Nick Smith - 8 March,
2012 - New Zealand’s priority at the United
Nations Rio+20 Summit in June will be on
improving environmental management of oceans
and opportunities from greening growth,
Environment Minister Nick Smith said when
opening the United Nations Association New
Zealand Conference in Wellington today.
“We are putting strong emphasis on oceans
in New Zealand’s contribution to Rio+20
because it is so important for our part
of the world and more needs to be done globally
to protect the marine environment. Our concern
is that illegal, unreported and unregulated
fishing continues unchecked and often supported
by Government subsidy.”
“New Zealand will also be promoting its
ideas around greening growth at the Rio+20
Summit. We have a real contribution to make
noting our ranking as best performer in
the 2011 Global Green Growth Index. The
global community, in these difficult times,
needs to focus on policies that enable improved
living standards and incomes while ensuring
better stewardship of natural resources.”
“We will be particularly active in advocating
for reform of fossil fuel subsidies. The
debate on carbon pricing to reduce emissions
is undermined by global subsidies of $500
billion per year of fossil fuels. There
is real opportunity for significant emissions
reductions and saving for governments from
removing these distorting subsidies.”
“Real gains were made at the original Rio
Earth Summit with conventions on climate
change, biodiversity and desertification.
Our ambition for Rio+20 is for progress
to be made on improving management of our
oceans and on greening global economic growth,”
Dr Smith says.
+ More
Tyre recycling initiative
announced
Nick Smith - 14 March,
2012 - Government will provide funding of
$133,000 to the Product Stewardship Foundation
to explore recycling options for used tyres,
Environment Minister Nick Smith announced
today.
“This funding will be used by the Foundation
to work with tyre industry importers and
retailers to identify the best way for New
Zealand to recycle and re-use our used tyres,”
Dr Smith says.
“We have a significant environmental problem
in New Zealand with the disposal of about
4 million tyres annually at the end of their
useful life. 85% of those tyres end up in
landfills where they leach contaminates
that pose a long term risk to the environment.
We need to find economic ways in which these
used tyres can be put to better use.”
“This project is about trying to find a
cost effective and more environmentally
friendly solution to tyre waste. Possibilities
include processing the tyres for road surfacing
products, converting them into floor tiles,
useable fuels and recycling the steel.”
The Motor Trade Association has taken a
lead in bringing vehicle and tyre industry
importers and retailers together, with help
from project manager, 3R Group. The working
group will look at schemes in other countries
and develop options and guiding principles
for New Zealand. Recyclers and local authorities
will also be consulted on preferred options.
“Many countries have product stewardship
schemes that enable a high proportion of
used tyres to be recycled into alternative
products. I am open minded about using the
Waste Minimisation Act powers to declare
a priority product to enable such a scheme
to operate here. This project is about working
with industry to see whether a cost-effective
solution can be found,” Dr Smith said.
The Government expects to receive the report
detailing options by April 2013.
