Editorial: Timely attempt to halt waste trend

Notwithstanding our clean, %green image, New Zealand as a country is in fact rather dirty and wasteful. Each year we dump more than 3.4 million tonnes of waste into official landfills and at least a similar amount elsewhere. That represents a huge waste of resources, a lot of blots on the landscape and a worrying level of pollution.

Several attempts have been made to deal with the waste problem - most notably through 1996 amendments to the Local Government Act requiring local authorities to prepare waste management plans - and some progress has been made.

Most official landfills are now relatively well run. Most local authorities do have recycling programmes. Most waste water is treated to a reasonably high standard before being discharged. Most individuals and businesses are far more aware of the need to behave sustainably.

Nevertheless, the problem has continued to grow. A study based on trends in the Auckland region suggests that the volume of waste per person has increased 73 per cent in the past 20 years. Despite all the good intentions, New Zealand is further from operating a sustainable economy or achieving zero waste than when these objectives were first talked of 30 or 40 years ago.

The New Zealand Waste Strategy is a timely attempt by the Government to reverse that trend. Rightly noting that past efforts have failed because they focused on the end of the process, when materials have been discarded, it focuses on the beginning, when goods are being produced. It aims, over time, and by a mixture of carrots and sticks, to move New Zealand towards zero waste and a fully sustainable economy.

This is only a strategy document, not a statement of policy, and so there are few specifics. But the clear indications are that ultimately manufacturers and importers will be required to take responsibility for what they produce, to meet the full cost of dealing with any waste created during production or assembly in New Zealand, for coping with any packaging material and for disposing of the product at the end of its life.

The Government intends assisting that process by helping to create markets for recycled materials and by educating the public to value recycled products. But it will also look at stronger economic incentives such as a waste levy, which could provide money for the exercise, and by ensuring that local bodies pass on the full cost of disposing of waste to those responsible.

Zero waste and a sustainable economy are certainly objectives New Zealand should aim for, not least because our clean green brand is a valuable marketing tool and something worthy of protection. But, as with the equally worthy aim of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, they should be pursued with full knowledge of what other countries are doing and full understanding of the potential implications for our economy.

Life-cycle responsibility and full-cost pricing, if fully introduced, would have a huge impact on many businesses. Certainly such economic incentives are the most effective ways to create interest in reducing waste. But, if introduced unilaterally and without careful planning, they would also lead to some businesses being forced to close, putting people out of work, to higher prices and, in all probability, to some imported products going off the shelves.

The strategy paper acknowledges the need for extensive consultation in order to develop workable solutions. That will be essential. The worry is that this Government is driven by social and environmental considerations rather than economic realities.

An Administration which has no qualms about loading extra costs on to business in order to meet its objectives of boosting trade unions, reducing stress and fatigue, nationalising workplace insurance, ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and, most recently, eliminating illegal workers cannot confidently be expected to take a more realistic line on minimising waste.

nzherald.co.nz/environment