The partnership will advance the uptake of the Australasian Recycling Label that will support brand owners to design packaging that is recyclable at end-of-life
FGC collaborates with APCO to increase recycling of packaging in New Zealand. (Credit: Stefan Schweihofer from Pixabay)
The New Zealand Food & Grocery Council (FGC) has collaborated with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) to increase the recycling of packaging in New Zealand.
The partnership will advance the uptake of the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL).
The ARL is an on-pack labelling programme that promotes brand owners in creating packaging that is recyclable at the end of its useful life while also assisting customers in recycling properly.
It was developed by the Packaging Recyclability Evaluation Portal (PREP) Design and Planet Ark in collaboration with APCO.
FGC chief executive Katherine Rich said: “69% of New Zealanders say they check the label on packaging before recycling, so the instructions need to be clear and most importantly reflect the collection and recycling system here in New Zealand.
“More than 95% of scannable barcodes on packaging are common across both New Zealand and Australia, so our members need one labelling system.
“We are excited to continue this great work by championing the adoption of the ARL not just by the food and grocery sector but for all packaging.”
FGC and APCO will jointly create a roadmap to increase the awareness of the ARL in New Zealand for the benefit of consumers, brand owners, package suppliers, recycler, and the environment.
Both organisations will try to boost the number of food and grocery firm using the ARL on consumer packaging.
They will also ensure that the ARL is fit for purpose by using software managed by PREP Design that is reflective of the market.
The roadmap will also support the alignment of all value chain players.
FGC started promoting the adoption of the ARL in New Zealand following a Ministry for the Environment report that identified the ARL as the best recycling labelling strategy in 2021.
It was based on its evidence-based system that assures packaging with the ARL label can be effectively recovered.
The UN Environment Program and Consumers International recognised the ARL as one of the world’s top labelling systems for its simplicity, accessibility, and dependability.