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The future of packaging, is it compostable?
Monday 04 March
Compostable packaging and
products are hitting the shelves in ever-increasing numbers
– but are they the panacea to New Zealand’s waste woes?
Commercial composting facility operators in New Zealand
think not.
Only eight commercial composting facilities currently accept compostable packaging, and this is unlikely to increase unless manufacturers and government provide a financial incentive to offset the inconvenience, extra infrastructure and resources required to accept and process these products = products that provide little to no nutrient value to compost.
“There are some
products that should be compostable,” says Chris Purchas
Chair of WasteMINZ Organic Materials Sector Group. “For
example, small hard to remove food-related items that
contaminate compost such as fruit stickers, tea and coffee
bags, asparagus ties, and banana tape should be
compostable”.
However, we are seeing more and more
non-food related products with compostable packaging and
that is problematic. We believe that packaging for
janitorial products, cleaners, shampoos or items such as
nappies and sanitary products should not be made out of
compostable materials because they devalue compost through
potential contamination and that can impact on organic
certification for compost products that is an important part
of the market for quality compost.
“As
composters, we want to produce and sell a high-quality
product because that is what our end markets demand.
Agriculturalists and horticulturalists want the very best
compost, which is free from contamination” says Mike Lord
who oversees EnviroNZ’s Hampton Downs composting facility
in the Waikato.
Composting facilities may also be unable
to accept compostable packaging because of their resource
consent conditions or the requirements to obtain organic
certification for their compost. It is also increasingly
difficult to tell at a glance the difference between
compostable and non-compostable products and packaging
making removing contamination a costly and time-consuming
process.
Of the facilities that do accept compostable packaging, many have different acceptance criteria. Most take fibre-based packaging, such as that made from paper, bagasse (sugar cane pulp) and wood because those materials break down quickly in a variety of composting environments, but compostable plastics are a lot more challenging to process.
Composting experts stress that when it comes to packaging and service ware (plates knives and forks), businesses and consumers should follow the hierarchy of:
1. Prevention - eliminate
any unnecessary packaging in the design process
2.
Reuse - where possible make packaging reusable, resealable,
refillable
3. Recycle – where possible make
products recyclable using plastics with strong and economic
end markets
4. Compost
For those considering switching to compostable packaging, composting experts say it is vital that:
1. packaging
meets an international standard for commercial
compostability
2. packaging is acceptable to the
receiving composting facility
3. collection
infrastructure exists to collect this packaging, and
4.
compostable packaging is sorted and any contaminants are
removed before transporting it to the composting facility.
New Zealand composters have released a position statement outlining their views on compostable packaging in more detail. The position statement can be viewed here:
A list of the composting facilities in New Zealand which can accept compostable packaging and what they can accept can be viewed here.
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