Waste
Waste from our operations
Waste produced by Amcor plants goes to a variety of destinations. Where possible, it is recycled either internally or by external parties. In other cases, it is sent to landfill or incineration, depending on local waste disposal services or approved hazardous waste treatment facilities.
What have we achieved?
We have achieved a 39% reduction in waste to landfill per unit of production, compared to the FY 2005/06 baseline year, meeting our reduction target of 30% by FY 2010/11 with two years to spare. In FY 2008/09 alone, we reduced waste to landfill by 4.4 kilotonnes, representing a 26% reduction in waste tonnes per unit of production. This result was significantly influenced by a large percentage reduction within our PET Business, as described in the Smash Trash case study on page 25. Several business groups have adopted a Lean Manufacturing philosophy to eliminate waste from their processes, focussing on both materials and time wasted.
Our global waste to landfill figures are dominated by the Australasian Paper & Board Business Unit, accounting for 82% of Amcor’s total waste to landfill. This is largely due to contaminants in the waste paper feedstock received from municipal recycling centres.
Waste associated with our products
We aim to influence how our packaging products are disposed of at the end of their life. We do this by choosing recyclable or compostable materials where suitable, and adding appropriate messages and logos on our packaging products. What have we achieved? A large percentage of Amcor’s products are recyclable and are supported by local recycling facilities in many parts of the world. However, local infrastructure does vary, which makes it difficult to quantify actual global recycling rates for different materials, especially as some packaged products are exported. End of life scenarios are an important consideration for packaging. For example, the Flexibles Business Group is introducing more single material products to increase recyclability and is expanding their range of compostable products.
| Material | Main Products | Regions | Recycled Content | Recyclable? |
| Fibre | Corrugaged boxes | Australasia, North America | 0-100% | yes |
| Cartons | Australasia | 1-100% | yes | |
| Sacks | Australia | 0% | yes | |
| PET | Bottles | North America, Latin America | 0-100% | yes |
| Monolayer films | Europe | 0% | yes | |
| PE | Monolayer films | Australasia | 0% | yes |
| Closures | Australia | 0% | no | |
| Compostable polymers | Monolayer films | Europe | 0% | compostable |
| Glass | Bottles | Australia | 33% | yes |
| Aluminimum | Beverage cans | Australasia | 66% | yes |
| Closures | Australia | 0% | yes | |
| Composite of materials | Multilayer films | Australasia, Europe, Americas | 0% | no |
| Steel | Closures | Australia | 15% | yes |
Smash Trash
Amcor PET’s Smash Trash waste reduction program in North America has seen average waste to landfill reduced by 64% compared to FY 2005/06, already smashing the EnviroAction FY 2010/11 target of 30% with two years to spare! Initiatives include identifying recycling opportunities, promoting reusable alternatives, composting food scraps and sharing best practice amongst the Amcor Group.
Our award winning compostable packaging
Sainsbury’s SO Organic Wild Rocket salad packed in NaturePlus compostable film won the 2008 Bioplastics Award for ‘Best Bioplastics Application – Packaging’. Amcor is currently developing enhanced renewable and compostable packaging solutions for applications that make high demands on barrier structures, such as coffee.
Working together for recycling
As a result of a recent cooperation with Amcor Flexibles, UK retailer Sainsbury’s decided to convert its fresh produce bags from the currently non-recyclable polypropylene to recyclable polyethylene. The new polyethylene packs can be returned to the Sainsbury’s stores, where they will be collected for recycling.