Following their nomination in early October, the win was announced at the Our Packaging Future (OPF) Awards on Thursday, 2 November 2023.
The award recognised BIA’s ‘transformative journey to pioneer sustainable packaging practices, creating packaging with a clear recovery solution in mind and incorporating recycled content into its packaging’.
BIA’s efforts to eliminate polystyrene (EPS) and polyethylene (EPE) packaging from Brother printing products, with a commitment to remove remaining products with EPE/EPS packaging by March 2024, was a cornerstone of their win.
BIA has also pledged their commitment to maintaining high-quality standards and utilising sustainable alternative materials and packaging methods that protect the quality and integrity of its products.
Andy O’Donnell, Director at Brother International Australia, said, “This is a testament to a truly wonderful achievement for the whole Brother group, including (but not limited to) our designers, engineers, procurement and production teams, and to all staff directly or indirectly engaged locally and internationally,”
“It’s been a remarkable journey, and we can take great pride in our achievements to date,” he said
Chris Foley, CEO of APCO, described 2023 as being a game-changing year for eco-friendly packaging practices, marked by innovation and leadership.
“The Awards demonstrate the industry’s progress to meeting the 2025 National Packaging Targets and more broadly how we are shaping the future of packaging here in Australia.
“It is empowering to see organisations across the industry laying the foundations for a stronger packaging system beyond 2025, and making tangible progress toward implementing a circular economy for packaging.”
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is a not-for-profit organisation leading the development of a circular economy for packaging in Australia.
Their vision is a packaging value chain that collaborates to keep packaging materials out of landfills and retains the maximum value of the materials, energy and labour within the local economy.