March 31, 2017
Moana in the box on sustainabilty
Maori owned fishing company Moana has declared war on polystyrene chiller boxes.
Chief executive Carl Carrington told this week's Maori Fisheries Conference polybins are a major feature of the industry, but by the end of their life cycle they are either in landfill or in plastic fragments polluting marine habitats.
As part of its push to operate more sustainably, Moana’s paua processing plant invested in a machine to compress the used boxes, which are recycled into products like picture frames.
Its domestic fin fish business has switched to New Zealand-made chilltainer boxes made of corrugated cardboard laminated with a metallised polyester, which are stronger, leak-proof, take up less chiller space and are 95 percent recyclable.
"A little bit more expensive than polybins but we think in the long run as we build up the volumes the cost will come down, and cost is more than just the packaging costs. You've got to consider the wider impacts," Mr Carrington says.
There is interest from Australian and other customers in the new packaging.
Copyright © 2017, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com