This issue is top of mind for many in Dunedin dealing with the end of life of the Green Island Landfill and the proposed new site.
While we need to stop generating so much waste we also need to do much better with recycling.
Last week in Parliament I asked the Minister for the Environment, the Hon David Parker, about new proposals to improve recycling in New Zealand.
His reply referenced the sheer amount of waste that New Zealand produces each year (17million tonnes), of which two-thirds (13million tonnes) is sent to landfill.
Other developed countries like Germany, Austria, and Wales do much better, recycling half of all ‘‘waste’’.
About 2.5billion drink containers are sold every year in New Zealand.
Less than half of these containers are recycled, meaning that more than one billion containers end up as litter, are stockpiled, or
sent to landfill each year.
The Government is proposing a container return scheme to help increase the level of drink containers being recycled by including a financial incentive.
This could be a 20-cent refund when containers are placed in a reverse-vending machine.
Minister Parker also announced that the Government is moving to standardise kerbside collection around the motu in a bid to reduce confusion and help businesses design packaging that is recyclable anywhere in the country. This will also include kerbside collection of food scraps and potentially garden waste.
A third proposal relates to business food waste. Food waste can emit biogenic methane, which is a climate change gas that the Climate Commission has identified as something that can be reduced.
The proposal is to divert businesses’ food waste so that it does not go to landfill and is instead used to improve our soil or feed animals.
These proposals are on the Ministry for the Environment’s webpage: https://environment.govt.nz/news/transforming-recycling/ and submissions are sought until May 8.
Action to improve waste and recycling is something the Dunedin City Council is focused on, with consultation on a new bin system last year and adoption of a ‘‘four-bins-plus-one’’ option for 2023.
The four-bins-plus-one option is:
Keep blue crate for glass and yellow-lidded recycling bin.
Replace the current black rubbish bag with a red-lidded wheelie bin.
Separate food bin.
Optional garden waste bin paid for separately.
I’m excited to see the impact these changes will make.
We can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in many ways, and reforming our waste and recycling system is just one step towards creating a zero-carbon future for New Zealand.
And reduced waste reduces the need for landfills.
