At an event in Auckland today 12 local and international businesses signed a declaration to tackle plastic waste, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced. The businesses chose World Environment Day today, with its theme of “Beat Plastic Pollution”, to commit to using 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging in their New Zealand operations by 2025 or earlier. New Zealand-based businesses that signed the NZ Plastic Packaging Declaration are Foodstuffs, Countdown, New Zealand Post and Frucor Suntory. Other businesses include...

Children will learn about waste and recycling with a Sustainability Trust-run programme getting a $157,000 grant from the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The Minister also announced $100,000 for Environment Hubs Aotearoa from the Community Environment Fund. “The Sustainability Trust’s new “Your Sustainable School” programme will improve waste and recycling infrastructure at primary schools in the Wellington region, and help the whole school community develop a zero-waste culture,” Eugenie Sage said. “Across New Zealand...

Children will learn about waste and recycling with a Sustainability Trust-run programme getting a $157,000 grant from the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The Minister also announced $100,000 for Environment Hubs Aotearoa from the Community Environment Fund. “The Sustainability Trust’s new “Your Sustainable School” programme will improve waste and recycling infrastructure at primary schools in the Wellington region, and help the whole school community develop a zero-waste culture,” Eugenie Sage said. “Across New Zealand...

A taskforce is being set up to deal with the impact of the Chinese Government’s ban on the import of many recycling materials, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. Introduced last year, the Chinese regulations banned the import of some types of waste materials including mixed recyclables. New Zealand is one of many countries impacted, and faces similar issues to Australia. New Zealand had been sending 15 million kg to China annually – mainly mixed paper and mixed plastics...

  Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announced funding to increase E-waste recycling and avoid it ending up in landfills. “Auckland company Mint Innovation use chemistry and microbiology processes to recover valuable metals from electronic waste such as mobile phones and computers.  Mint are conducting a technical feasibility study for deployment of the technology in New Zealand using a $80,000 grant from the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF),” Eugenie Sage said. “Tackling E-waste is one of my key priorities as...

Plastic recycling company Astron is getting $500,000 under the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund to expand its plastic recycling facility in New Zealand, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. “The Government is committed to reducing the amount of waste going to landfill or being shipped offshore,” Eugenie Sage said. “Improving our onshore ability to recycle plastics into new, useful products is really important, particularly given the pressures on the recycling export sector with reduced markets and lower prices for exporting...

Recycling just got smarter and brighter with new cleverly designed bins to improve recycling and collection launched by Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today. In the Wellington CBD Eugenie Sage launched a set of four smart bins, one of 10 sets being rolled out across the city under a pilot initiative, which is part of a $1.7 million grant provided to The Packaging Forum from the Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF). “The new locally made bins stand out from the crowd...

A facility to recycle tyres and a project to reuse old photocopier toner are getting off the ground with support from the Waste Minimisation Fund, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage said today. “These projects take waste that would have gone to landfills and use it for something useful. They are great examples of what needs to happen more in New Zealand,” Ms Sage said. “Significantly reducing waste going to landfill by 2020 is a goal of the Green Party’s confidence...

Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today pledged to take action on plastic bags when she accepted a petition signed by over 65,000 people along with a letter from Greenpeace. “Since I took on this portfolio I have been struck by how much New Zealanders really care about the harmful impacts of single use plastic bags. The message I’ve got is that it’s time for change,” Ms Sage said. “The previous National Government ignored this problem when a similar petition by...

New Zealand’s position as 10th worst nation for creating urban waste per capita is shameful, says Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage, who will review how the Waste Minimisation Act is being implemented. Recent news reports have highlighted World Bank data which puts New Zealand at number 10 on a list of countries creating the most urban waste. “Significantly reducing waste going to landfill by 2020 is a key goal of the Green Party’s confidence and supply agreement with Labour and...