Photo: RNZ
An unlikely coalition of more than 80 companies, councils and not-for-profit organisations is urging the government to introduce a long-awaited recycling scheme.
The Container Return Schemes (CRS) would see consumers pay a small deposit when purchasing any glass, plastic or tetrapack drink container, redeemable when the container is returned to a retailer or recycling centre.
The scheme, a version of which - for glass bottles - was in place In New Zealand until the 1980s, has been discussed for decades.
Over 2.5 billion drink bottles, cans and cartons are sold in New Zealand each year, but fewer than half of these are collected for recycling.
The scheme, which was part of the previous government's election manifesto and formed part of the coalition agreement with the Greens, was due to be introduced until then-prime minister Chris Hipkins' policy purge saw it dropped in early 2023.
At the time, Hipkins said it was estimated the scheme would "add a small cost to the average household" that the government was reluctant to impose, but controversy surrounded the move after it was revealed by RNZ that Hipkin's new chief of staff had worked for lobbyists working to gut the scheme until a day before he started his role with the government.
Zero Waste Network spokesperson Sue Coutts said she's not concerned about big cost increases.
She said places overseas with CRS generally see "lower income households tending to return more containers than they buy".
"They might be gathering containers for fundraising or they might make sure they return all their own containers, in that way the cost of living impacts for low income households can be negligible."
It also provides opportunities for community to fundraise.
"If you want to support your local school or sports club, you might drop all your containers off to them, then they can take them back and claim the deposit."
Coutts said making the scheme mandatory would be a key element.
"That's the critical element - everyone who puts drink bottles and cans and cartons out into the New Zealand market would be required to participate. We see very poor results from voluntary schemes. It really does take government regulation to make sure everyone participates and that a decent amount of money is going into the system to cover the real cost of recycling.
"At the moment we're seeing ratepayers and councils subsidising the drink producers, giving them social licence through the kerbside recycling systems we have now."
Signatories to the letter include major retailers and manufacturers, industry groups and two dozen councils, spanning from the Far North to Dunedin.
"It's not that often we all share a common view, but we do all have a common interest in container return in that we want to see our recoiling rates increase, want to reduce litter and pollution, and want to see the recoiling that we collect made into recycled content and new product," Coutts said.
Minister for the Environment Penny Simmonds said she intends to reform legislation so New Zealand has "fit-for-purpose, modern waste legislation that gives us more options and flexibility to reduce and manage waste", but that Cabinet would make the final decision.
She said she's been meeting with stakeholders on a container return scheme.
"I understand some of the design aspects can be contentious. In any case, the cost-of-living implications for households is a key consideration for any proposal," Simmonds said.
Advice from the Ministry for the Environment in 2022 estimated direct financial benefits of a CRS to local government at $50 million in the first year through reduced kerbside collection and landfill and litter costs.
The paper also noted New Zealand's low recycling rate, and high occurrence of littering - of which drink containers make up almost 70 percent of all recognisable branded litter in New Zealand.
Overseas, some Container Return Schemes achieve 90 percent recycling rates, Coutts said.
The model the group is proposing would see a widespread network of return sites, like larger supermarkets, as well as drop off points and depots, such as local recycling centres.
There is a high level of public support for a scheme, with recent surveys finding upwards of 80 percent of respondents in support of the move, Coutts said.
New Zealand has a poor record on recycling, featuring way down the international league table for the amount of waste that goes to landfill.
The move comes amid growing disquiet over recycling, as more information comes to light regarding the strategic promotion of recycling by the petrochemical industry to counter public push back on plastics.
The majority of plastic cannot be recycled, and the global recycling rate has never surpassed 9 percent.
Last year, the California Attorney General sued Exxon Mobil for its role in deceiving the public about plastic recycling and chemical recycling, and pressure is mounting on other lawmakers to do the same.
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