Zero waste on South Island conference agenda 

World experts have converged on Kaikoura to discuss ways to rid the planet of waste.

Zero Waste NZ chief executive Jo Knight said her aim was to secure a declaration to make the South Island the first zero waste island in the world. The country's clean green image was "increasingly a mirage", she said.

Plates for meals at the conference are made from potato starch and are 100 percent biodegradable; delegates' pens are made from recycled paper (the ink is made of biodegradable polypropylene plastic); and the conference bags for delegates are made from recyclable polypropylene and can be reused as shopping bags.