Container Return Scheme

“We are thrilled about today’s container return scheme (CRS) announcement. We congratulate the Minister on the work he and his team at the Ministry for the Environment have done. We've advocated for a CRS for 20 years. It is a major positive step forward that has broad public and cross party political support,” said ZWN Chair Marty Hoffart.

“A container return scheme with the right settings will take pressure off councils, ratepayers and the recycling industry, by covering the cost of collecting and processing beverage containers. It is a major win-win and sets the stage for building a reuse economy.”

“However, the exclusion of milk bottles is bad policy and bad for the environment. It creates an unfair playing field and compromises the effectiveness of the scheme. A comprehensive CRS would include all beverage containers, including milk bottles.”

“For too long, councils and ratepayers have been subsidising the beverage industry by bearing the full costs of dealing with the 2.5 billion beverage containers that we use in NZ every year; this has made recycling financially unsustainable. It is also why it has been difficult to get a scheme in place - because the industry has done everything it can to stop this.”

“A container return scheme needs to happen now, not in 2025. We simply cannot afford another three to six billion containers in our environment in the next three years.”

“A comprehensive and well-designed CRS is the key to maximising the available benefits. We support depot drop off being included because it will help support the development of a nationwide network of zero waste hubs building on the existing network of community recycling centres.”

“We think that the deposit rate at 20 cents per item is important. Setting this amount too low would compromise the effectiveness of the scheme as many people won’t be bothered to return containers, and they will continue to go to landfill.”

“Ultimately, we want to see single-use containers phased out entirely. A well designed CRS can help to support the development of closed-loop reuse systems for beverage containers. We are already seeing this happening across businesses in everything from beer to milk.”

Kerbside Standardisation

“We welcome moves towards kerbside standardisation, as well as the inclusion of household organics collection in that programme of work. We need to ensure that any standard is fit for purpose to create real value from the recovered materials, and doesn’t result in a lower standard across the board,” said ZWN Chair Marty Hoffart.

“That means prioritising collection systems that get good quality raw materials to the reprocessor to become recycled content in new products as the key driver for the kerbside standard.”

“Communities must have control about how they meet those standards. It isn’t necessarily about “doing the same thing” - it is about meeting the same outcomes in the ways that communities feel are appropriate for them. Communities are best placed to know what works on the ground to change behaviours, and localised approaches often produce better outcomes than ‘one size fits all’.”

“It is also important that as part of standardising kerbside that there is some greater transparency in recycling. We will be pushing for compulsory reporting of things like tonnes recycling collected that ends up in landfill vs actually gets recycled so that communities can see what they are getting for their money and really work for better recycling outcomes.”

Requirement for businesses to separate food waste

“We support requirements for businesses to separate out organic materials from their wastes. Many New Zealand businesses are already seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint: this is actually a really quick and easy way to do this.”

“Food waste and organic materials need to be seen not as a problem but as the key to regenerating our soils and ensuring food security. Businesses and households already pay for waste disposal. Diverting organic waste into community composting projects, urban farms and innovative small business using organic wastes to support local food production is something that has widespread benefits.”

“Putting this requirement in place creates a sustainable market where innovative, community-scale solutions can fit. Already Zero Waste Network members are creating economic value and community resilience through food waste recovery.”

Waste must remain a priority

“We are encouraged by these government positive steps towards addressing the waste and climate crises. Waste must remain a priority if we are to move towards a regenerative, circular economy and away from a destructive, extractive system that has created these problems.”

© Scoop Media