Zespri is the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, selling kiwifruit in more than 50 countries. We work with around 2,800 New Zealand and 1,500 international growers to source the best-quality Zespri Kiwifruit which we supply through our distribution partners to wholesale and retail customers.

Africa: Southern Africa

America: Northern America, South America

Asia: Eastern Asia, South-eastern Asia, Southern Asia

Europe: Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe

Oceania: Australia and New Zealand

Zespri has made significant effort to identify and remove non-recyclable or difficult to recycle products from its packaging portfolio, including stopping the manufacturing of single use plastic ‘Spifes’ (a tool designed for consuming kiwifruit) and reducing the use of these in markets where they are not required. We have also been trialing a number of options to replace our kiwifruit ‘Spifes’ with more environmentally sustainable options. Prototypes of the final designs are now under development with implementation planned for 2022.

Fruit labels are an important part of Zespri product as they ensure consumers can trust that the kiwifruit they are buying is premium quality and meets Zespri food safety standards. Zespri has invested substantially in trials of biodegradable and environmentally friendly products, such as the use of paper labels. However challenges still exist with finding solutions that meet the demands of our cool chain and quality standards. The current Zespri fruit labels are not fully recyclable due to the glue in use, where we are unable to separate the glue from the facestock. Zespri strongly supports moving towards environmentally sustainable labels and we are continuing to work closely with manufactures to develop a home compostable solution that works on kiwifruit. Zespri’s total packaging material mix is already more than 80% fibre. Zespri has continued to explore material alternative to plastics, with an increasing number of trails underway for its kiwifruit packaging.

None reported

Zespri are currently investing in reuse solutions for our packaging. Zespri will be engaging with governments and targeted regions within the markets in which we operate to explore possible closed loop packaging solutions.

Zespri has developed a Global Consumer Packaging Management System to better manage our consumer packaging portfolio, and provide a data driven approach for transitioning our packaging to 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable materials by 2025. We have also completed a Life Cycle assessment of all the packaging and packaging components used across our supply chain. This provides us with a detailed understanding of the environmental impacts and tradeoffs for consideration when developing alternative packaging solutions. For example, Zespri has developed a number of technical driven projects focused on optimizing materials and pack efficiencies.

Zespri’s total packaging material mix is already more than 80% fibre based. The plastic we do use in our packaging helps to preserve our fruit and reduce wastage. Zespri is actively working on identifying, sourcing and trialing alternative materials for our plastic products, with the aim of finding alternatives to fossil fuel-based plastics as well as options for reducing plastic use wherever possible. For example, we are exploring home and industrial compostable options, as well as conducting tests on the food safety and functionality of alternative materials such as cellulose.

No - We believe the packaging category(ies) 'PET Thermoforms' (representing 36.34% of our portfolio), meet the thresholds of recyclable 'in practice and at scale' of 30% recycling rate for at least 400 million people (see endnotes for more information).

100% reusable, recyclable or compostable

Our Lifecyle Assessments coupled with the completion Zespri’s environmental modelling tool will enable us to make more informed decisions when identifying and trialing different packaging solutions. Zespri is exploring the practical end of life realities for alternative materials (such as biopolymers) to ensure they can be recycled or composted at end of life by consumers. We are continuing to pursue trials of new technologies that avoid plastics but still deliver the functional requirements of fruit quality and food safety standards.

Zespri has been working with its suppliers on the continued establishment of its commercial and non-commercial packaging trials including undertaking material performance tests and fruit impact assessments for a range of transport packs, consumer facing packs, and promotional packaging. For example, in 2021 we started our first commercial trial of a fiber alternative to our plastic kiwifruit trays, delivering over 200,000 trays to one of our key customers in Europe. We have also been trailing a number or fibre and compostable solutions as replacements to plastic fruit pouches, clamshells and sampling packs.

Zespri is currently undertaking an audit to validate that the claimed recycled content used in our packaging is in fact from post-consumer sources. We are also engaged in a programme of work that targets using recycled materials for all existing plastic packaging products and components (such as fruit punnets and pouches). We are currently facing challenges and uncertainty with regulatory restrictions on the use of post-consumer recycled content.

Zespri plans to work with its supply chain partners to continuously increase the amount Post-consumer recycled content used in its consumer packaging wherever possible.

KPMG New Zealand provided Limited Assurance over Zespri's packaging data.

The 7% increase in plastic weight between reporting periods correlate with increases in sales over the same reporting periods. The progress Zespri has made so far towards achieving its packaging commitments includes the establishment of a packaging management & reporting system, as well as the continued establishment of commercial and non-commercial packaging trials (including fibre and compostable solutions as replacements to plastic fruit packaging).

To claim recyclability of our packaging (meeting the 30% recycling rate threshold for at least 400 million people), we used the following evidence: Independent research commissioned by Zespri International: Australia = NPE 2021 Recycling Rate Survey Madden, B. and Florin, N. (2019). Characterising the material flows through the Australian waste packaging system, Institute forSustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney. https://documents.packagingcovenant.org.au/public-documents/APCO%20Packaging%20Material%20Flow%20Analysis%202018 iQRenew - Soritng https://www.iqrenew.com/sorting/ France = Everything you need to know about plastic bottle recycling (2019). https://www.recygo.fr/blog/dossier/recyclage-bouteilles-plastiques Plastics Sorting and Recycling in Fance https://www.cotrep.fr/en/plastics-sorting-and-recycling-in-france/ SUEZ Renene Atlantique, France. (2016). https://www.tomra.com/en/sorting/recycling/case-studies/suez-regene-atlantique_france Italy = Gaita, L. (2020). Thinner packaging and higher percentages of recycled Pet: the (insufficient) moves of Italian companies in view of the plastic tax. https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2020/12/04/imballaggi-piu-sottili-e-maggiori-percentuali-di-pet-riciclato-le-mosse-insufficienti-delle-aziende-italiane-in-vista-della-plastic-tax/6010348/#:~:text=Non%20solo%3A%20va%20ricordato%20che,'ambiente%2C%20soprattutto%20in%20mare South Korea = Park, S. (2018). Factors influencing the recycling rate under the volume-based waste fee system in South Korea. Waste Management, 74, 43-51.  MERC - Methropolitan electronics recycling center, South Korea. (2016). https://www.tomra.com/en/sorting/recycling/case-studies/merc Park, J., Jung, I., Lee, K. et al. Case study in Korea of manufacturing SRF for polyurethanes recycling in e-wastes. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 20, 1950–1960 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-018-0718-5 South Korea's experience with smart infrastuructre services: integrated solid waste managment. https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/South-Koreas-Experience-with-Smart-Infrastructure-Services-Integrated-Solid-Waste-Management.pdf Taiwan = Taiwan’s transition – from Garbage Island to Recycling Leader (2019) https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/taiwans-transition-from-garbage-island-to-recycling-leader/ Recycling 101: Targeting high quality in Taiwan. (2019). https://resource.co/article/recycling-101-targeting-high-quality-taiwan-13118 Kowin Recyling Machine https://www.kowinrecycle.com/NIR-Optical-Recycling-Sorting-System.html United Kingdom = British Plastics Federation – Plastic recycling https://www.bpf.co.uk/sustainability/plastics_recycling.aspx#15 TiTEch optical sorting systems for UK MRF. (2012). https://recyclinginternational.com/business/titech-optical-sorting-systems-for-uk-mrf/7005/ World-Class sorting https://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/rt0713-eco-plastics-sorting/ The latest MRF builds and retrofits across the globe. (2021). https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2021/03/02/the-latest-mrf-builds-and-retrofits-across-the-globe/ Germany: https://www.bmu.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Pools/Forschungsdatenbank/fkz_3711_33_316_verwertungsquote_wertstoffe_bf.pdf Netherlands: Gradus, Raymond. 2020. "Postcollection Separation of Plastic Recycling and Design-For-Recycling as Solutions to Low Cost-Effectiveness and Plastic Debris" Sustainability 12, no. 20: 8415. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208415