Updating the Waste Minimisation Act - have your say
The Government has announced proposals for updating the Waste Minimisation Act and the Litter Act. For the first time in nearly 20 years, Kiwis have a chance to catch up with other countries to reduce our waste and litter. With a bit more ambition from our MPs to modernise how we reduce waste and litter, the way other countries have, we can lighten the load on Local Government and ratepayers and enjoy a clean green New Zealand again.
Let’s catch up, New Zealand! Tell our MPs, we can win on waste too!
Now is the time to have your say about the waste issues that are most important to you. Submissions close on 1 June.
- Find the proposal here
- Join the Zero Waste Network for a webinar to learn more about the proposal on 20 May at 1pm. Registration is here
- Find submission guidance and make a quick submission guide on the Zero Waste Network site here (live on 15 May)
Key messages:
1. Strengthening the producer responsibility framework is the most important tool in the waste prevention and reduction toolbox:
- These proposals will put a better framework in place for developing schemes to collect up products, like e-waste and textiles, and packaging, like drink bottles, cans and cartons so they can be reused and recycled. These updates would make it possible to finally put a container deposit return scheme in place.
- Producer responsibility should cover the impacts of products and packaging across their whole lifecycle. Producers should cover the full cost of setting up, and running effective reuse and recycling systems to take the burden off ratepayers and councils.
- New Zealand should follow the best examples from around the world and create a producer responsibility framework that works for both reuse and high quality recycling.
2. Waste Levy spending by Councils should stay ring fenced for savvy waste innovation so that over time we are all wasting less and paying less as a result
- The Waste Levy is a charge on the disposal of each tonne of rubbish. It creates a pool of capital to invest in building waste prevention and reduction infrastructure so we have the systems in place to stop creating so much waste.
- Councils should be able to spend their portion of the Waste Levy Funds on activities that minimise waste, emergency waste management, remediation of contaminated sites and vulnerable landfills, as well as mismanaged waste including litter.
- We do not support allowing Councils to spend Waste Disposal Levy funds outside of waste related activities because there is so much we still need to do to prevent and reduce waste, set up reuse, repair, recycling and compost systems and clean up problems created in the past. The levy needs to be invested in solving our waste problems for once and for all.
3. The Waste Disposal Levy should apply to all disposal options - landfilling and incineration
- It makes sense to remove the waste levy exclusion for waste-to-energy incinerators. Closing this loophole means landfill and waste-to-energy incinerators would both face the same cost structure which is a fairer way to approach it. The Waste Disposal Levy should apply to all disposal options - landfilling and incineration.
- Incinerator projects are being proposed around the country that would burn hundreds of thousands of tonnes of valuable resources. Incinerators externalise the cost of disposal onto the environment and communities in the form of air pollution and exposure to harmful emissions including heavy metals, “forever chemicals” like dioxins and sulfur dioxide.
Photo credit: Jinki Cambronero.