In its statement announcing CHEP Australia the winner in the category Small to Medium Packaging Manufacturer, APC Awards, APC stated: “Chep pallets are well embedded in the supply chain of many commercial processes…” This makes CHEP's win all the more significant.
CHEP has a proactive attitude to sustainability issues and its policies are integrated into the business, with the APC Sustainable Packaging Guidelines adapted and applied in its Stage Gate process.
Is that always easy? Not yet.
“Throughout my career in the field of sustainability, one of the challenges I commonly face is how to integrate sustainability best practice into normal business operations. Striking the right balance is definitely a challenge, but I’ve found starting conversations early and being flexible contribute to successful outcomes,” Nicole Boyd, manager, sustainability programs ANZ, remarked.
“There was no single person responsible for the action plan. The ideas came from consultation with different areas of the business through workshops and one-on-one meetings. We also have a Sustainability Leadership Committee that help to implement Australian Packaging Covenant actions, and other sustainability initiatives across the business.”
CHEP was an early uptaker of sustainability considerations in general and the APC guidelines in particular.
“The action plan, which was developed a number of years ago, was initially approved by the president of CHEP Australia & New Zealand, Phillip Austin. This is key to its success because we could be sure all of the actions in the plan were supported by the business, and in line with our established sustainability and business goals,” Boyd continued.
When Boyd joined the company a year ago, it became her job to integrate Austin’s aims into CHEPs’s business as usual: “Being new to the business in 2013, understanding CHEP was the first step as it is quite a complex business. Other challenges included educating our people internally about the Australian Packaging Covenant and why we are a signatory; developing standard calculation methodologies to quantify savings and improvements; and establishing data collection methods.”
Boyd has clearly achieved these tasks. One of CHEP's major steps forward in the last twelve months has been its new version of the display and beverage tray system, that allows the store display to be created at the bottling plant. It is estimated to have removed 2.6 million cardboard boxes from the supply chain. Additionally, the smaller size of the pallets and their structure allow them to be stacked for transport. The result, more pallets per truck, provides a range of benefits in terms of waste reduction, decreased handling and lower transport emissions.
CHEP also achieved its target of 100% PEFC Chain of Custody certification last month. CHEP took on the responsibility of working with its suppliers to encourage them to achieve their own individual certification and it provided both financial and technical assistance to facilitate it.
It is now working with neighbouring industries on a five-year project to explore the use of waste timber as an input for the production of biochar, which has the potential to increase soil fertility, provide protection against disease carried in leaves and soil, and capture carbon dioxide emissions to help minimise climate change.
Nicole Boyd and Mark Loosemore
