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Publications
Department of the Environment and Heritage
This checklist suggests environmental criteria for use by Australian Government departments and agencies when purchasing packaging materials. These environmental criteria would generally be considered together with price, quality and other purchasing criteria in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance. The checklist covers packaging for products developed by the Australian Government as well as packaging on products purchased by the Australian Government. It also provides tips for purchasers and links to further information. Purchasers may choose to amend the criteria and specifications to meet their own requirements.
All products or services have some impact on the environment, which may occur at any or all stages of the product's life cycle - raw material acquisition, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal. This checklist focuses on the environmental impacts that may be relevant to purchasers of packaging.
The manufacture and disposal of packaging affects the environment through the extraction of virgin resources, emissions associated with energy used in manufacturing, disposal to landfill and litter. These environmental impacts can be reduced by good packaging design.
The Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance state that the core principle governing Australian Government procurement is value for money, a concept evaluated on a whole of life basis for the goods or services being procured. Officials buying goods and services need to be satisfied that the best possible outcome has been achieved taking into account all relevant costs and benefits over the whole of the procurement cycle.
According to the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance, "officials should be aware of any relevant environmental legislation and targets set by the Commonwealth, and ensure they take into account matters affecting the environment … when formulating requirements. They should include relevant environmental criteria in specifications and requests for tender."
As a signatory to the National Packaging Covenant, the Australian Government has agreed to facilitate implementation of purchasing policies for recycled goods.
The Commonwealth, State and Territory governments endorsed the National Government Waste Reduction and Purchasing Guidelines at the November 1996 meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC). Members agreed to a range of actions, including establishing purchasing policies to reduce waste.
| Give consideration to packaging products … | Comments |
|---|---|
| … that reduce overall waste and use fewer resources. | Assess the packaging using the 'waste hierarchy' (reduce, reuse, recycle), bearing in mind the need for the packaging to do an effective job in protecting and containing its contents,
|
| … containing appropriate disposal advice. | Look for:
|
| … that are less likely to result in litter. | Loose-fill foam packing, for example, should be avoided if possible. |
| … from companies that are signatories to the National Packaging Covenant. | See the National Packaging Covenant website. |
| ... from companies that document additional environmental benefits of their products or superior environmental performance of their companies. | Documentation for products could include external verification of claims, e.g. certification of the product through a reputable environmental labelling program. (Imported products may be certified under an overseas program.) Documentation for companies could include environmental management systems certified to ISO 14001, public environmental reporting, Design for Environment (DfE) policies etc. |
ACT No Waste now advises that any rigid plastic container, codes 1 through 7, can be recycled in the ACT. Plastic film and bags are the only exclusions. Some bags can be returned to supermarkets for recycling. For more details, see our Plastics Fact Sheet at http://www.deh.gov.au/settlementspublications/government/purchasing/plastics.html
Some environmental comparisons between packaging types have been carried out using a tool known as environmental life cycle assessment (e.g. paper vs. plastic, carton vs. bottle). The results of these are often highly dependent on the particular circumstances and assumptions of the study. Only base your purchasing on these results if you are sure the assessment findings are directly applicable to your proposed purchase.
Consider using bulk purchasing to reduce the volumes of packaging materials you bring in and then need to dispose of. For example, bulk purchasing of cleaning chemicals can have cost, OH&S risk and waste volume benefits. Cluster packaging of computers can also save on waste and costs.
The Department of the Environment and Heritage returns all toners for recycling. Toners are sent back in the original packaging, therefore reducing the amount of waste for EA, and providing an opportunity for manufacturers to reuse the packaging.
After an extensive waste audit was conducted at an Australian Rules football match, the Sydney Cricket Ground determined that approximately 5% of the waste generated was food packaging. The remaining waste was observed to be food waste, cardboard and glass leakage into the waste stream. Additional cardboard and recycling facilities were introduced. The Trust is presently investigating the use of biodegradable packaging and awaiting the results of a composting study at the University of New South Wales to address food waste.
Further success stories can be found at the Greening of Government website.
The Greening of Government website provides the policy framework for Greening of Government, as well as a range of Green Procurement Tools and other useful information. http://www.deh.gov.au/settlements/government/purchasing/index.html
National Packaging Covenant - explains the purpose of the covenant and provides tools and support information to help participants achieve the Covenant's aims. A list of participants is also provided. http://www.deh.gov.au/settlements/waste/covenant/index.html
Packaging Council of Australia - The PCA is a national association of raw material suppliers, packaging manufacturers, packaging users, retailers and packaging designers/consultants. Their website provides a range of packaging-related information. http://www.packcoun.com.au/
Buy Recycled Business Alliance (national) - Website of an organisation promoting recycling in the business sector, containing a variety of support and advocacy tools including a 'Buying Recycled for Business Tool Box' http://www.brba.com.au.
Design for Environment - Reducing environmental impacts through better design (such as using less toxic components, or making the product easier to disassemble and recycle or reuse) is referred to as Design for Environment or DfE. Many manufacturers, suppliers and industry associations may be able to provide information on their DfE activities. The Department of the Environment and Heritage has an introduction to DfE in business available at http://www.deh.gov.au/settlements/industry/finance/publications/producer.html
Purchasers should request information from potential suppliers at the time of requesting a quotation. This Environmental specification is intended to provide assistance in obtaining environmental data from suppliers. The information that would be requested from suppliers is shown in the Information required column. Items in this specification are based on the criteria in the Environmental Purchasing Checklist for packaging.
| Consideration will be given to packaging products … | Information required from companies | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| … that reduce overall waste and use fewer resources. | List the types of packaging used in delivering your product, including bulk delivery packaging. Specify:
|
55-65% |
| … containing appropriate disposal advice. | Describe any disposal advice provided on your product packaging, including the size, location and colour of the advice. | 5-15% |
| … that are less likely to result in litter. | Specify whether your packaging includes any loose fill material. | 5-15% |
| … from companies that are signatories to the National Packaging Covenant. | Specify whether your company is a signatory to the National Packaging Covenant. See http://www.deh.gov.au/settlements/waste/covenant/signatories.html. | 5-15% |
| ... that document additional environmental benefits of their products or superior environmental performance of their companies. | Provide appropriate documentation to support any environmental claims made. | 5-15% |
The checklist is available as a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view the PDF file.
If you are unable to access the checklist, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.