12 Kiwi companies get tough on plastic packaging
WELLINGTON: Twelve New Zealand and international companies, which include the CocaCola Company, Unilever and L’Oreal, yesterday made the commitment to change their packaging as part of World Environment Day.
New Zealandbased businesses that signed the New Zealand plastic packaging declaration are Foodstuffs, Countdown, New Zealand Post and Frucor Suntory.
Countdown also announced it would phase out plastic straws this year.
‘‘We know we have a lot more to do, but today as part of delivering on our commitment to do better, we are also announcing our intention to stop selling singleuse plastic straws in all our stores and online from 1 October this year,’’ said Kiri Hannifin, Countdown’s general manager of corporate affairs.
‘‘It’s estimated about 500 million straws are used in the US each day.
‘‘While we don’t have figures for their use here, we know plastic straws are almost impossible to recycle because of their size and lightness.
‘‘They also hold no value postuse so are not attractive to companies purchasing and reusing used plastic,’’ she said.
‘‘Seeing images of turtles with straws coming out of their nostrils is confronting and although straws account for a small part of marine pollution, they cause significant harm and are mostly unnecessary for beverage consumption.’’
Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage said the commitment was a significant step towards helping end plastic pollution.
‘‘These companies have drawn a line in the sand, pledging to do their bit to stem the tide of plastic waste and plastic pollution,’’ Ms Sage said.
‘‘Signing the declaration is a significant and important step towards reducing the amount of plastic that we produce and helping end plastic pollution.
‘‘I hope more businesses, regardless of size, join the declaration and start working to reduce their waste.’’
Paul Evans, chief executive of Auckland waste management NGO WasteMINZ, said having the big corporations onboard was a good start but more action was needed.
‘‘Certainly through this commitment you’ve got the major producers in the room, so that’s fantastic that they’re on board, but as I say, we need to move on from this — it can’t be the only thing that we do,’’ he said.
It is estimated CocaCola produces 110 billion singleuse plastic bottles each year.
CocaCola sustainability manager for the South Pacific, Sarah Prestwood, said the sevenyear timeframe put in place for shifting to recyclable packaging was due to it being a complex task.
‘‘You need to set yourself achievable timelines but you also need to make sure there is meaningful progress.’’
Ms Sage also announced $2.7 million in funding for Kiwi charity Sustainable Coastlines to develop an education programme and a national litter database.
She said scientists estimated there were more than 150 million tonnes of plastic in the ocean and if nothing changed, there would be more plastic than fish by 2050.
‘‘Sustainable Coastlines is already playing a critical role in mobilising New Zealanders to look after our beaches and rivers. Now they can do important work to test the effectiveness of different litter interventions, including educational approaches so we can work out how to best change litter behaviour.’’ — RNZ