Government schemes could make manufacturers responsible for their own rubbish

Friday, 9 August 2019

New Zealand's growing waste problem could be slashed dramatically if manufacturers took care of their own rubbish, the Government says. 

New schemes being proposed could remove the burden of plastic packaging, bottles and electronic waste from consumers. 

On Friday, associate environment minister Eugenie Sage said New Zealand's current economy is a 'take, make and dispose' model, and she wants it to change.  

'Regulated product stewardship is a step towards changing that and to designing waste out of production.' 

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It means consumers and councils will no longer have to deal with it - and the manufacturers can take it back. 

Other countries already have the schemes, and Fost-Plus, a national scheme for all packaging in Belgium, has an 85 per cent recovery rate at €7.90 (NZ$ 13.30) per person per year. 

The not-for-profit organisation is financed by industry and recycles glass, paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, metal packaging and cartons. 

To date, product stewardship in New Zealand has been voluntary and there are 14 schemes, but they have not significantly reduced waste.    

It's the first time the Government has seriously considered the potential for regulated product stewardship as allowed in the Waste Minimisation Act.

Sage said banning plastic items individually wouldn't work. 

Instead, she hoped the schemes would encourage manufacturers to switch to more sustainable packaging. 

Container deposit refund schemes could provide a small financial reward for customers returning their packaging, she said. 

Products wouldn't be more expensive, she said. 

'Instead of using nature as a receptacle for waste and offloading the costs on to councils and communities to collect fast food packaging left all over the street, it means that brand owners and retailers all contribute to those costs.' 

Speaking at the announcement Sacred Heart College student Emma Morgan, 13, said she'd written to the minister to ask for the changes. 

'If we don't take action now, then we'll have nothing left but a plastic-filled future.' 

Seeing litter everywhere was becoming normal, she said. 

Countdown general manager sustainability Kiri Hannifin said when it came to packaging, 'we are stuck'. 

'Foodstuffs, Countdown, Air New Zealand … none of  us can do it on our own. 

'The only way for us to do it is to work together.' 

Dealing with packaging and especially plastic was the hardest thing she'd had to deal, Hannifin said. 

'If we can do this as a nation, then what a win.' 

Local Government New Zealand president Dave Cull said the New Zealand public were subsidising waste producers 'who churn out cheap, largely unrecyclable packaging, plastics, e-waste and other materials'. 

He welcomed the proposed schemes, but they were just one of many solutions needed, he said. 

'We see mandatory product stewardship as being one piece of the puzzle, along with the adoption of a nationwide, strategic approach for recyclables and for the waste disposal levy to cover more landfills, so that there is more funding for onshore recycling facilities.' 

A consultation document, 'Proposed priority products and priority product stewardship scheme guidelines', was announced in Wellington on Friday. 

Costs and benefits will be announced and consulted on before regulations are passed, and draft regulations for each priority product will be released for consultation from 2020. 

Product stewardship is just one part of the Government's new tirade against waste.

They're also trying to improve onshore recycling infrastructure, expand the waste disposal levy, improve waste data and improve controls on the burning of farm waste. 

The plans are being discussed with stakeholders.