Product
stewardship
We have been working on the development of a policy
framework for product stewardship for some time.
In July 2005 we sought comment on a discussion
document outlining the issues involved with product
stewardship and some of the options the government
could consider. In this discussion document, Government
stated a preference for voluntary schemes with
backstop legislation.
See the discussion document
Product Stewardship and Water Efficiency Labelling
for more information.
The Ministry will report to
cabinet by the end of July. Following that, we
will be coming back to stakeholders to continue
the stakeholder engagement process.
Waste levies
The government has asked the Ministry for the
Environment to provide advice on options for waste
levies in New Zealand by the end of July 2006.
The options that the Ministry is looking at are:
having a national waste levy
in New Zealand
having local waste levies in New Zealand
having no levy.
The Ministry is looking at how a waste levy could
work, and how it can complement product stewardship
schemes to drive waste minimisation.
To date, the Ministry has:
sought views on a levy for New
Zealand (Issues Associated with a Levy on Solid
Waste – A Review of Positions and Possibilities)
started work on issues and options for waste levies
in New Zealand. We are currently working to a
timetable of providing preliminary advice to the
government by the end of July.
As part of the policy work on waste levies the
Ministry has also facilitated a process between
Waitakere City, North Shore City, Christchurch
City and Rodney District Councils; and Waste Management
Ltd, Envirowaste Ltd and Charter Holt Harvey Ltd,
as the parties to the recent High Court case which
found the local levies were ultra vires to see
what, if any, common ground these was between
them in terms of waste levies.
This has resulted in all parties
confirming their desire for some form of waste
levy to fund waste minimisation activities to
divert waste from landfills. This group also strongly
prefers that any levy be a implemented nationally
rather than locally.
On the basis of this agreement
on a national waste levy, the parties have developed
a draft national waste levy proposal and intend
to present this to the Minister for the Environment
as an option for consideration in the wider policy
work being conducted by the Ministry. You can
view their joint proposal and offer comment at
WasteMINZ until 16 June 2006.
The process around this joint
proposal from now is likely to involve:
WasteMINZ collects all comments
on the proposal and passes them on to the councils
and waste companies involved for consideration
by Mid June
The parties that drafted the proposal will finalise
their document based on feedback from the web
site and from any meetings held
They will then provide the final joint proposal
to the Environment Minister for consideration
by the end of June
The Ministry for the Environment will provide
the Environment Minister with a recommendation
on the proposal as part of its advice to government
by the end of July.
Meanwhile, the Ministry will undertake further
work:
The Ministry will work with
stakeholders to consider the potential for ‘perverse’
outcomes through the application of a levy on
waste
The Ministry will also work with stakeholders
to consider criteria for allocating any fund that
may become available through the collection of
a levy
The Ministry will work with stakeholders to consider
the relationship between product stewardship and
waste levies.
Green Party Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill
The Green Party has put forward a Private Members
Bill covering the management of solid waste (Waste
Minimisation (Solids) Bill). The Ministry has
been asked to brief the government on this Bill.
A Private Members Bill is introduced
by an MP who is not a Minister and is selected
for consideration by Parliament through being
drawn from a ballot. If a Bill is passed through
to Select Committee after its first reading, there
is an opportunity for interested parties to make
submissions.
For more information on the
parliamentary process see Office of the Clerk
of the House of Representatives.
In his speech to the New Zealand
Paperboard Packaging Association on 25 May 2006,
the Environment Minister has said the following
on this Bill:
“The purpose of the Bill and
the principles behind it are broadly compatible
with the Government’s waste policy as articulated
in the New Zealand Waste Strategy.
This Bill, however, is concerned
only with solid waste and many, including me,
consider that it is excessively detailed and prescriptive.
We have, after all, made huge progress on waste
issues already using voluntary approaches, which
I strongly support.
The provisions of the Bill cover
a number of policy elements already under consideration
by the Government, such as waste levies and product
stewardship, and could provide a statutory basis
for these initiatives.
We need to explore how we could
work with this Bill to take forward some of our
initiatives and what the views of the community
are on those issues.
The Government will, therefore,
be supporting the Waste Minimisation Bill through
to the Select Committee stage. I strongly encourage
you to participate in the Select Committee process
and to make submissions that clearly argue your
interests.”
If the Bill is referred to the
Select Committee then the timing of the Ministry’s
report back to the government on both waste levies
(end of July) and Product Stewardship policy (end
of July) could change.
Questions and answers about
the current issues
Who is developing the proposal for a waste levy
at the moment?
Some local councils are, together with representatives
from the waste industry. The Ministry for the
Environment initially facilitated this process
– by bringing these parties together and helping
shape their discussions. The Waste Management
Institute of New Zealand (WasteMINZ) and Local
Government New Zealand are also playing a facilitation
role.
What is the role of the Ministry
for the Environment?
The Ministry for the Environment has been asked
to provide advice on a range of options for waste
levies in New Zealand by the end of July 2006.
The options that the Ministry is looking at are:
having a national waste levy
in New Zealand
having local waste levies in New Zealand
having no levy.
What is the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill?
The Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill is a Private
Members Bill introduced by Nandor Tanzcos, MP
for the Green Party. The Waste Minimisation (Solids)
Bill was drawn from the ballot on 4 May and is
currently waiting for its first reading in Parliament.
Private Members Bills are normally sent to Select
Committee for consideration following the first
reading.
A Private Members Bill is introduced
by an MP who is not a Minister and is selected
for consideration by Parliament through being
drawn from a ballot.
For more information on the
parliamentary process see Office of the Clerk
of the House of Representatives.
The Green Party Waste Minimisation
Bill - synopsis is also available.
What is the relationship between
waste levies, product stewardship and the New
Zealand Waste Strategy?
The government is committed to the New Zealand
Waste Strategy (NZWS) as the overarching framework
to minimise the impact of waste on society and
the environment.
Product Stewardship (as ‘extended
producer responsibility’) and waste levies are
both tools that were signalled in the NZWS that
would be worth considering to provide the policy
framework to help meet the targets of the strategy.
A waste levy is a broad tool
that seeks to reduce waste of all types going
to landfill by encouraging users to consider other
options for disposal. In addition, waste levies
may provide a fund to assist the setup of product
stewardship schemes or support the development
of recycling initiatives.
Product stewardship on the other
hand is a more focused tool that would apply to
specific products. Product stewardship encourages
business to consider impacts of their products
throughout the lifecycle of the product and encourages
the most efficient means of minimising these impacts.
It encourages material efficiency, innovation
and good design and enables all players in the
product lifecycle to take responsibility for keeping
it out of landfill.
Far from being ‘one or the other’,
waste levies and product stewardship are complementary
tools which both seek to improve productivity
and resource efficiency. Product stewardship and
waste levies have successfully run side by side
in other countries for a number of years.
Is the Packaging Accord off
the table?
The government remains very much committed to
existing voluntary initiatives such as the Packaging
Accord. The proposed framework for product stewardship
is designed to support this type of voluntary
arrangement. Waste levies may provide a fund to
assist the setup of product stewardship schemes
or support the development of recycling initiatives.
What is happening with the development
of product stewardship policy?
The product stewardship policy development programme
is on track. The Ministry will report to cabinet
by the end of July. Following that, we will be
coming back to stakeholders to continue the stakeholder
engagement process.
A Monitoring and Reporting Strategy
for the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord April
2006; ME735
Many factors affect water quality
and aquatic life in waterways, such as weather,
soil type, and other land uses. This makes it
difficult to find out how the environment benefits
from the actions taken under the Accord. Another
difficulty is the timescale over which improvements
might be seen.
To date, the environmental impacts
of implementing Accord targets have not been measured.
In the process of developing
a Dairying and Clean Streams Accord monitoring
and reporting strategy, many issues were considered.
A strategy was recommended that assesses the environmental
benefits of the Accord.
The strategy is a mixture of
existing, modified, and new monitoring across
the country.
All available monitoring information
was assessed during the writing of the strategy.
As far as possible, existing monitoring programmes
(such as the Dairying Best-Practice Catchment
Studies and regional council State of the Environment
monitoring programmes) were used or built upon
to provide the best possible indication of Accord
benefits for waterways.
The strategy recommends
a suite of monitoring including:
Data from the four Dairying
Best-Practice Catchments in Waikato, Taranaki,
Canterbury, and Southland
Monitoring waterways in eight ‘tier two’ catchments.
These catchments are Accord specific, and have
been set up in predominantly dairying catchments
around the country. Regional councils will look
at changes in water quality and aquatic life changes
over time, and link this to the changes in farm
management as a result of farmers implementing
the five Accord targets
Gathering data from specific case studies, such
as the effects of constructing a bridge or culvert
where stock regularly cross a waterway.
This ‘three-pronged’ approach is designed to obtain
the best possible picture of the benefits of the
work farmers and Accord partners are doing to
meet Accord targets and objectives.
The Ministry for the Environment
is working closely with regional councils to develop
and monitor the ‘tier two’ catchments. Regional
councils will start to monitor in these catchments
in mid 2006.
A report prepared under the
monitoring and reporting strategy and giving the
current state of waterways, will be published
by the Ministry in 2007. This will be followed
up by a second report in 2012, coinciding with
the final date set for farmers to achieve the
five Accord targets.
The strategy also contains a
number of recommendations which have not been
directly actioned. Rather, these recommendations
have been fed into other areas of the Accord,
like Fonterra’s annual On-Farm Environment and
Animal Welfare Assessment Survey, in order to
improve the information gathered.
