Issue No.04 WASTE MANAGEMENT KEY POINTS: Over the last decade, waste management has been given greater attention by Australian governments. Much of that attention has, however, been piecemeal and ineffective. An effective, long-term, waste management strategy requires a co-ordinated, national approach. Other requirements include a national waste data-base, flexibility in the use of waste management options, realistic targets, increased support for product and market developments for recycled materials, greater use of litter charges and an integrated approach which treats the waste stream as a whole. Decisions about which of the various waste management options to utilise require a balanced, case-by-case, approach. There is no rigid hierarchy which will automatically produce the best environmental outcome in all cans.Source reduction, re-use, recycling, waste-to-energy combustion, composting and landfilling all have a role to play - but that role will vary according to the type of packaging.Packaging is not a major waste management problem. It comprises about 10% of the urban solid waste stream. The fact that 90% of waste is non-packaging should be reflected in the mix of public policy options. Overall, the packaging industry has a sound environmental record and strong credentials as a net waste reducer. It is in the industry's own interests to ensure that it maintains its environmental credibility. Concern exists that modern society is using natural resources at an unsustainable rate and creates more waste than can be disposed of without environmental damage. The disposal and management of that waste is now an important issue for governments throughout Australia. Packaging and the Environment Packaging has not escaped this environmental focus. Indeed, environmental issues have been a major focus of activity for the packaging industry for a number of years. During this period, packaging has been under attack as being "unnecessary" and "wasteful". Packaging is also a highly visible part of the litter stream. People notice it and feel they can do something about it. Consumer attitudes are also influencing purchasing behaviour. Products that are over-packaged or thought to be excessively packaged are not in favour. Moreover, the basic functions of packaging - to contain, preserve, protect and provide information - are often taken for granted or not widely appreciated by the general community. Nor is there an adequate understanding of the important role played by packaging in guaranteeing food quality and protection. Yet packaging is not a major contributor to Australia's environmental problems. Indeed the Australian packaging industry has strong credentials as a net waste reducer. Packaging reduces food waste. By allowing centralised food processing it permits large scale recycling of food residues. Without packaging, materials handling would be a messy, inefficient and costly exercise. By facilitating the transport and distribution of goods it reduces energy use. The industry invests heavily in educational and general community environmental programs. Nor is packaging a significant contributor to the waste problem. It comprises about 10% of the urban solid waste stream. Garden waste, industrial waste, builders' rubble, and food waste are significantly larger components of the solid waste stream. The packaging industry has a long history of environmental responsibility. Commercial recycling schemes were in operation long before the environment ever became a popular issue. The Australian packaging industry is generally on track to meet its ANZECC (Australia and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council) recycling targets. The same commitment is not, however, required of imported packaging materials. At present, Australian industry is effectively shouldering the burden of recycling the packaging material of the imported product. The packaging industry has also made, and continues to make, a major environmental contribution in the form of light weighting or source reduction. Weight reductions of 20-35% have been common for most packages over the last decade and resulted in less resource and energy use. Packaging materials affect the environment in different ways. The resources used in their manufacture vary in their availability, and the technologies used to convert these raw materials into packages will have different pollution levels. The disposal methods of packages will also affect the environment differently. An Integrated and Balanced Approach Governments are being pressed to take an active role in environmental protection. Governments alone, however, cannot solve environmental problems. Immediate and major changes in individual behaviour are needed. These take time, however, to become firmly established. In addition, global problems require collective action and cannot be solved by individual governments. Consequently, governments tend to concentrate on issues that are visible and tangible, relatively easy to address and in which consumers can participate and witness almost immediate results. This search for issues of high symbolic value has contributed to the recent focus on household waste as a major environmental problem. Because of the diversity of packaging materials there is no "best method" for the handling of all packaging waste. Accordingly, a variety of waste management schemes is required. Any long term, effective, solution to the management of waste will require an integrated and balanced approach, which selectively uses all the options available: source reduction; re-use; recycling; waste-to-energy combustion; composting; and landfilling. There is no rigid hierarchy of waste management options. It is all too easy for some of the means available for waste management to become ends in themselves. Recycling, for example, is a mechanism for achieving environmental goals - it is not a goal in itself. It is important to demonstrate that in setting up recycling schemes their implementation does in fact produce the desired environmental outcomes. Establishing unrealistic recycling targets may result in the benefits available from the other waste management options (source reduction or waste-to-energy combustion) being virtually ignored. The decision as to which waste management option is most appropriate must inevitably be based on considerations wider than just environmental issues. Economic aspects, for example, need to be taken into account. A wider application of economic instruments - user charges - would bring greater efficiency to waste management by ensuring that the generators of waste face the full costs of disposal and act to reduce those costs. THE PACKAGING COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA'S POSITION Every product has an environmental effect. Packaging is no exception. All forms of packaging affect the environment at all stages of their life cycle - from the extraction of raw materials, their conversion into packages, the transport and distribution of those packages through, finally, to their disposal after use. The environmental costs of packaging are minimal and must be measured against the wide economic and social benefits which accrue through packaging. Using the right packaging at the right time can result in substantial benefits. The use of any technology involves a trade-off of desirable versus undesirable consequences. In the interests of both consumer and the environment, that trade-off is better made using an informed and balanced approach, involving logic and the implementation of sound policy. Governments must avoid responding to emotion, incomplete data and misinformation by implementing policies and programs which aim to solve one set of problems only to create a new set. Read other Issues Papers: No.01 - "Combustion with Energy Recovery" No.02 - "Life Cycle Analysis" No.03 - "Managing Packaging Waste in Europe - Lessons for Australia" No.05 - "Litter" No.06 - "Mandatory Deposits" No.07 - "Excessive Packaging" No.08 - "Recycling" No.09 - "Australian Packaging - How Competitive?" No.10 - "The Packaging Council of Australia" No.11 - "Mandatory Minimum Recycled Content" No.12 - "Eco-Labelling" No.13 - "Packaging - Ten Trends for The Next Ten Years" No.14 - "Packaging - It's Essential Role" No.15 - "The Internet - What it Means for Australian Packaging" No.16 - "Single, Active, Post-Materialistic, and Grey?" No.17 - "Digitisation in Printing - Implications for Packaging" No.18 - "Australian Packaging: Issues and Trends"