WasteMINZ welcomes the release today of the announcement of a new waste strategy consultation paper from The Ministry for the Environment. It is great news that Kiwis have been invited to have their say on proposals for the new legislation.

Environment Minister David Parker said today “Reducing waste is one of the issues all New Zealanders – especially younger Kiwis - care deeply about.”

“New Zealand is one of the highest generators of waste per person in the world. On average, every year each New Zealander sends approximately 750kgs of waste to landfill, and much of this could be recycled, re-processed or reused." 
 

“In 2019, waste contributed about 4 per cent of Aotearoa New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions and around 9 per cent of its biogenic methane emissions. We can do better, and New Zealanders are demanding change."

David Parker today released the consultation paper 'Taking responsibility for our waste', which seeks feedback on a new national waste strategy that sets a bold new direction for the next three decades.

Feedback will help shape the final proposals for reform and Kiwis will get the opportunity to be part of that process. Once developed, new legislation will replace the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 and Litter Act 1979. Consultation will run for six weeks until 26 November 2021.

WasteMINZ members have advocated for a new strategy for many years, and are excited to see the proposed outline today. We are delighted to see a consideration given to a holistic approach, incorporating the work of the climate change and infrastructure commission to understand what is required to reset the waste sector.

WasteMINZ understands that waste generation is linked to economic activity, and the importance of the work to reduce the impact of economic growth and consumption demands on the amount of waste we need to manage. We support the move away from take, make and dispose in order to extract the most value from the materials in circulation, provided regional and national diversion infrastructure is in place to support a make, use and return waste cyclic model, and the associated demands for increased onshore processing, and changes to collection and management of materials.

WasteMINZ is excited to see the emphasis on data and WasteMINZ and our members look forward to progressing the quality and quantity of data available, on which future policy decisions can be confidently made.

The key functions of WasteMINZ include:-

Product Stewardship – highlighting the need for waste producers to be better stewards and take responsibility for the life cycle of their products, including recycling and end of life solutions.

TAO Forum – local government initiatives such as kerbside collections.

Disposal to Land – manage the safe containment of harmful materials.

Contaminated Land Management – mitigating health risks, especially with asbestos, lead, and PFAS Health and safety, particularly important during a pandemic to enable safe waste collection services to continue, an essential service.

Recycling and resource recovery – focused on maximising the value of materials in circulation and driving standardisation of collection methodology and consistent messages across NZ regarding what can and can't be put in a kerbside bin.

Behaviour change – we lead the love food hate waste and plastic free July programmes, reducing waste through changed habits.

Organic materials – we play a key role in reducing emissions and managing the quality of soil in which we grow our food and feed our livestock, including an overview on compostable packaging guidance.

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