Collaboration, Not Misrepresentation: Plastics NZ Responds To EPS Claims

Plastics New Zealand and its EPS Sector Group are calling for a balanced, evidence-based approach to addressing plastic waste after the release of a recent WasteMINZ report that inaccurately portrays Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) as a major contributor to environmental harm. The industry, which has made significant strides in recycling and resource recovery, is urging stakeholders to prioritise facts over fear in the discussion around EPS in construction.

A Vital Material

“EPS is an essential material for sustainable construction, enabling energy-efficient homes while adhering to strict environmental and safety standards”, says Rachel Barker CEO of Plastics NZ. “It is cost-effective, lightweight, durable, and recyclable – a combination that alternative materials often fail to match”.

Despite these benefits, the WasteMINZ report singles out EPS with claims that ignore critical progress made by the New Zealand industry. For example, the report conflates EPS microplastics with broader microplastic pollution, despite studies showing EPS accounts for just 3.65% of micro-litter on beaches and less than 2.5% in the ocean.

“Blaming EPS for all the world’s ills distracts from meaningful action”, Barker adds. “While microplastics research is still in its infancy, current studies emphasize presence over proven harm. What we need is more robust science and collective action, not sensationalism.”

Proactive Solutions in Action

The New Zealand EPS industry has long embraced its role in reducing environmental impacts. Key initiatives include:

• Site Management Education: Guidance in multiple languages for handling EPS on construction sites to minimize leakage to the environment.
• Take-Back Schemes: Manufacturer-led recycling programs for EPS offcuts and packaging.
• Voluntary Phase-Outs: The industry phased out brominated flame retardant HBCD well ahead of required timeframes.

“By working across the value chain, we’ve achieved good progress in recycling EPS and preventing environmental leakage,” says Barker.

A Call for Collaboration

Plastics NZ is inviting WasteMINZ and other stakeholders to work together on solutions that improve site management, enhance enforcement, and reduce all construction waste. “Fines for mismanaged materials and increased landfill levies for construction waste would drive real behavioral change”, Barker notes. “These measures must apply universally, not target one material unfairly.”

Plastics NZ remains committed to evidence-based advocacy and practical solutions. “Let’s build on progress, not regress into finger-pointing,” Barker concludes.

Additional Information:

• Data on global composition of marine litter from the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (based off 1,426 scientific publications): https://litterbase.awi.de/litter_graph
• HBCD Voluntary Accord: Plastics NZ worked with the Ministry for the Environment and the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a voluntary industry accord, whereby industry undertook to phase out all use of HBCD-flame-retarded EPS by 1 January 2017. This was successful, ensuring that HBCD-containing EPS was phased out almost three years earlier than would have been required if New Zealand had sought an exemption (5-yrs) following their non-acceptance of the Stockholm Convention amendment covering HBCD in 2014. (Pages 39-40, NZ's Updated National Implementation Plan - Stockholm Convention on POPs)
• World Health Organization statements on microplastics:
  • “The weight of scientific evidence provided by current data on adverse effects of NMP on human health is low, because of substantial limitations of the available information” (Dietary and inhalation exposure to nano- and microplastic particles, 2022) NMP = Nano-Micro-Plastics
  • “Although there is insufficient information to draw firm conclusions on the toxicity related to the physical hazard of plastic particles, particularly the nano size particles, no reliable information suggests it is a concern through drinking-water exposure” (Microplastics in drinking-water, 2019)

© Scoop Media