How New Zealand's attitude towards plastic bags compares to other countries
Thursday, 21 September 2017
With public pressure and scrutiny on companies and the government over single-use plastic bags, we take a look at what New Zealand is doing about the problem, and how we compare to other countries.
This year has seen mounting public awareness about the environmental toll of plastic bags. Numerous high-profile campaigns have been held advocating for bans or levies and surveys indicate people support them.
But Associate Environment Minister Scott Simpson has maintained a stance against a legislative approach.
The Ministry for the Environment recently came under criticism for its reliance on the Packaging Forum - an industry advocacy body - to conduct research that was then used to inform policy decisions.
**READ MORE:
* New World wants to know if you'll pay for plastic bags
* 17800-signature petition calling for a plastic bag levy
* Students press Government for plastic bag ban**
HOW DOES NEW ZEALAND FEEL ABOUT PLASTIC BAGS?
Earlier in 2017 a Stuff poll of 5800 readers showed 83 per cent supported the banning of plastic bags.
A study by the Waste Management Institute New Zealand showed roughly two-thirds of people would support a levy, if the money went to charity.
Thousands petitioned the government to ban plastic bags outright. Even more called for a levy.
More than 90 per cent of city and district mayors signed an open letter calling on central government to impose a plastic bag levy, or step aside and let them take up the reins.
Retail NZ - which represents 4200 businesses - has supported the call for a levy on plastic bags.
New World supermarkets have just launched a poll asking customers if they want to be charged for plastic bags or not.
WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
Greenpeace campaign lead for the Ban the Bag campaign, Elena Di Palma, said New Zealand used 1.6 billion plastic bags per year.
That came to about 348 per person, per year. Almost one per day.
A third of turtles found dead on our beach had swallowed plastic - most often, in the form of single-use bags. The figure was about the same for dead seabirds.
On average a plastic bag is used for 12 minutes and each one takes 1000 years to break down.
New Zealand did have a soft plastic packaging recycling scheme, which recently expanded to Nelson and Marlborough along with other major cities. Foodstuffs sustainability manager Mike Sammons said customers at New World and Pak'nSave nationwide had collected around 192 tonnes of soft plastic packaging over the past 20 months through the programme.
But recent figures showed the scheme collected only two per cent of the plastic bags coming into the country every year.
THE REST OF THE WORLD
Some other countries are already taking action. Across the ditch, Western Australia recently announced that from July 1, 2018, single-use plastic bags will be banned in the state.
South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory already had plastic bag bans in place. Queensland has also vowed to ban the bag from July 1, 2018.
Earlier in July, Australian supermarket giant Woolworths said it would stop using plastic bags within 12 months. Its rival, Coles, committed to a ban as well.
Further abroad, African countries have been taking plastic bag pollution seriously. Reports stated that Kenya, Mali, Cameroon, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, South Africa, Rwanda and Botswana have bans or taxes in place.
Before Morocco introduced a plastic bag ban, each person was using about 88 bags per year. Dramatically less than New Zealanders using almost 350 each, per year. But enough to push Morocco to a ban.
Kenya's ban was the toughest in the world - producing, selling or using plastic bags could result in imprisonment of up to four years or up to $56,000 in fines, The Guardian reported.
It was one of 40 countries like France and Italy that had banned, partially banned or put taxes on plastic bags, according to The Guardian.
In 2009, it was reported that China's ban on thin plastic bags had saved the equivalent of 1.6 million tonnes of oil and 40 billion bags in the year since the ban was implemented.
The United States had bans in certain cities and states. San Francisco was the first city in the country to ban plastic bags.
This website explains how some countries run their ban, charge or tax systems for plastic bags.
HOW DOES NEW ZEALAND STACK UP?
Di Palma said New Zealand's position on single-use plastic bags was 'way behind' behind action taken by other countries - particularly embarrassing 'given we pride ourselves on being clean and green'.
In August, columnist Brad Markham pondered why struggling places like Bali and even Rwanda could ban plastic bags, but New Zealand couldn't.
Di Palma said: 'It's time that the government steps up. There's an overwhelming demand [for a ban]… It's time.'
Just charging for a plastic bag did not go far enough, she believed. 'It [a charge] does not solve the problem. People start to incorporate it into the cost of shopping and the impact decreases.'
Marsden Collegiate School student Cici Davie was one of five students involved in the Phase out Plastic Bags group which delivered a 17,800 signatures petition for Simpson, calling for a levy on plastic bags.
She thinks that introducing a levy first would give consumers time to adjust to using less plastic bags.
'When it becomes second nature then it [a ban] becomes more plausible.'