Overview

In June 2006 the Green Party’s Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill passed its first reading in Parliament and was passed to the Local Government & Environment Select Committee.

This is a Private Members Bill sponsored by Dr Russel Norman MP.  It seeks to put in place provisions to enable households and businesses to decrease their waste disposal. It includes provision for a levy on industrial waste, sets targets for reducing waste in landfills and cleanfills, provides for mandatory producer responsibility programmes, and provides for public procurement programmes to spur the development of markets for products and services that result in waste reduction.

Click here to download a copy of the Packaging Council’s written submission on the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill.

Click here to download a copy of the Packaging Council’s oral submission, presented to the Select Committee in April 2007.

For more information and to download the Bill, visit the Parliamentary website.

Government Policy on Waste

In September 2007, the government released details of its preferred waste minimisation policy, including a national levy on waste going to landfill, product stewardship legislation, the establishment of a network of recycling facilities in public areas, new requirements for reporting on waste data and a review of roles and responsibilities of local and central government.

At the same time, the government has provided the Local Government and Environment Select Committee with a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) that contains amendments to the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill, including renaming the Bill the Waste Minimisation and Resource Recovery Bill.

These amendments reflect government’s preferred policy. 

The Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill had its second reading on 18 June 2008.

The Bill is now ready for debate by the Committee of the Whole House. In this debate members have chances to make short speeches and debate the provisions of the Bill. These debates are a chance to examine the Bill in detail. Ministers and members can propose changes. These changes may be published before the debate in a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP).   

Full details are available on the Ministry for the Environment’s website:

www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/waste/

Packaging Council Position

The Packaging Council entered a comprehensive submission on the SOP to the Waste Bill and presented its submission to the Select Committee on the 8th November 2007.  The key recommendations we made to the Select Committee were:

• Broaden the definition of a product to allow the packaging itself to be defined as a product and be part of its own product stewardship scheme.
• Publish a list of recognised voluntary product stewardship schemes and grant those schemes amnesty from the priority product list and regulation.
• Exempt waste generated from recycling from any waste disposal levy.
• Any levied funds should be 100% contestable.  50% should not be given to local authorities as of right.
• The proposed Waste Advisory Board undertakes a national strategic and economic assessment of waste management to identify where additional funding is required and at what level that funding needs to be to achieve the desired outcome.
• Expand the proposed Waste Advisory Board to recognise that industry as a whole is a user of products and materials and a disposer of waste, whilst the commercial waste industry is a collector and processor of waste.  These are two different perspectives and both should be recognised to provide balance.
• Territorial authorities must take into account any existing regulations or product stewardship schemes when making a new bylaw or amending an existing bylaw.

Click here to download a copy of the Packaging Council’s written submission on the Waste Minimisation & Resource Recovery Bill.

Click here to download a copy of the Packaging Council’s oral submission on the Waste Minimisation & Resource Recovery Bill, presented to the Select Committee in November 2007.

Independent Cost Benefit Analysis

Click here to download Covec’s independent economic cost benefit analysis of the product stewardship provisions of the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill, specifically assessing the costs of the mandatory deposit fee and compulsory retailer take back provisions.

See also the Packaging Council’s position on container deposits and waste levies.

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TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

77 Greenmount Drive, East Tamaki, Manukau
PO Box 58899, Greenmount, Auckland
PHONE 09 271 4044, FAX 09 271 4041
EMAIL: pac.nz@packaging.org.nz