What it reflects is a society that is becoming increasingly vigilant about the full life-cycles of the products it consumes, and that is up for the waste challenge.
And there’s no doubting the scale of that challenge. Public awareness and understanding of waste and recycling are growing in New Zealand, but they are still low compared to other economically developed countries, as are recycling rates.
Data gathered by Waste and Recycling Industry Forum members shows that just 13 per cent of all the waste we handle gets recycled or recovered.
New Zealand’s small, dispersed population centres mean that the economics of recycling are often much trickier than overseas.
Another positive sign is that the Government is also waking up to waste.
Though we haven’t always agreed with specific policies, we’ve been delighted to see waste and recycling brought towards the centre of the Government’s environmental agenda, and the legislative and regulatory foundations laid for a fundamental re-set of the sector in the years ahead.
An expanded waste disposal levy will dramatically increase the funding available for waste minimisation and resource recovery projects each year – from $36 million a couple of years ago to $280m or more by 2024/2025.
All of this tells us that there’s an excellent opportunity for an incoming Government to lead a big leap forward in the performance of the sector.
So as the political parties roll out pre-election plans and promises, we want to hear how they intend to make the most of this opportunity, and how they will make sure that the waste and recycling investments we make as a country lead to long-term benefits, in net terms.
Here are five initiatives that need to be on the agenda, and that we want the next Government to get moving on ASAP:
1) Public education
There’s an urgent need for a nationwide public education campaign on recycling, based on clear and consistent messages about what can go into kerbside recycling, and how it must be presented.
The campaign needs to provide households with guidance on what they need to do to reduce the amount of waste they generate, particularly for materials like plastic, where viable recycling options will be harder to find.
Also badly needed is a simple, user-centric recycling labelling scheme, that tells an accurate story about what can and can’t be recycled in New Zealand.
2) Better data
Despite steps by industry to develop a dataset, data for the sector as a whole is still very patchy, and this has meant the Government is often flying blind in its planning and decision-making on waste and recycling.
Addressing waste data gaps has long been a priority for the officials, but it has yet to translate into substantive progress. This must change.
3) Onshore processing
To boost our recycling rate and take greater responsibility for our own waste, New Zealand must develop its domestic recycling capability.
Alongside greater investment into onshore recycling infrastructure, the Government needs to support the development of new markets for recycled material by putting in place innovation funds for glass, cardboard/paper and metals, and incentivising greater recycling of construction and demolition waste (eg through introducing recycled content requirements for materials used in large-scale construction).
4) Digital Container Return Scheme
Current plans for a Container Return Scheme are based on a traditional “return to retail” model, where consumers return containers (and collect deposits) through a network of public collection points.
International experience shows this is expensive to set up and run, inconvenient for users, and is likely to add to carbon emissions.
That’s why jurisdictions like England, Wales and Northern Ireland are exploring the possibility of a digital CRS, where householders use a smartphone app to scan containers and redeem deposits, before placing them in the kerbside recycling bin.
Before any final decisions are made about the CRS design, a digital scheme should be trialled here.
5) Level playing field for waste sector funding
Historically, 50 per cent of revenue from the waste disposal levy has been automatically allocated to councils, meaning that – with the expansion of the levy – councils are about to receive a massive funding windfall.
Handing the best part of $150 million a year out to councils to spend on waste projects of their choosing is a recipe for disjointed, duplicative investment, and for negative market impacts in a sector where the economics are already tenuous.
All applications for funding need to be assessed against the same criteria, and funding should flow to the solutions that best deliver on the national waste strategy, regardless of where they come from.
Barney Irvine is co-ordinator for the Waste and Recycling Industry Forum, which represents New Zealand’s largest waste collectors, recyclers, and landfill operators.
