Getting compostable fruit labels ready for NZ phase-out

As New Zealand plans to phase out non-compostable plastic labels by mid-2023, a Kiwi company is working on the development of a home-compostable fruit label.

Jenkins Freshpac Systems has been awarded a gold medal in development and creativity for its industrial compostable label. Now the firm has its eyes firmly set on testing and refining a home-compostable fruit label.

Jamie Lunam, General Manager of Jenkins Freshpac Systems, said the company had been working on the home-compostable fruit label for quite some time.

“Home compostable is a term that means the label on your produce can simply be added to your garden compost to break down without a trace, rather than requiring a more intensive, industrial-scale composting system which is unavailable in many areas of the country,” said Lunam.

NZ Environment Minister David Parker recently announced that single-use, non-compostable plastic labels will be phased out by mid-2023.

While Lunam said his company is supportive of the action to reduce plastic, the company along with its international partner, Sinclair International, have asked that the government consider removing fruit labels from the list of single-use plastics to phase out.

“Our team and the growers and marketers we work with are passionate about providing sustainable, innovative packaging that minimises waste. Together, we have already worked on projects that have seen around 40,000 kilograms of plastic diverted from landfills,” Lunam said.

“We’ve been working on sustainable packaging and labelling for over a decade without a mandate from government, [and] we’re at a stage where no additional resource, funding or duress will speed up the process. The work is well underway, we just need a little more time than we’ve been given by the Minister to complete our development process.”

While the team is in the final stages of testing for a label that meets this standard, it’s not effective on all fruit.

“We’re going to need every bit of time we can get and are concerned the Minister’s goal of being ready by 2023 is too tight for us to have a solution for all produce,” said Lunam.

Lunam believes the inclusion of fruit labels in the list of unnecessary plastics belies the value of the product.

“Fruit labels play an important role in both the traceability of the produce and the protection of our local $6 billion horticulture industry. The information contained on that micro-thin sticker enables consumers all over the world to identify their highly sought-after New Zealand-grown produce.

“If that critical information isn’t on the tiny fruit label, it needs to be on larger, less sustainable packaging, so getting the labels right is really important to reducing waste. Fruit labels actually help to de-package produce,” he said.

Top image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/markobe