Roadmap to help Kiwi businesses reduce the environmental impact of their products
Auckland, New Zealand, 18 May, 2018 – Associate Environment Minister, Honourable Eugenie Sage, together with Fuji Xerox
New Zealand (FXNZ) is launching a Roadmap to Product Stewardship. The Roadmap is a guide that gets businesses to think
about how they are managing their products’ environmental impacts so they can take the first step to a circular economy.
The Product Stewardship Roadmap, being launched at The Pullman Hotel in Auckland today, is an ‘open source’ guide
developed by FXNZ in conjunction with the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) and
MfE Accredited Product Stewardship Scheme managers.
FXNZ Managing Director Peter Thomas says the Roadmap is about companies better understanding their product lifecycles
and identifying areas of opportunity for products to be reused, recycled and / or repurposed through putting in place a
product stewardship scheme.
“Product stewardship is about collaborating with our suppliers and customers to manage the products we use in a
responsible way. So instead of adopting the traditional ‘take, make, waste’ approach, we have a circular economy where
the materials used in our products retain their quality as much as possible to ensure they can continue to be reused as
a result of effective product management.”
The Roadmap guides businesses through six key steps to help them develop tailored product stewardship schemes and
understand how more circular products and product lifecycles can be established by engaging with other businesses across
the value chain. Circular products are ones where the lifecycle and usage has been maximised and, at the end of the
lifecycle, they are completely reutilised.
“Waste in New Zealand landfills is rising by 5% a year. We want to help local businesses find creative, circular
solutions for disposing and managing products and lessening the burden on the environment.”
FXNZ currently operates its own product stewardship scheme which has been formally accredited by the Minister for the
Environment. The company offers customers a free take-back service which achieves a reuse and recycling rate of over
99.5% for returned machines, used printer cartridges, drums, fusers and developer to ensure they are reused,
remanufactured, and ultimately recycled responsibly. Recently they have partnered with Close the Loop for their toner
recycling which is formulated with other waste products to create TonerPave™ a low carbon asphalt that is more durable
and helps to reduce the carbon footprint of a road by up to 23% over its lifecycle.
“The Minister’s attendance at the launch is greatly appreciated – FXNZ is committed to the idea of a circular economy
and believe we can help other businesses do the same.
“We want to thank the Ministry for the Environment and the Sustainable Business Network for their time and contribution
to the process.”
There are currently 15 voluntary product stewardship schemes accredited by the Minister for the Environment operating
across New Zealand. These businesses, along with their suppliers, collectively have prevented 1.3 million tonnes of
products from going to landfill unnecessarily.
“There are many businesses doing great work across New Zealand in relation to product stewardship and we know there is
an opportunity for others to join us,” continues Thomas.
The launch of FXNZ’s Product Stewardship Roadmap follows the release last week of the SBN and Auckland Tourism, Events
and Economic Development’s (ATEED) report outlining how a circular economy could add $8.8 billion to Auckland’s economy.
ENDS