New Zealand Herald
MP claims full support for levy on landfill waste
5:00AM Tuesday April 08, 2008
Green MP Nandor Tanczos says he has been given unanimous support from a select committee for his Waste Minimisation Bill that includes a $10-a-tonne levy on waste going to landfills.
Mr Tanczos said yesterday the bill was being supported by Labour and National and he expected to get support from most other parties.
Mr Tanczos introduced his bill into Parliament in 2006. But last year he said it would be changed, with the Government's agreement, so its requirements were easier and less expensive to implement.
There were two rounds of public consultation and amendments, jointly worked on by the Green Party and the Government, before a supplementary order paper of changes was sent to the select committee for scrutiny.
The original bill drew 316 submissions and there were 125 submissions on the amendments. "The good thing is that just about everyone agreed we need to do something about all the resources we are tossing into landfills. The challenge has been agreeing what to do about it, but it seems we have got there."
He said the bill as reported back from the select committee included: * Provisions for product stewardship, where plans are made to dispose of products past their useful life. * A levy on waste going to landfills ($10 a tonne initially). * Creating a fund for waste minimisation that would be split between local authorities and a national contestable fund. * An independent Waste Advisory Board. * Mandatory reporting requirements on waste streams.
Mr Tanczos said the levy on waste going to landfills would be reviewed after two years then at least every three years after that. "There's a general feeling that it probably wants to be up around $30 a tonne to start generating a reasonable fund and also being a disincentive to landfilling." However, there was also a feeling it was better to start with a smaller levy and fund and build it up overtime.
Mr Tanczos said some might say his original bill had been watered down but he could only get through those elements he received majority support for. But he felt the "bones" of the original bill - like the levy on waste in landfills and product stewardship - were there.
"I think it will make a huge difference and have enormous benefit, even though perhaps we lost a few things along the way that I would like to have kept in." For instance, there had been resistance to creating a new bureaucracy with the Waste Advisory Board and he would have liked it to have more functions. The board's function would include advising on criteria for the contestable half of the fund created by the levy on waste and advice on what things should be priority products for the product stewardship. Mr Tanczos said priority products could include computer waste, compact fluorescent bulbs which contained mercury, waste oil, and agricultural chemicals.
The criteria for establishing a priority product were either that a product at the end of its life could cause significant environmental harm or that there were significant economic benefits to be gained from recovering the materials.
- NZPA
The Ministry for the Environment as released its new Guide to Product Stewardship for Non-priority Products in the Waste Minimisation Act 2008
The purpose of this document is to provide:
The intended audiences for this document are:
Guide to Product Stewardship for Non Priority Products
Demand for recycled goods is down, causing a billion dollar industry to lose much of its steam. But another byproduct of the recycling industry's downturn is the creation of new opportunities.
The Ministry for the Environment have released the criteria for the Waste Minimisation Fund
The purpose of the Waste Minimisation Fund is to boost New Zealand’s performance in waste minimisation. There is considerable scope to reduce waste and increase the recovery of useful resources from waste. Lifting our performance in recovering economic value from waste also provides environmental, social and cultural benefits and reduces the risks of harm from waste.
This will require investment in infrastructure and systems for waste minimisation and developing educational and promotional capacity. The purpose of the fund is to provide some of the funding to ensure that this occurs.
Thursday, 19 June 2008, Press Release: New Zealand Government
New waste legislation will offer economic incentives and rewards to businesses and councils who do their bit for waste reduction
Media Release 27th May 2008
The truck has been developed to collect some of the estimated 10 million plastic agrichemical containers disposed every year in New Zealand.
The Ministry for the Environment has released the Waste Minimisation in New Zealand Discussion paper
Click here to read the document
Click here to visit the MFE website
A national approach for dealing with Australia's e-waste is closer to being realised, with the public invited to comment on proposed strategies.
Business leaders, community groups and local government step up to the Government’s challenge to develop a new packaging product stewardship scheme for New Zealand
New Zealanders are almost evenly split over paying 10c an item extra at shops to recycle packaging.
New waste minimisation law allows for compulsory recycling schemes. Implementing one for containers is estimated to cost at least 10 cents per item, according to packaging industry research.
A new nationwide ShapeNZ survey of nearly 2,397 people shows the country is split 36% for to 34% against any new per-item tax. Some 23% are neutral and 8% are not sure.
A proposed bill in the California State Assembly would require producers of certain products and packaging to change the materials they use and develop better ways to deal with the products when they're disposed of.
A provincial agency is recommending Ontario scrap the $5 per tire "disposal" fee charged to drivers when they get rid of their old tires, and replace it with a levy charged to manufacturers and importers that they could pass on to consumers.
OTTAWA — The federal government is contemplating a $35-million recycling program to keep its obsolete and unwanted computers and other gear out of the country's landfills, say newly released documents.
A draft analysis by the Public Works Department says a federal scheme is needed because some provinces lack programs to allow Ottawa to safely dispose of its used computers, fax machines and cellular phones.
"A federal program is still necessary over the next five years to ensure the end of life management of federal government IT equipment as . . . there is no guarantee as to when all provinces and the territories will have take-back programs in place," says the analysis, drafted last September.
PANASONIC BACKS PSA'S PLEA FOR TV RECYCLING
By Matthew Henry
SYDNEY: Panasonic today ramped up pressure on the Rudd government to implement a national recycling scheme for old TVs, calling for an industry-funded scheme to be operational within three to four years.
Panasonic’s pledge to lobby for the scheme follows a recent letter by Product Stewardship Australia on behalf of leading TV brands expressing frustration and disappointment at environment minister Peter Garrett’s inaction on the proposed scheme.
Businesses need to focus on how to make the most of new opportunities driven by the growing shortage of local and world natural resources. The newly elected chair of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, Bob Field, also chair of Toyota NZ Limited, says the planet’s resources are being stretched as never before by a growing population and higher standards of living.
Efforts to establish a recycling scheme for unwanted computer equipment have hit a stumbling block, with "two or three" multinational computer manufacturers refusing to support a system under which they would pay a levy on imported computers.
Television manufacturers have proposed a levy of about $30 on imported televisions sets to pay for the cost of recycling, and an industry agreement on how to pay for the environmentally-safe disposal of unwanted computers looks within reach.
In September 2007, the government released a cabinet paper of proposed legislation for a national waste levy, product stewardship, reporting requirements on waste data and a consolidation of waste legislation in a new bill.
Hon Trevor Mallard Minister of Environment
15 April 2008 Speech Notes
Environment Minster Trevor Mallard's speech to the New Zealand Packaging Accord One Day Seminar, The Conference Centre, AUT Tech Park.
A new advisory board has been appointed to provide advice to the Environment Minister on issues relating to waste minimisation, Environment Minister Trevor Mallard said today.
Manufacturing companies are increasing differentiating themselves by using Life Cycle Management as a point of competitive advantage in international markets. By learning how to manage the life cycle of products more effectively, companies can realise market opportunities and simultaneously improve environmental performance.
To read more about Life Cycle Management please click here
The Life Cycle Management project is a five year programe that aims to build LCM capability among New Zealand manufacturing companies
Read more about the project, who is involved and what its aims are. lcm_leaflet_2 1.12 Mb
A US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on opportunities to cut greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions through improved management of materials and land notes that 37% of the country's total ghg emissions come from the provision and use of goods within the USA.
New Zealanders strongly support a levy on solid waste but they are divided on who should receive the money, according to survey results released by the Product Stewardship Foundation today.
The Product Stewardship Foundation (PSF) with New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development undertook a ShapeNZ survey of New Zealanders last week on Waste Levies and Product Stewardship. The survey had 2791 respondents with a margin of error of +/- 1.9%.
The challenge for business Organisations that understand that consumers are regarding them through a new green lens and respond to that shift will gain competitive advantage.
Read this interesting article from June 09 Managment magazine.
