Sustainable packaging business Pact Group has committed to a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in Australia and New Zealand by 2030.
The target is part of the company’s broader drive for a more sustainable future, which includes increasing its use of recycled plastics and expanding its plastic recycling facilities.
Pact’s emissions reductions target relates to greenhouse gasses emitted both directly and indirectly produced by the company.
‘Scope 1’ emissions cover those from sources that Pact either owns or controls such as gases generated at its facilities from furnaces, boilers, heavy machinery and forklifts.
‘Scope 2’ relates to emissions produced indirectly from purchasing electricity from the grid to power Pact’s facilities.
Sanjay Dayal, Pact Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, said the 50 per cent reduction target aligned the company with expectations of suppliers, customers and society.
“Our business activities have a direct impact on the environment and as a leader of the circular economy, it is our responsibility to ensure we contribute positively to the global action on climate change,” he said.
“Our vision is to lead the circular economy with a focus on investing in new plastic recycling facilities to divert waste from landfill and to upgrade our manufacturing plants to increase the amount of recycled material in our packaging and industrial products.
Pact operates five plastic recycling facilities in Australia, including a recently opened PET (polyethylene terephthalate) recycling plant in Albury-Wodonga with the capacity to process up to 1 billion 600-millilitre beverage bottles per year.
A similar PET recycling facility is under construction in Melbourne, where a mixed plastics recycling plant is also being built.
Pact is also investing $76 million to install new technology and equipment at its packaging manufacturing facilities around the country to increase the use of recycled materials in products such as milk bottles and food packaging.
The company recently announced a strategic partnership with Woolworths Group for the manufacture and supply of recycled packaging for the supermarket giant’s own brand range, including milk bottles, meat trays, fruit and vegetable punnets, and beverage bottles.
According to Pact, it is estimated that using recycled rather than virgin resin for Woolworths’ packaging will decrease annual carbon emissions by almost 25,000 tonnes and save around 1.2 million kilolitres of water per year.
For more information, visit: www.pactgroup.com
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