Ant Packaging manufactures plastic bottles, caps and jars with modern equipment at its purpose-built factory in Bangalow, northern New South Wales.
Plastics manufacturing is traditionally geared to high volume production with low margins. By adapting high-volume machines to provide faster tool changes and less downtime Ant Packaging has developed a more flexible production system. This enables Ant to penetrate an identified niche market that requires a high level of customer service and quick turnarounds.
Ant Packaging concentrates on quality of product and quality of customer service - what the customer wants, when and where they want it.
Tony Margan, Managing Director, and winner of NSW Business Chamber’s Roger Pysden Memorial Fellowship in 2010 shares his insights on running a successful business, the importance of being a member of NSW Business Chamber and what keeps him awake at night…
What has made your business so successful?
In June 2008, Ant Packaging became Australia's first carbon neutral plastics manufacturer, by calculating our business' emissions and offsetting them with government-certified carbon abatement projects.
At Ant Packaging, we recognise there is a perception that plastics manufacturing is considered harmful to the environment. The reality is that plastics are an effective use of a waste product from the energy resource production process that would otherwise be released to harm the ozone layer. However, we acknowledge that we use energy; therefore we generate greenhouse gas emissions and thus are a contributor to climate change.
We take our responsibility seriously enough to have done something about it!
We recently commissioned local Byron Bay company, Cool Planet, to prepare calculations for the carbon emissions associated with our business operations. The results are published under the guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol which is the most widely used international accounting tool for building credible and effective programs for tackling climate change.
Cool Planet calculated our emissions to include electricity consumption, office supplies, product distribution, plane transport and staff transport at an annual 559 tonnes of Green House Gas (GHG).
That total has now been offset by the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates from Greenpower approved generators, and Carbon Offsets from projects accredited by the Australian Government's Greenhouse Friendly program. The projects involve the design and installation of Photovoltaic Stand Alone Power Supply systems (solar panels) in the Byron Shire and the Regional Resource Recovery Centre in Western Australia which diverts household rubbish from landfill to compost. This project won last year's Greenhouse Challenge Plus award for outstanding achievement in greenhouse gas abatement.
Ant Packaging will continue to strive to be pro-active in its business practices. Becoming the first carbon neutral plastics factory in Australia is a positive step forward in helping to address the effects our industry has on climate change.
Ant Packaging is also investigating ways to reduce our carbon footprint through the more efficient use of electricity and is actively trialling "bio plastics".
What recent business achievements, successes or wins have helped grow your business or raised your profile?
Becoming Australia's first carbon neutral plastics manufacturer is both an achievement and a memorable win for the business and the environment. We didn’t just accept that the business uses energy and in doing so generates greenhouse gas emissions therefore contributing to climate change - we took this responsibility seriously and did something about it. And in doing so, we became a leader – as the first Australian plastics manufacturer to do so.
How has membership with NSW Business Chamber helped your business?
Ant Packaging uses the Workplace Advice Line to ensure our business practices are towards best practice in the field of HR so that we can remain an employer of choice. We also relied heavily on the expertise of NSW Business Chamber with the implementation of the new Modern Awards system.
The ability to readily access a peer group of members for discussion, advice and comparison of notes provided by the network of NSW Business Chamber members is invaluable.
Do you have any business concerns that are keeping you awake at night?
The ability of the major retailers to set prices has the potential of killing manufacturing in Australia.
Are there any business issues that are exciting you?
The emergence of new industries and businesses that will result from a move away from fossil fuels as our prime energy source.
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