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Viscount Plastics Wins New Zealand Packaging Council's Supreme Award
September 2005
From a field of more than 60 entries, Viscount Plastics New Zealand has walked away with the Packaging Council Supreme Award in the 2005 Environmentally Acceptable Packaging Awards.
The Supreme Award was for the company's integrated packaging system incorporating its RECRATE 47 Deep Nest produce crate, RECRATE 23 Deep Nest poultry crate and 4 litre Ezy Pak catering container.
Founded in Christchurch in the 1950's, Mt Wellington-based Viscount Plastics is today an acknowledged packaging solutions leader and the country's largest manufacturers of injection moulded crates, pails and containers.
Awards judges said the Supreme Award recognised the commitment to an overall environmental gain, not just the packaging, with the added bonus of a cost and fuel saving to the customer.
Innovation based on the environmental benefits and supply chain cost savings of reusable packaging is not new to Viscount Plastics. In the mid 1990's the company developed and launched a range of reusable plastic produce crates under the brand RECRATE. With a service life measured in years and contents protection features to help achieve high produce presentation standards demanded by retail markets, RECRATE spelled the end of the wooden fruit box, served notice to one-way cardboard and is today considered the industry standard.
Viscount Plastics General Manager David Scobie describes the RECRATE 47 Deep Nest produce crate and RECRATE 23 Deep Nest poultry crate as next generation Recrate crates. These, along with the 4 litre Ezy-Pak catering container, have demonstrable integration through optimising pallet load capacity and efficiency which with oil prices reaching record highs has become a crucial environmental and cost benefit.
"The RECRATE 47 Deep Nest crate greatly improves vehicle utilisation, giving a 95% increase in load capacity. What was two truck loads is now down to one for the grower hiring the new crate. This means crate hire and transport companies are more able to hold costs against oil price rises."
David Scobie adds that compared with the standard RECRATE 47, the Deep Nest requires 4% less material and 27% less energy in its manufacture.
Talking about the RECRATE 23 Deep Nest crate David Scobie says that their customer calculates it will save them 220 trucking movements over a year.
"This equates to a significant reduction in fuel usage, harmful hydrocarbon exhaust emissions and less wear and tear of road surfaces. The RECRATE 23 Deep Nest crate also removes 9 litres of fresh air per crate from the supply chain through containing the same 16 kg of product as the dimensionally larger 32 litre crate previously used by our customer."
David Scobie describes Viscount Plastics and its management team as staunch supporters of the 2004 Packaging Accord and suggests that long before oil prices became a daily news item, awareness of the economic and environmental benefits of reusable packaging had been building steadily among responsible businesses.
"Remember, too, at the end of their service life, plastic produce crates are recycled as raw material for further plastics production, another big tick for sustainability."
The award winning 4 litre Ezy Pak catering container is seen by David Scobie as yet another feather in the cap of the company's in-house solutions development team headed by Ross Crook. He says it also illustrates the spirit of collaboration that Viscount Plastics strives to develop with all its customers.
"The rectangular shape contributes to the Ezy Pak achieving 99% pallet 'footprint' efficiency. Customer feedback confirms our calculations of 28% better pallet efficiency compared with their previous container. Furthermore, our customer tells us they are consuming a quarter less diesel for road transport distribution, a saving that looks better with every hike in the cost of a barrel."
The Ezy Pak also has a feature that makes it unique in the market - the tamper-evident 'Liftab', which was developed and patented by Viscount Plastics New Zealand. The 'Liftab' opening system does not require a tear off, throw-away item that could contaminate food and add to the waste stream.
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