Packaging will continue to be seen by some as a glaring example of consumerism and the cries to ‘do something about packaging’ will only get louder.

So says Ed Cordner, CEO of the NPC since 2003.

“The Covenant started its life as a packaging industry initiative designed to be a more effective way for regulators to engage with companies in the supply chain and achieve improved environmental outcomes,” Cordner says.

“It has provided the industry with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that it can manage its own affairs and meet environmental expectations."
 
"Unfortunately, this opportunity has to some extent been wasted to date and the performance and relevance of the Covenant is again under review."

"A major opportunity from this latest review is for industry to wrest back the initiative and for the Covenant to adapt to the changing demand for more sustainable outcomes.”

Ed Cordner’s packaging career began as a Graduate Trainee with can makers J Gadsden, and he stayed within the paper and glass sector of the industry from then on.
 
“I'm sure having a science background helped when my roles changed to include sales and marketing and manufacturing” he says.

“Now I find myself having spent more than 20 years in and around the packaging industry across virtually all the standard material types.”

Cordner says one of his proudest industry achievements occurred during 6 years in Indonesia with ACI Glass, which spanned good economic times, the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the end of the Soeharto regime in 1998.

“These latter events placed significant stress on the whole population and particularly on the ACI manufacturing plant as local demand completely dried up,” Cordner recalls.

“We were forced to chase down any export opportunities - as were many other regional producers - to keep the furnaces and machines operating."

"Knowing that the livelihoods of the employees and their extended families depended on the decisions we were making just added more pressure to the situation."
 
"Fortunately, many of the decisions we made must have been the right ones and we were able to successfully survive through those troubling, but very interesting, times and the plant is still producing quality glass packaging today.”

Cordner says the most challenging aspect of his current role with the NPC is dealing with the expectations of stakeholders.
 
“Both the stakeholders and their expectations are many and diverse,” he explains.
 
“The Covenant appears to polarise people. Everyone has an opinion and it is either black or white - there is no grey when it comes to the Covenant!"

"Ever since I commenced as the NPC Executive Officer, we seem to be in a constant state of review and evaluation."
 
"We are currently going through it all over again with a mid-term review.”

In terms of the viability of Australia’s packaging industry, Cordner says it’s important to keep the relative size of the local market for both packaging and products in context.

“Our market  is very small with an increasing volume of imported packaged finished goods” he says.

“We cannot ignore the impact that the price of oil is likely to have on polymer production both here and overseas and how this might relate to a growing interest in possible alternatives such as biopolymers.” 

Despite this, Cordner maintains that Packaging materials and formats will further evolve as new challenges and requirements are placed before manufacturers.

“We will continue to see the ongoing development of new technologies to meet these demands,” he says.

“Vastly improved barrier properties, more hygienic and transport efficient packaging designs resulting in longer shelf lives and significantly reduced product wastage are some improvements on the horizon,” he says.

“It's not only technology that will shape the future of packaging, but also a heightened awareness in the community concerning environmental issues such as climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, water shortages and resource depletion.”

“ Degradable packaging materials are fast becoming an important option for consideration as consumers perceive them to be better for the environment."

"But more research is needed to ensure the information upon which decisions may be based is the best possible available and takes into account all aspects of their life cycle.”

With another round of evaluation currently upon the Covenant, Ed Cordner argues it’s important that a solid period of regulatory stability and certainty be achieved for both the packaging industry and governments.
 
“This should provide encouragement for increased effort and commitment from both sectors towards achieving any performance targets and goals that may be established, in the knowledge that the goalposts are fixed for a longer term,” he says.

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