Last week in Brisbane, the Council of the Australian Packaging Covenant brought together councillors from all states of Australia representing federal, state and local governments, community groups and industry representatives.  Under the Australian Packaging Covenant, the councillors work together to implement and promote the principle of product stewardship for packaging and establish policy direction, strategy and compliance procedures for the Australian Packaging Covenant.

The APCC discussed the challenges of waste management and recycling that need to be addressed, and the importance of engagement with the community in finding solutions.

Read the APC Council Communique

Annual Reports

Signatories are reminded that annual reports are due in 3 weeks, on 31 March 2014.

Links to the annual reporting template were sent to signatories on 3 February 2014 by Sandra Broadfoot.  The link you have been sent is specific to your organisation only, and there are no logins or passwords required to access the template.

We’d like to remind all reporting signatories that awards are presented for the best performing signatory in each category. To win an award, signatories must submit their reports by the due date (31 March 2014).

Please note that you will be required to complete the “Authorise” section of the report in order to submit your report as “Authorised” and completed.

Action Plans

Signatories with expired action plans are reminded to submit an updated action plan as soon as possible, so that you can begin implementing the actions in time to collect data for next year’s annual reports.  A range of action plan development resources are available on our website.

Having a current action plan in place is one of your obligations as a signatory, so if yours has expired, this must be done in order to remain compliant with the APC.

QLD 120/11 – Towards a Waste Wise Western Downs: Final report now available

Western Downs Regional Council received funding to install accessible and functional waste and recycling infrastructure and to implement a waste and recycling education program at the customer contact centre.

Over a 12 month period the project diverted from landfill approximately 0.28 tonnes of comingled recyclables and cardboard and 0.05 tonnes of paper.

The final project report is now available on the APC website

New Project: NSW 199/13 - Independent evaluation of a kerbside recycling rewards and education program for households

An independent evaluation of the 'Green Money' program in the City of Randwick, with the key outcomes being to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program and recommendations on improvements to assist with future scaling and rollout.

To find out more about Green Money and other APC Projects, please visit the APC Projects Database.

Twenty-three APC signatory organisations signed up to participate in Business Clean Up Day 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.

We’d like to extend our congratulations to the winners of this year’s BCUD awards in the following categories:

• Most full bags per participant: Sanitarium, with 1.7 bags per person;
• Most participants on site: Baiada, with an impressive 198 participants; and
• Strangest item collected: CSR Limited, with an ironing board.

We will be sending the winners an invitation to our annual awards nights later this year.

We’d also to like to recognise the particular efforts of Kyocera, who came a close second to Sanitarium with 1.3 bags per person; and of Brokenwood Wines, who went from having two participants in 2013 to a quarter of their workforce in 2014!

An article recognising all Business Clean Up Day participants will be on our website soon, with more photos of the day.

The APC is currently finalising a range of online resources to assist signatories specify and manage recycled content purchasing.  These resources will be made available from April.

As part of this project ECO-Buy are updating their ECO-Find website and seeking to significantly increase the number of recycled content products listed. This website can then be utilised by signatories and the broader community to identify recycled content product suppliers.

If your organisation produces or distributes products made from recycled materials please contact Stephen Reardon at ECO-Buy to ensure that they are being included on the ECO-Find website.

As signatories to the APC, organisations are encouraged to plan and report on their involvement in other (non-packaging) sustainability activities under KPI 7.

A commitment to recycling and product stewardship should go well beyond packaging. Other products that can be recovered from the workplace and community to support sustainability objectives include small handheld batteries (for example common AA and AAA batteries, batteries from power tools or emergency lighting), back-up power batteries, automotive and forklift batteries.

The Australian Battery Recycling Initiative (ABRI) is a not-for-profit association that was established to support increased recycling of batteries through education, research, and the development of practical stewardship solutions. Recycling diverts used batteries from landfill, reduces hazardous waste disposal and increases the recovery of non-renewable resources.

Signatories can support battery stewardship by:

• Joining ABRI as an Affiliate Member for a small annual fee
• Collecting used handheld batteries from offices and workshops for recycling
• Ensuring that lead acid battery recycling is undertaken responsibly
• Encouraging employees to recycle batteries at home.

For more information contact Helen Lewis on secretariat@batteryrecycling.org.au or (0419) 010 158.

The Australian Packaging Covenant is a proud sponsor of the inaugural KNSWB Congress: Less Litter, Live Better - the first Congress in NSW dedicated solely to litter reduction and prevention.

Innovative thought leaders, industry experts and community leaders will converge at Rydges World Square, Sydney, on March 20-22 to discuss how to reduce litter and inspire behaviour change over a two-day series of keynote presentations, case studies and interactive panel discussions.

KNSWB is the leading organisation in litter prevention and reduction in NSW. We are proud to join with them in inviting you to be a part of this pioneering event.

Download the program brochure for a full list of speaking events and presenting guests. To register, fill in the form in the brochure or use the online registration form.

Visit the website: KNSWB Congress: Less Litter, Live Better

IAPRI is the global peak body for packaging research, and is responsible for fostering the exchange of research initiatives by more than 1,000 experts from 80 packaging research institutes. IAPRI conferences attract approximately 200 delegates, with over 100 scientific papers presented.

The IAPRI 2014 World Conference on Packaging will be held at the Flinders Street Campus of Victoria University (VU) from 15-18 June 2014.

Find out more on the VU website.

The Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia is currently running 30 free workshops on energy efficiency for SMEs across Australia. These workshops focus primarily on energy savings in warehouses and on the road, and should be appropriate for organisations who have either their own warehouses or transportation. The workshops are being run in a range of location across Australia and are free for organisations with 1-199 employees. The SCLAA is also running online webinars for those unable to attend workshops in person.

You can learn more about the workshops or enrol at the SCLAA website.

Join others from the food manufacturing sector and listen to specialist speakers discuss food industry resource efficiency at this free event on Thursday 27 March. The Beyond Waste Food Project (which commenced in 2012) is now coming to a conclusion with the launch of an industry resource efficiency calculation tool which will deliver benefits directly to the food industry.

Featuring speakers from Sustainability Victoria’s Smarter Resource Smarter Business Program, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), and more, this specially designed event will also introduce a Beta version of the industry resource efficiency calculation tool that calculates the “true cost of waste” and presents efficiency ratio metrics. You will also have the opportunity to visit industry service providers showcasing products and services to support industry in waste reduction, energy saving and production efficiencies.

This event is brought to you by Sustainability Victoria, RMIT University’s Centre for Design and the Plenty Food Group, and will be held in South Morang, Victoria.

More details at http://www.plentyfoodgroup.com.au/beyondWaste/Event_food_Inv.asp.

Please RSVP to contact@plentyfoodgroup.com.au or call 03 9217 2148.