About this report

The study found that reusable packaging exists to some extent in Waikato’s agricultural sector, albeit in a niche capacity. Scaling and extending reuse systems could help to prevent and reduce the various single-use products and supplies used on Waikato farms, most of which is currently recycled or repurposed, or else disposed of via onsite burning, burying, bulk storage, or landfilling.

Identified barriers hindering the widespread adoption of reusable packaging in agriculture included financial constraints, management and logistics challenges, the recycling-centred focus of sustainability initiatives, concerns about contamination, and lack of onshore reuse infrastructure and options.

Interviewees recognised benefits of reusable packaging for the agricultural sector including:

• reduced resource use and reliance on recycling;
• improved health and safety;
• community benefits; and
• financial and customer perception benefits.

Key opportunities for increasing the uptake of reusable packaging systems included:

• cost savings from buying in bulk;
• expanding reusable packaging to a wider range of products;
• focusing on products with fewer barriers; and
• incorporating reuse into product stewardship schemes.

The report recommends five actions to harness these opportunities:

1. Councils to facilitate collaborative efforts to implement reusable packaging initiatives for key agricultural products.
2. Sector-led support for reusable packaging.
3. Waikato Regional Council and Territorial Authorities to establish funding streams and work programmes to incentivise reuse in agriculture.
4. Waikato Regional Council to work with the GREEN-farms Product Stewardship Scheme to increase reusable packaging collections and take-back services for farms in the Waikato.
5. Develop standard reuse protocols and product design.

Disclaimer

This technical report has been prepared for the use of Waikato Regional Council as a reference document and as such does not constitute council’s policy. Council requests that if excerpts or inferences are drawn from this document for further use by individuals or organisations, due care should be taken to ensure that the appropriate context has been preserved, and is accurately reflected and referenced in any subsequent spoken or written communication. While Waikato Regional Council has exercised all reasonable skill and care in controlling the contents of this report, council accepts no liability in contract, tort or otherwise, for any loss, damage, injury or expense (whether direct, indirect or consequential) arising out of the provision of this information or its use by you or any other party.

This report contains case studies and images that feature or mention various businesses and organisations. The mention of, and inclusion of images from, a business or organisation does not indicate these businesses or organisations endorse the contents of this document. For this research project, we undertook both a desktop study and a number of interviews with various individuals representing different businesses and organisations. As our desktop study traversed a range of materials already in the public domain, not every business or reusable packaging system that is mentioned or profiled in this report was interviewed, and not every business or organisation that was interviewed is mentioned in this report.

Acknowledgements
Lead researcher and co-author: Gosia Zobel (Reuse Aotearoa)
Lead author and editor: Polly Brownlee (Reuse Aotearoa)
Co-researchers and interview facilitation: Ngakau Peke-Harris (Para Kore)
Peer Review: Zoe Burkitt (Toitū Envirocare)

We wish to thank all the interviewees and participants for taking part in this research report, and for sharing their time, insights, and expertise. We would also like to thank the Waikato Regional Council for commissioning this mahi.