More waste recycling needs to be done onshore in New Zealand, Government says

Friday, 10 May 2019

Eugenie Sage wants more plastic and paper recycled in New Zealand. (Video first published in May 2019)

The Government wants to re-process most of New Zealand's recyclable waste onshore, but new paper and cardboard mills could be years away.

The Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage has backed the findings of a government taskforce, revealed earlier on Friday by Stuff.

The taskforce's work followed China's decision to no longer import most recyclable waste, leaving big stockpiles of low value material, especially cardboard and paper 'fibre'.

Plastics such as this stockpile at Oji's plant in Wellington may be easier to re-use than paper.

'We can't rely on shipping it offshore and just sending our waste away - there is no away,' Sage told Stuff.

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On Friday afternoon, Sage told Local Government NZ Metro representatives the Ministry for the Environment would pick up most of the taskforce's recommendations.

These include a stocktake of existing recycling facilities, standardising recycling collection and sorting, and exploring the feasibility of new onshore processing plants.

'This signals my political commitment as minister that this work needs to be done - it is urgent,' said Sage.

'China's National Sword initiative has been a wake-up call that we need to deal with waste here in New Zealand,' she said.

Sage's presentation to the local bodies follows the release of papers released by her office after being withheld from Stuff for six months, until the Ombudsman intervened.

A Ministry for the Environment briefing paper from October 2018, noted export 'markets for mixed plastics, mixed paper and cardboard have collapsed'.

'A number of smaller operators have been stockpiling predominantly mixed plastics as a commercial response,' said the briefing.

Consultants engaged in mid-2018 by the Ministry for the Environment said there was a significant opportunity to recycle more paper and cardboard onshore.

It said 'fibre' had been the biggest export waste to China, before that country effectively closed the door on importing waste for recycling.

It said local re-processing could boost revenue for recycling sorters, with a possible 120,000 tonne boost to the amount of paper and cardboard able to be reused.

Paper and cardboard, collectively known as fibre, is the biggest challenge.

'Fibre processing is at capacity and it would take significant capital investment to increase on-shore capacity,' said consultants Eunomia.

Sage said one of the challenges had been and continues to be the limited resources and capability of the Ministry for the Environment, which would carry out the policy work.

'I inherited a very small team in the ministry, working on waste,' she told Stuff.

'The whole waste ecosystem across New Zealand is quite big, and the ministry is having to build up capability - so that's been tied to the budget process as well.'

Sage said she hoped policy work on most of the recommendations would be underway within three to 12 months, but any new processing plants were some way off.

'Major investments in new infrastructure for reprocessing, like a fibre mill, for waste cardboard and paper - that's probably on a five to six-year timeframe,' she said.

The taskforce report also recommended investigating new plastic re-processing plants, which it said were more likely than fibre to occur, due to their lower cost, and viable with smaller volumes.

The country's biggest urban councils which collect recycling material, have been urging the minister to move on pursuing greater onshore processing of recyclable material.

The mayors of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch wrote last July, called for a feasibility study on processing the 50 per cent of paper and cardboard which had previously been collected and then exported.

Their letter said paper and cardboard accounted for nearly half of all kerbside collections in Auckland and Wellington, while in Christchurch the materials make up 41 per cent of collections.

Those three cities have almost completed their own report on the viability of a new fibre processing plant, that would need recycled material from much of the country to be viable.

'We've done the research, and the scoping, and we're keen to get on and work with the practical implementation of onshore processing,' said councillor Penny Hulse, the chair of Auckland's Environment and Community committee.

Problems with differing approaches to the collection, and sorting of recyclabes around the country, were highlighted in a study of the current New Zealand market, by consultants Eunomia.

'One of the key issues that has been highlighted with the advent of China's National Sword policy, is the level of contamination in recyclables,' said Eunomia.

Some councils such as Auckland collect all recyclables in one bin, meaning broken glass can mix with paper and cardboard, making processing less viable.

Sorting facilities are unevenly spread, with large plants in Auckland and Christchurch accounting for 75 per cent of the country's recycling waste, according to the report.

Taskforce recommendations released to Stuff also included exploring ideas such as 'product stewardship' where the manufacturers of packaging are required to help provide for recycling of their products.