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PLAYING OUR PART WITH PLASTIC

Sealord people care for the sea. We try to tread lightly on the marine environment by making sure we don’t leave any fishing gear behind and by reducing plastic use.

Our fishing nets are mostly made from durable nylon and polymers, which means they last a long time. Sealord is investigating how our nets can be recycled and remade into things like carpet.

We also put electronic sensors on our nets so that we can retrieve them if we accidentally lose a piece. These efforts contribute to our waste reduction goals. In 2021 we recycled 60 per cent of our waste, and we aim to increase this to 95 per cent by 2023.

Another way we have reduced plastic use is by starting to box our tinned tuna in cardboard rather than plastic wrap, in 2021. This has removed 20,000 kg of plastic packaging from New Zealand waste streams, and we plan to reduce plastic wrap use in other parts of our business.

We have replaced polystyrene cups with compostable cups and intend to remove 1 million plastic spoons from our tuna snack product range. We will continue to reduce the thickness of any plastics we do use, recycle our soft plastics onsite in New Zealand and Australia and are on track with our overall plastic reduction targets.

Water use and water quality

Within our operations area, Sealord uses water as part of our processing operations – for example when filleting fish and daily clean-down processes. We recognise that water is a valuable resource that must not be wasted.

Sealord will comply with all relevant regulations with regards to use of, and discharging of, water. We will also measure water usage to minimise our use in operations. We are looking to develop water recycling programs where appropriate on all Sealord sites.

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