National Packaging Covenant Action
Plan, 2006 – 2010 Updated Report |
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Globus is a specialist supplier of innovative packaging and equipment for perishable foods. Globus integrates leading technologies in barrier films, bags, casings and processing equipment, delivering solutions that make process and profit sense for our customers.
Our passion for product leadership is matched by our seamless delivery, a service standard we call “Perfect Order.”
Globus Group operates converting facilities in both Sydney and Wellington. Our warehouse distribution and sales centres are in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Wellington and Auckland. Production capabilities include:
- Flexographic printing
- Lamination
- Bag making
- Shirring
- Top Tying
- Clipping and closing
- Centersealing
- Slitting
The most valuable contribution that Globus can make to saving environmental waste of all types, including packaging, is to work with perishable food manufacturers to apply packaging methods to extend shelf life so that retail stores throw out as little as possible date expired foods.
Globus Group was founded in Australia in 1949 by lifelong friends and business partners Paul Sten and Emanuel Fisher. As recent immigrants to Australia, Sten and Fisher saw a need for quality smallgoods products and soon began importing artificial sausage casings for local manufactures.
In 1951 with the invention of indelible, food-safe inks, Globus were the first company in Australia to give customers the option of printing brand names and logos onto food casings. So ahead of its time was Globus’ branding and marketing initiative that many smallgoods manufactures initially rejected the idea.
Today it would be impossible for perishable food manufactures to succeed without professional branding and packaging design.
Globus still prides itself on being at the forefront of packaging and equipment advances, introducing numerous technical and procedural innovations over the subsequent years.
While Globus Group has evolved, grown and become a technological leader in the food industry, the original aims of Paul Sten and Emanuel Fisher are still applicable.
Globus Group will always encourage and foster excellence within the Australian food industry whilst providing quality products, expertise, exceptional technical ability, imagination and superior service to our customers.
Globus’ customers range in size from small wholesale butchers’ suppliers to large national and international food manufacturing businesses.
Packaging product categories are as follows:
Fibrous – a cellulosic food casing that is primarily used in smallgoods manufacture. Product is pumped into the fibrous casing which is then smoked, dried or matured to make products such as salamis and pepperonis.
Glophane – a “cook in” food casing for whole-muscle products (for example silverside). Used solely for processing, not used for transport or retail sale.
Laminated Casings - trapped printed casing.
Functional casings – food casings that impart a physical characteristic to the filling (flavours or colours).
Poly casings – for use with all types of “emulsion” sausage, such as devon, pate, raw sausage mince and ham steaks. Poly casings can be used when either water cooking or steaming.
Double-wound film – two-layer film, used for trapping print between layers for higher definition. This film has high shrink and high barrier properties. For use when steam cooking emulsified products.
Barrier Bags – transparent shrinkable bags, which are produced in a number of sizes and thicknesses. Barrier bags are used for fresh meat, cheeses, cooked poultry, bacon and smallgoods.
Collagen casings – edible casing, which is used with raw, cooked or smoked sausages. Collagen casings are sold in various colours for different appearances,
Thermoform – multi-layer, high barrier film sold for packaging in various thicknesses depending on rigidity and depth requirements.
Clips - a metal clip that is closed around any bag, netting or casing.
Loops - used to hang sausages in: smokehouses, smoke trolleys, on smoke sticks, during maturing, during post maturing and for display at point of sale.
Labels - are attached to sausages and have information for customers on them such as brand and expiration date.
Engineering products:
In addition to the above packaging product categories, Globus Group also supplies customers with food processing machinery, spare parts, and servicing.
Globus Group’s packaging raw material and traded goods suppliers range in location from within Australia to Asia and Europe. Globus Group’s policy is to focus its efforts on the products of a relatively small number of high quality suppliers who work with Globus as true partners.
Globus Group offers suppliers high quality engineering support and manufacturing/conversion capabilities. This is coupled with highly developed distribution channels, a skilled and experienced sales team and a company focussed on providing “perfect order” service to its customers.
Globus’ history demonstrates that supplier partnerships formed are lasting partnerships. Globus enters into new arrangements only where the products offer true innovation and competitive advantage to customers.
Suppliers are selected on their ability to supply goods and services to time, cost and quality requirements. Assessment of this ability may include, as appropriate:
- Past performance
- Capability
- Management systems
The majority of Globus’ raw materials are purchased from overseas – this is a function of the specialist nature of the material required. However, where possible Globus Group purchases from domestic suppliers and signatories to the National Packaging Covenant.
- Raw material is purchased from one of Globus’ suppliers, it is stored in its primary packaging in the warehouse until required by the manufacturing facility.
- The material is transported to the factory where, depending on the nature of finished product required, it is passed through one or more processes.
- If the product is to be printed with customer logos, nutritional information and product descriptions, this is the first process.
- Printed or plain material depending on the material type may then be converted into bags or pieces of various lengths and finished with clips or loops to seal the material at one end – the bags or pieces would then be packed tightly in cartons and stored until requested by the customer.
- Some material (either printed or plain) is pre-shirred. Pre-shirring is a process that takes a tube of material and concertinas it into a stick. 25-40 metres of material can be ‘squashed’ into a uniform stick, with a length of approximately 50 cms (this process itself actually reduces the amount of packaging required for despatch). These sticks of material are then packed in cartons for despatch.
- Once goods are shipped to the customer, the casings are filled with the customers product (eg meat, cheese, pet food etc). Subsequent processes may include cooking or maturing (within the Globus casing) prior to sale. The casing supplied by Globus Group may or may not be seen by the end consumer.
A flowchart of the Globus manufacturing process can be seen here:
Globus Group employs approximately 70 staff across Australia, broken up between the following sites.
Bankstown, NSW
- Head Office
- Raw material store
- Manufacturing facility
- Finished goods store
- NSW, ACT and QLD customer distribution
- Distribution to regional warehouses in VIC and WA (WA operated by third party provider)
Campbellfield, VIC
- Sales, administration and distribution – VIC, SA,TAS
Belmont, WA
- Sales and distribution (via third party)
Coopers Plains, QLD
- Sales office, QLD
Globus Group became a signatory of the National Packaging Covenant in April 2003. Globus’ management and executive team remain 100% committed to the program, its principles and its obligations as signatory.
This commitment has been displayed through:
- Assigning responsibility for covenant compliance and action plan monitoring to the Marketing Communications Manager.
- Contribution to the transitional funding arrangements.
- Covenant action plan points becoming an agenda item in monthly management review meetings.
- Sponsorship of a Packaging Magazine ‘Evolution Award’ to recognise and reward brand owner excellence in packaging waste management.
Globus has maintained a reputation for innovation, research and development within the food packaging industry since its inception over 50 years ago. Commitment to the cause and ideology of the National Packaging Covenant is therefore inherent in the business’ make up.
- Globus is committed to minimising excess and inappropriate packaging and its impact on the environment
- Globus is committed to further researching materials currently used for packaging being mindful of recyclability
- Globus is committed to educating its staff in the areas of packaging waste and disposal
- Globus is committed to working with partners in the supply chain for the betterment of waste management and recycling practices in Australia
- Globus is committed to the packaging covenant key concepts of shared responsibility and product stewardship
Globus supports the Environmental Code of Practice for Packaging (ECoPP) which promotes excellence in packaging as defined by two fundamental and equally important principles. Packaging should be designed to have a minimum net impact on the environment in terms of waste, water, energy, emissions while also fully preserving the integrity of the product it contains.
As the ECoPP recognises, packaging provides convenient, safe, and cost efficient delivery of products to customers. Globus’ packaging also ensures products are protected, have increased shelf life, and are clearly branded and marketed for end consumers at the point of sale.
Globus applies all relevant parts of the ECoPP in its NPC action plan. This in turn leads to a minimisation of negative environmental impacts whilst maximising environmental benefits. The areas of the ECoPP that Globus has addressed in its NPC action plan are as follows: source reduction, potential for re-use, recovery and recycling, minimising impacts of packaging, propensity to become litter, and consumer information. Through incorporating these areas of concern into our NPC action plan and setting specific quantifiable targets (KPI’s) where possible, Globus aims to show real progress towards achieving the goals of the ECoPP.
Annual reporting against action plan:
Globus is committed to lodge a report against its NPC action plan to the Department of Environment and Heritage annually. Reports are to be lodged by 31st October each year.
Reports submitted are to clearly demonstrate continuos improvement and performance against individual targets (KPI’s) and timelines in the attached action plan.
There are a number of existing programs within Globus Group positively impacting waste management, disposal and material recycling.
Change in raw material packaging
Globus’ largest raw material supplier used to ship goods to Globus in reinforced cardboard drums with metal clasps. (These drums are approximately 1.2 metres tall with a diameter of 40 centimetres.) Not only were these drums inconvenient to handle, they proved difficult to dispose of effectively and recycle. Globus found uses for some of the drums, but by no means all.
Globus successfully negotiated with the supplier to change the means by which they packaged and shipped goods. All material received from this supplier now arrives in cartons on cardboard pallets. All packaging from this major supplier can be 100% recycled.
Where outer casing is required, all suppliers of raw material now ship goods in 100% recyclable cardboard packaging.
All paper waste is now recycled using Bankstown Airport daily collections.
A recent and ongoing review (see action plan) of business waste produced highlighted that there was misuse of recycling bins. Staff have been trained under GMP to ensure all paper and cardboard waste that is recyclable is placed in the clearly marked paper recycling bins. Furthermore upon appointment of a full time cleaner, special paper and cardboard recycling points within the office area will be made available.
Measurement system for production waste implemented and reported.
The IFS system (Globus’ inventory and financial management system) allows for a quantitative measure of material wastage. This is measured against a target which is reported to the senior management team and directors on a monthly basis. The recent appointment of a Technical Manager to oversee product quality has resulted in Globus reducing quality problems with its products and hence decreasing wastage. Factory employees are made aware of the relationship between waste and commercial success through details in their job descriptions.
The scope of this action plan covers the period January 2006 to end Dec 2010 (though some actions may be given completion dates as end December 2005). The individual plans form the base for all waste minimisation activity both internal to Globus and through customer and supplier communication. The Globus Group Action Plans focus on the following objectives:
- Production waste measurement, management and minimisation
- Supplier and customer communication and cooperation
- Company policy development and employee education
The action plans on the following page have been grouped by focus area:
- Suppliers
- Despatch
- Customers
- Research
- Company
- People
Significant opportunities for improvement exist with Globus’ business. The company has relocated its production to Bankstown which has given opportunity for improvements in efficiencies, and waste management.
Globus is accredited with an ISO9001:2000, covering all areas of the manufacturing process, and the management systems that underpin the business. Within the documented quality system particular emphasis is placed upon customer satisfaction and management of improvement strategies.
The Senior Management Team are fully aware of the negative impact waste has on the environment and the commercial performance of the business, and through management of the action plans outlined in this document feel that both areas can be successfully addressed. Performance against major KPI’s will become an agenda item for monthly management meetings. The General Manager and the Marketing Communications Manager accept responsibility for ensuring team members are assigned appropriate tasks and perform activities so that due dates are met.
Globus Group's action plan
To view Globus Group's action plan please click on the PDF 
Packaging Covenant
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