Case study

Environmental management is increasingly important in business.This case study illustrates how a specific organisation addressed these issues.

Criterion Furniture, as the leading manufacturer of Ready-To Assemble furniture in Australasia, placed a strong emphasis on sustainability. Preventing damage from transport and handling is one of the biggest challenges of RTA furniture packaging. Polystyrene blocks are used in RTA furniture packaging as they are ideally suited to prevent movement of panels relative to one another, and to protect panels from impacts exerted during transport and handling. However, polystyrene had a negative impact on the environment when it is dumped into landfills after use, as there was no domestic polystyrene recycling facility in New Zealand which Criterion could refer its customers to.
Criterion set up a project to investigate and implement options for the reduction of the environmental impact of Criterion's packaging, and to develop a platform for continuous environmental improvements.

You are a student working at Criterion Furniture, reporting to the Business Innovation Manager.  It is your job to find out if polystyrene is really a problem and if there are viable alternatives to its use as packaging.