MHIA Working On International Standards for Packaging and the Environment

Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) is participating in a new subcommittee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 122 on "Packaging and Environment." The subcommittee is developing proposed environmental standards for packaging based on established European Norms (EN) and proposed Asian guidelines.

The purpose of the ISO/TC 122/SC4, "Packaging and Environment" committee is to develop a series of ISO standards to provide guidance on how to best utilize packaging resources while maintaining packaging functionality and considering environmental effects. The seven standards currently included in the series address general requirements, source reduction, reuse, recycling, energy recovery, chemical recovery, and organic recovery. SC 4 expects the standards to be approved and published in 2012.

The first meeting of SC 4 was held in December 2009 in Stockholm, Sweden. Seventy experts were present from 15 nations. Twelve of the representatives were from the U.S. with Marilyn Baker of Coca-Cola serving as head of the U.S. delegation. The meeting resulted in the election of a Chair plus the formation of seven work groups (WGs) to develop the seven standards proposed. Each WG has a Convenor and Project Leader positions. U.S. representatives will be serving in three of those leadership roles.

U.S. work on the standards will be coordinated by a newly formed committee, MH10.4 Packaging and Environment that will act as the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (USTAG) to SC 4. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) relies upon USTAGs to develop and recommend U.S. positions on international standards. MH10.4 has formed seven Task Groups (TGs) to pursue U.S. work on each of the standards.

The USTAG is soliciting additional subject matter experts with an interest in serving as active participants in the Task Groups (see contact below). TC 122/SC 4 will next meet May 31-June 4, 2010, in Beijing, China, then in October 2010 in Japan. The U.S. will likely serve as a meeting host in Spring 2011. Administration of the SC 4 committee is led by the Swedish Standards Institute (SIS) in close cooperation with the Standardization Administration of China (SAC). Administration of the USTAG, MH10.4, is by Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA). For further information or to state your interest in participating as an expert in one of the U.S. Task Groups, please contact the MH10.4 Secretary, Mike Ogle (mogle@mhia.org).

MHIA (@mhia) is an international trade association that has represented the material handling & logistics industry since 1945. MHIA members include material handling and logistics equipment and systems manufacturers, integrators, consultants, publishers, and third party logistics providers. Member companies come from all areas of material handling and various parts of the world, making MHIA a strong national and international representative for the material handling industry. Much of the work of the industry is done within its product-specific sections, councils and affiliates. The association also sponsors trade events, such as ProMat 2011 and NA 2010 to showcase the products and services of its member companies and to educate industry professionals on the productivity solutions provided through material handling and logistics.

Contact: Carol Miller, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) (704) 676-1190/800-345-1815.

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