Thousands of New Zealanders have their say on plastic bags

Submissions are rolling in from across New Zealand on the Government’s proposed phase-out of single-use plastic shopping bags, with more than 4,000 received so far.

Now with just over a week of the consultation to go, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage is encouraging all Kiwis who want to have their say on this issue, to do so.

“New Zealanders have called on the Government to take action on single-use plastic bags, and we’ve listened. Earlier this year I received a petition signed by 65,000 people calling for an outright ban on these bags.

“This consultation is important to ensure we get things right. We want to hear from as many people as possible about factors like how fast we move and which types of plastic bags are included in the mandatory phase out.

“Ultimately phasing out single-use plastic shopping bags will mean a change for all New Zealanders when they purchase their groceries and other retail goods. This is an opportunity for people to have their say on how New Zealand makes this change.

“We use hundreds of millions of single-use plastic shopping bags every year in New Zealand. Far too many of these end up in the environment, particularly our marine environments where they are harming marine life and entering the food chain, which is a real concern for human health.

“Many other countries have taken action on plastic bags and I am confident we can do this. We need to ensure the way we make the change is right for the New Zealand context – that’s why submissions are so important and I encourage people to have their say.”

Submissions are open until Friday 14 September. To have your say visit www.mfe.govt.nz.

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing New Zealand.

Action

Save Auckland's Climate Budget

Sign the petition to stop Mayor Wayne Brown's proposal for dangerous cuts to climate and environmental programmes that protect us from extreme weat...

Action

No New Mines 2023

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Trains for Climate

Add your name to our open letter urging the Minister for Finance Grant Robertson to save our passenger trains between Wellington, the Wairarapa and...

Action

Healthy Oceans 2022

Join our Healthy Oceans Crew to help us keep the health and protection of our oceans high on the Labour Government’s political agenda.

Action

It's time: A Ministry for Rainbow Communities

Join our call asking the Prime Minister to establish a Ministry for Rainbow Communities that can champion Rainbow issues.

Action

No new mines on conservation land

Sign the open letter asking Labour Ministers to stick to their promise of banning new mining projects on conservation land.

Action

Allow community ownership of our buses

Public transport is an essential service and helps to tackle the climate crisis by reducing our carbon emissions. But there are barriers to communi...

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Environment Announcements

Story

NZ needs strong protection against water privatisation

New Zealanders deserve strong protection against the future privatisation of water assets, the Green Party says.

Nature missing in RMA reform

The Government has missed a crucial opportunity to redesign the resource management system with climate and nature at its heart.

Report shows reducing actual farming emissions vital

Evidence shows that relying on offsets to reduce agriculture’s impact on the climate will not work, the Green Party says.

Budget 2022: Greens call for urgency with nature-first climate investments

Budget 2022 shows progress on conservation commitments in the Green Party’s cooperation agreement Green Party achievements in the last Government ...

Nature needs us to act right now

The Green Party welcomes the release of the implementation plan for Te Mana o te Taiao Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy and calls on the ...

Urgent action needed to bring natural environment back from the brink

The release today of Environment Aotearoa 2022 is a sobering reminder of what is at stake if the Government does not step up and take urgent action...

Story

Container return scheme will benefit recycling and the oceans

The work Green Ministers did last term is continuing to make a difference, with the announcement today that the Government is planning to introduce...

Waste strategy needs to learn from nature

Anything less than a transformational national waste strategy and waste legislation will not be enough, the Green Party said today.

Greens welcome progress on hard to recycle and single use plastics, but more needs to be done

The Green Party welcomes progress on the phase-out of some hard to recycle plastics and some single-use plastics, but says more must be done.

More action on waste – Government funds recycling infrastructure, moves to standardise kerbside collections

$36.7m Government investment in high-tech recycling plants nationwide Plan to standardise and improve the nation’s kerbside collections As part o...

New rules for the outdoor storage of tyres

The Government is introducing environmental standards for tyres stored outdoors announced Associate Minister for the Environment, Eugenie Sage. “A ...

Government announces plan to tackle problem plastics and seven single-use plastic items

Following the success of the phase out of single-use plastic shopping bags, the Government now has plans to phase out more single-use and problem p...