, ___ NATIONAL L!BRARY

OF JA MAICA

1\ECOtv!il:SND.ATIO:.:; FOR THE PACK;.GING INDUSTRY

In 1976 packaging materials i mported into the island amounted

to approxi mately J$45 million. These materials included paper and paper

product s , plastics, glass , wood , base meta l s , cork , textil es , yRrn, fab r ics,

non-fe rrous metals and steel . It is against this background that th8 ·

Nat iona l Steering Committee was establi shed on the 2nd June, 1977 by the

Hon . Vivian Blake , th en Minister of Market ing and Commerce to conduct this

special investigation-into Packaging Industry. This magnitud e of i mports ,

''Jhen considered in conju11ct ion with the serious problems of -

the high cost of imported materials

th e ir unavailability at times when mos t needed

over- packaging in some instances and.gross under-packaging in others

the incompatibi li ty of product and package wh ich affected

she lf life

the restrictions which had to b e p l aced on i mports

the small size of the local market a nd the l ack of

indigenou s r aw mater i a ls;

tiictated the n eed for urgent investigation int o and reco mme ndations on tho

poss ibili ties of r ecycl ing packaging materials , elimination of waste,

deve lopment of indigenous materials and the es tablishment of a Nat ional

?ackaging Policy .

Sub- Committee cons i sting of bot h governm ent and private

sec tor personn e l r epor t ed to the National Steer ing Co mmitt ee which delih ~ rqtcd

on th e ir findin g s and r~rced th~t the follovi~g r c com~cndation s coul J ,,

the m.iui r,um :l 'JC: cf foreign e xchange anJ. wi thou t '·' ·:"'. ,·:, .

_;er ious di.s lo ·-.: ttU.m:. :.:-' r;ro c~<.lc d ve opcrnciollSo

:~:-c i.:; px Ol'osecl to s-'cr.nJ.~rJj "''" co.nt2incrs for alcoholic and

J..n LH~ L:_qu2 ... :1.rd \Jj ne ~.1dnc;try; J . Wre.y & Nephew Limit ed anci

• ,, :11c ··:.:; and Go ( d ; s Lire·~ te:d ; J-.n.vo already . D.grec d in principle T to st.:1ndnrclise

·teir lottles anr:J. ·1-,) ·u.co G% o~ , 12 oz o a nd 40 oz containers:... Th ese si?..<J S

·.,_·_ :t l carry. C::l8 Gli£1')') 0'11.:. ., ; t'·out comT,Jan;'/ identification and wi l l b e us ed .fur

I:1 the orca of h cc- r anct sott ci rinks, the major producers,

~. ~a~s und Geddes Limited have a g reed to·Etandar dise Heineken 9 Dragon

·Jut c:,nc. t-'lackeson St ·:mt in u :;:e turnable amber bottle o Consequently , the

·· )OJ ' L .ti; ·i.oa of Grec11 lielnok ej· be t'!';le::; v:ould no longer be necessary e xc opt

, ·~u ~:e,ared for t he expo~t markc t a Hence the n e c essary requirem e nts must

• .I . <:: •. . : r; ctanc ::,l~c; .i.s c nl~- 1 2 o~~ G'Jft drin~cs in e i thor Pepsi - Cola or Desnoes ~

1 ; ··';J'l.::•< to·· ., :.L, J; d ·; te r gent bo'i.tles o.nd bottles <..

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from phnr r.Hlci cs should nlso be s t nndard i sod to yield addi.t,t.Qnf.l.l.. !30YingG .

RLCYCLING RJ:; - USE OF i?f,CKAGING r·i!>.'i'ERIAL,S MW CONTf,IN-::~RS

. ) . The Co mmitt ee c l Go rocom r ondcd that r e cycling ~nd r L- uso of

nnckng ing ma t e rials should he ~iv0n i mm c dinto att~ntion .

It 11as ngrood that in J1.r.1n.icn too much pacb1ging mrtt<~ rinJ

•·,hic h could h e propr:rly 1·/~r;h o ct , r · nccd :tnd re -used is be ing cles troJr ,·d •. Tf:,:

:· ... in prtcl<ac;inc m:<-t r::· rin.ls \vh ich C<tmc un<ier disc ussion for r e cyclinc; nnd l'C'·-US•)

. l· ..

nrc : g l nss bottles , pnpcr p~oducts , mctn l 2nd plastic containe rs .

It was cst i mn t ed th nt th e Ravings that would accru e fro m th e

r~cycling nnd reus e of these mntcri~ls would be approximate ly ~t1 million rer

n.nnum. ·

In a ddition to the fore:L[!;n exchange snvinr,s ther e \vou-ld b ·:

ot h 8r signific nnt advrtnt ngcs vi z :

(a) Reduction in the i mportntion cost.

(b) Reduction in the consumption ~f ene r gy n.nd v1.luabl, · nnturnl resources .

(c) Re-duction in the inciden c e of e nvironmental proble ms whic h somct imr;s occ ur both - in

processing and in disposnl .

GLASS BOTTLES

In the ar0a of the ro-use of bottles , there qrc o lre nrl~

existing bottle washing fncilitics owned by J . WFay & Neph e w Limit ed , Do~no~s

and Geddes Limit ed nnd other privntc cstnbli s hmcnts. However , these ~x~~tjn~

i'1.c ilitics n r c far from hein~ ~dequn.tc , theref~rc , thc.cs tnblishm6nt (•

OJ

nropc r collecting and wnshing fnci liti cs i s Aeon as crucin l to any effort

to r euse bottl e s . Approprin.t c steps will have to be taken to ensur~ thrtt

the coll ec ting nnd wn.Rhing r~cilities nrc fully developed.

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WASTE FAI'ER .

The Committ.e r e comncnded that a ll waste paper in the islDnd

c~n be r ~ cycled except thos e with printin~ • 1 lnK . The present fPciliti cA for

recycling ; how e ver , need mRjor upgrading. The proposed 33 million exo~nnion

nl~n for the Pulp & Paper Mill should assist grnctly in getting thi~ ~r,jnc~

underway . It b'HS ~lso conside r ed th~t th e price that is currently r~id for

the collection of waste paper ic not sufficiently att rac tive to cncour~f0

~ffo rts townrds r ecyc ling . The e limination of unnecessary packing in

hC:tS Supormarkc;ts and T{ o t< ·, il Sho'ps;c;c nornted .s~vinc;s of approx irnntely 1 ~ 700 , 000

per annum .,

PLASTIC CONTAil\lT.:RS

Colgate Palmolive Limit ed i s currently en~n~ed in re-using

p lastic bottles for th o packnring of deterrents and floo r polish. Sc outs

are involved in collecting and washing bottles .

To dat e , the r esponse to this programme has boon·vcry good • ' I

and it lS est imat ed thn t savings of 66% est i mated at approximately ~700 , 000

has been a chieve d .,

COS METICS AND TOILETTII~S

It is propos ed to make better usc of ex~enstve packaging

··. materials which arc now b a ing u sed for cosmetics and toiletr i es , for oxnm~lc

that re - use be made of refills and ato~iser type cont~iners . This woul d

result in significant snvin~s if the r etail shops would provide refills for

the benefit of the consu~ c r •.

Colgate Polmolivc has proposed to effect th ~ fnllnwing

changes :

/oooo _C) oc-

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(a) in the c<:.c,c of l1outh lv1.1s h, n cha nge from

i~~ortcd glass to local rum flask for both

sizes ;

(b) for H::~lo Shn1~1poo , '· chnngc from imported

r1lastic bottles anc~ cops to loc al ly mnnufactun.:r ~

plastic bottles; and

metal ·cnps o

III.

CEREkLS , DETERGENTS

It is ~roposod to rep l ace tho ~resent CArdboard.

coptainors for cereals and d~tcrrrents with plnst ic bags when they aro f2Cltc~

for the local market . Cardboard containers shou l d however be used for the

OX:,>Jort market .

h foreign exchongc" 5o.vinp:; of ',\625 , 000 per annum v:on::_c'_

he roaliscrl for the change ln datcr~cnts alo~<l and A reduction in p ric e to

tho consumer for c~ch commodity .

11 ... The rotionalizat i on of cigarette packar in~ hos hrcn

rocom~cndcd hy the Committ ee , Anrl , in foct , the reduction of the numhor of

hr~nds on the m1.1rket from 1Lf to 9 hns a lready bocn put into effect .

The Commi ttcc has n.los recommended thc:tt local f;: , J.. c:-;

f or ··~ standar d i sed ln packacas of 20 and a lonG term poss i bilit~1 7 ~ · usc o~ soft

. ~rcks may be introduced •

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SOi',P

In some nr~ns wh:rc pnck~gin~ is no t nbso lut c ly necessary

ns with snme s oaps, it is proposed that unwrapped cnkes of soap bL

introduced on the local market. Where n6cessary, package ~od i f ic etion

should be used to ncco~modnte thosJ cakes th a t should be wr~pped a Th·

exerc i se wou l d result i n substantial fore i gn exchange s~~ings nnd c0nsu~crs

\·JOuld benefit fr r~m the rr .. duction i n ]1GCk.::tr; ing CC'S to

RESEARCH , TESTING hND INFORMATION CENTRE

The Rcse.::trch , TestinG ~nd Information Centro has been

established nt the Burcnu nf Standards to ensur e t hat nppropri ntu ~t~ndnrds

in packaging nrc maintained . It ~·ill also be rcsponsi~l e for impl nmc~tinc

th e recommendations h;:mded rlov~n by the ~.;.:ctional Steering. Commit t(?C G·l1

Packaging . It will be poarcd to conduct on- go ing r esearch cxerc Lses, tcstinu

deve l op ing , co- ordinnt ing and d~sseminntinr; i nformnt i on a

14 ~ Tho· Cent r e vrill perform the foll·"•v.r int; funct i 0ns :-

( D. ) advise on improvcm.:;nts to product pa cl;:ag in.~c am~ crc.J~t

standards and cndcs of practic e ;

(b) prcp;:-,rc r:u icl o lin \~f; for the devclop1;:c nt ,f packa,~in,~

matc·rials ;

(c) identify resources which may ba utilised f or sottin~

up fac ili ties for ~anufQcturing packa~ing ~aterials;

(d) dovcl~p R pnckacin~ edu cation prn~rammc a i med at

prnviclint~ nJ~rropriato irTJpctus to tho r;ro>·rth 0f the

tr:chnnlogy in thr: cn1mtry ;

icl t) J!tify ·dcf i cicncicfi for poss i b l e i1q•n~vcmcnb.- ln

C]Uuli t;; .

romaining eq ui pment , accowno<lr:t ion r:nrl. st<tff .

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:·· . .iJVISORY BO,,RD

Thu N~tionul SteerinG Committee wil l function ~s ~ ru r mPnon t

A,:-1visory BoC'.rd , o.dvis in ~; th e l'hnist cr .:tnrl co - ordinatinr:; th .: r.t cti viti ''"

ur:10ng produc e r s , us c. rs nnr' i mpor t ers of ;•nck.'1;;ins mntcrinl .s r.s ;,rcJ.l ·\s

monitoring nnd ovnluc.t inc al l work dono to .1 ch i cvc opt i mum forc::i.r~n .: xch·m._;·~

s ·,yinc.;s in p:::cko.ginc: <:n<.1 to r c vievJ tlJ c roq uir co·me nts of l ocr~l :.end l: Xl'ort

rr.P.rk c ts .

I VI. CONCLUSION

Gov ~· rnment i s confident thnt· if there r ucommcndo.tions outlinerl

by th e National ~tcerinc Committee r re implomont cd . in th e Packaging

Industry R.ll inrl ic o. tions 11oint to the r (:etlizntion of onormou E eavL:tgs , n.s

th ese measur es will sorvc to r.duc o the i mport b i l l ; wi ll s timulat ~ th e us a

of indi genou s mat er ial for packaging and resul t i n t he r 0duction of pric e s

and ul timat e ly in a reduction in tho cost of l i v i ng .

R . D. \li LLI 11HS Mini s ter of In1u s try and Commerc e

1 L1-th June- , 1979.

MIC File No . 19/4/011 1

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