portfolio current as at 30 June 2014, not the value of projects commenced or completed in that year.

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REDcycle Recovery and Recycling of Post-Consumer Flexible Plastic The REDcycle Program will offer a recovery and recycling solution for post-consumer and retail soft plastic packaging. This program will divert a highly problematic waste stream from landfill and create a resource for Australian-made recycled products for schools and communities. To recover post-consumer food and grocery packaging, RED Group in partnership with Australian supermarkets, brand owners and other consumer facing venues will establish a national network of REDcycle drop off / collection points for the material, and deliver the program to those collection points (including the collection of material, consolidation, and baling for reprocessing).

This project delivers infrastructure critically required to process additional collection tonnes generated through the program. Infrastructure required to support the recovery and processing of material will be acquired for the RED

Group Melbourne and Brisbane locations, followed by Sydney. The infrastructure services the National collection of flexible plastics, including Western Australia and South Australia.

This project encompasses the implementation of the REDcycle Program in Coles Supermarkets in Melbourne and surrounding areas, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, and Hobart with approximately 470 Coles stores participating. Store participation requires the procurement of signage and marketing materials for program as well as bin liners and education materials for staff.

The project will also deliver the implementation of the REDcycle Program with other retailers (Woolworth’s). This involves the procurement of “front of house” collection systems such as new bins and signage for new retail partners, and a consumer education campaign. Consumer surveys are designed to gauge awareness of the program as it is implemented nationally.

Glass Turned to Sand as Lismore City Council Targets Massive Reduction of Waste to Landfill More than 15,000 tonnes of recyclables, including 4,000 tonnes of glass, will be processed each year through a new $3.65 million Materials Recovery Facility and Glass Processing Plant, launched in Lismore.

The Glass Processing plant is projected to reduce waste to landfill by 4,000 tonnes per annum, reduce the demand for raw sand and fine aggregate materials and reduce truck movements in the local area.

The facility extracts glass fines from co-mingled material at the local recycling centre. The fines are then further processed to produce recycled crushed glass for blending into road base and asphalt.

This type of glass recovery and reuse is exciting and representative of a new way of thinking about the circular economy. Lismore City Council worked in collaboration with Ballina Shire and Richmond Valley Councils, the APC and the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum to deliver the project. The project will achieve long term benefits for Lismore City Council and the wider region.

New Projects

Council General Manager Gary Murphy, APC CEO Stan Moore, Mayor Jenny Dowell, Lismore MP Thomas George, EPA Manager of Waste and Recycling Infrastructure Mark Jackson and Council Waste Operations Co-ordinator Kevin Trustum.

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Completed Projects360L Recycling Bin TrialNevRwaste have completed a four month trial which introduced 360 litre recycling bins to residents in Benalla and Wangaratta to ascertain the percentage variation in recyclables collected, the accompanying changes in contamination rate and reduction in waste generation.

The trial found:• 33%ofrecyclablesfromthe

refuse bin were diverted by providing more bin space, however providing more space did not change the resource recovery rate for some recyclables or decrease overall total waste generation.

• Householdswithmorethantwo people felt that they required a bigger recycling bin, smaller households found the larger bin cumbersome to store and use.

• Providingmorerefusespacelead to an increase in waste such as garden organics collected.

• Ademonstratedlackofknowledge about which items are recyclable.

“Litter Kills” Tourist Destinations EngagementKeep South Australia Beautiful Litter Data has consistently shown that highways remain the most littered areas in South Australia. Funding was sought from the APC to conduct social research and implement a litter prevention and awareness campaign targeting key tourist destinations in South Australia within 200km of Adelaide to reduce the impact of roadside litter.

The ‘Litter Kills’ message was delivered through a series of signage erected along key tourist routes, displays at tourist information centres and the distribution of over a 10,000 car tidy bags to tourists.


South East Queensland Set for State-of-the-art Glass Recycling PlantA new recycling plant will soon have the capacity to process and recover all glass currently recycled by consumers in South East Queensland and regional centres within approximately 500km of Brisbane.

The new plant will ensure that all glass recovered in the region has the opportunity to be diverted from landfill and recycled. The APC has provided $1.5 million in funding to the Queensland Cullet Optical Sorting Plant project, which began mid-2014. The project, valued at $3 million and due for completion in early 2015, will establish a state-of-the-art recycled glass sorting plant to recover large volumes of glass for use in the production of new bottles. The facility will be built by Queensland Glass Recycling’s engineering arm with assistance from a European optical sort equipment supplier. The recyclable glass will then go to Owens-Illinois (O-I), the world’s largest glass container manufacturer, that has a plant in Brisbane. This project will allow O-I to collaborate directly with Brisbane and Gold Coast City Councils on issues such as improving collections systems and public place recycling, to increase the amount of glass recovered and recycled into new bottles.

The plant will average 14 tonnes per hour average in-feed and is projected to process 82,000 tonnes of furnace ready cullet per annum. New employment opportunities will be created for approximately 14 people.

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Get it Right on Bin NightGet it Right on Bin Night (GIROBN) is a recycling education program established to improve the recovery of packaging materials from household kerbside systems. This project aimed to increase the diversion rate of kerbside (household) recycling in metropolitan Melbourne by four percentage points by:

• shiftingrecyclablesbeingdisposed of in rubbish bins into recycling bins

• reducingcontaminationinrecycling bins.

GIROBN was developed and implemented over five years. The main program components were:• 2010-Comprehensive

social research into household waste and recycling practices across metropolitan Melbourne

• 2012-GIROBNcampaignlaunched and implemented over three months

• 2013-GIROBNcampaignrefined and re-launched over six weeks.

Project evaluation found that the 2012 and 2013 campaigns reached the target audiences, with key messages being understood and recalled.

Overall impacts were reflected in minor changes in plastic bag contamination (2012 audit results) and self-reported recycling behaviour (2013 social research results). These outcomes highlight the need to better understand the links between communication and recycling behaviours to ensure that messages translate effectively to long-term changes in habits and behaviours.


The 184 recycling bins provide away from home recycling opportunities to around 280 million visitors to Colonial First State Retail Property Trust Group managed centres each year. The front-of-house recycling systems enable shoppers and visitors to sort and recycle rubbish when they are out and about in the same way they do at home. Through well-placed bin infrastructure and promotion of the Do the Right Thing, Use the Right Bin message, the new recycling bins will help ensure recycling rates continue to rise and there is a reduction in litter.

The scheme was launched on 13 June by Mr Jon Black, Director-General of the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection and is a joint venture between the APC, CFS Retail Property Trust Group (CFX) and the Packaging Stewardship Forum of the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC).

Away From Home Recycling Made Easy for Shoppers NationwideNew installations and upgrades to existing away from home recycling systems have now been completed across 29 Regional, Urban and Mixed Use Retail Shopping Centres across Australia.

APC CEO Stan Moore, Chair of WA Waste Authority Marcus Geisler and Centre Manager of Midlands Shopping Centre Jacqueline McKenzie at Perth Colonial Launch.

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APC Annual Report 2013-14

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