In June 2021, our Compostable Packaging Technical Advisory Group (CTAG) undertook a “Use Case” consultation with stakeholders connected to compostable packaging.

The aim of the use-case was to gain consensus on which material and application combinations should or should not be allowed into a product stewardship scheme for compostable packaging.

These were tied to five overarching key principles:

1. Compostable packaging (or products) should have the purpose (primarily or secondarily) to collect and deliver nutrients of value to composters, or
2. Packaging or products which are common contaminants of the compost system (fruit stickers/tape, plant pots) should all be made compostable, and/or
3. Packaging or products which commonly contaminate recycling streams with food waste or nutrient residue should all be made compostable, and
4. Compostable packaging or products (or the residues they contain) must not cause harm to compost, and must be certified to an agreed standard/s and agree to abide by relevant regulation, and
5. Compostable packaging or products should bring better environmental benefits over alternative materials

60 submissions were received. They showed strong support for the five key principles with work suggested to refine the principles.

The consultation suggested a range of application and material-type combinations, with submitters suggesting further definition of the principles taking precedence over specifying application/material combinations.

We also asked stakeholders about their support for such an agreed use-case and the prescribed application/material type combinations. Support for the use-case concept was high, as well as strong support for ingredients labelling to a managing entity.

Support for items being allowed in the system if they did not meet the use-case criteria but had a potential second-life as a caddy liner, was not as highly supported.

Next Steps

The CTAG will now progress working to define further the key principles, as an alternative to prescribing application/material type combinations.

This will form part of the “Roadmap to product stewardship for compostable packaging” document, currently under construction.

Further information:

Read the background to the use case consultation

View the webinar (members only, create an account if you haven’t already)

The AGM included updates from the Forum’s two product stewardship schemes, the Glass Packaging Forum (GPF) and Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme (SPRS) as well as electing their steering committees.

Continuity was the order of the day with the GPF only seeing two changes as outgoing Chair Karen Titulaer (Villa Maria) stepped down and Heath Bowman (Pic’s Peanut Butter) joined for the first time.

The rest of the 2020-2021 committee members are reprising their positions

• Monique Sprosen (Pernod Ricard) – elected as the new Chair.
• Don Chittock (Fulton Hogan)
• Sara Tucker (Lion)
• Penny Garland (Visy Recycling)
• Yuri Schokking (Smart Environmental)
• Jo Jalfon (Asahi Beverages NZ)
• Nick Keene (Hospitality NZ)

The SPRS steering committee retains the steady hand of Malcolm Everts (Cottonsoft) as Chair while Steffan Pedersen (Caspak), Keri-Anne Martin (Nestle) and Michael Anderson (Goodman Fielder) reprised their roles.

They are joined by new faces:

• Auriel Bakker (Westpac, previously represented by Josh Devoe)
• Debra Goulding (Foodstuffs NZ)
• Kristina Misevska (PepsiCo)
• Mark Mills (Jenkins Fresh Produce)
• Millie Porter (Countdown, previously represented by Charlotte Haycock)
• Robert Lethbridge (Griffins)

A big thank you to our outgoing steering committee members and to the new members, all of whom serve on a volunteer basis.