2020 election: workers pledge to phase out single-use plastics by 2025

Labor wants to see an end to single-use plastics and vows to ban straws, silverware, cotton buds and fruit stickers by 2025 if they are re-elected.

Other single-use plastics that currently have no alternative will be the focus of a $ 50 million research fund.

The Labor Party also promises to standardize curbside recycling across the country as part of its waste policy.

It was introduced by Labor leader Jacinda Ardern and environmental spokesperson David Parker at the Sustainable Coastlines charity in Auckland this morning.

Ardern said 61 percent of the waste found on our beaches was plastic and Sustainable Coastlines collected 23,200 plastic straws on Auckland beaches alone.

Ardern has previously made the ban on single-use plastics a “personal priority.”

“Getting rid of plastics is one of the main topics that children write to me about, so this policy is about ensuring that we keep our green image clean, reduce waste in our environment and create a future that our children can be proud, “Ardern said.

The single-use plastics ban could apply before 2025 for some items that already have non-plastic replacements, such as produce bags, silverware and straws, though there would be an exemption for people with disabilities.

Ardern said the ban was based on the ban on plastic bags and promised that there would be adequate preparation time.

“Companies were given enough notice to phase out the use of plastic bags and that went smoothly.

“Many companies are already using plastic alternatives and it is likely that by pointing to these changes we will see more companies making the switch,” Ardern said.

Some of the current alternatives include:

• PVC and polystyrene packaging: cardboard or type 1 and 2 plastic packaging, or
reusable packaging.
• Straws: paper straws, reusable straws or without straws.
• Drink stirrers: wooden drink stirrers or reusable spoons.
• Crockery, glasses and cutlery: paper or wood-based products or reusable items.
• Produce bags: reusable bags, not bags.
• Produce stickers: stickers, signs and stamps of compostable products.
• Cotton swabs: paper swabs.

In addition, Labor would establish a $ 50 million fund to help New Zealand companies develop and manufacture non-plastic alternatives, particularly for single-use, hard-to-recycle products.

The Plastics Innovation Fund would provide grants and loans to researchers or companies who may rethink their plastic products.

It was one of the recommendations included in the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand report published by the Prime Minister’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard.

Parker said Labor would also “take steps” to get more recycling done locally, creating jobs and reducing the amount of garbage sent abroad.

That would build on the $ 124 million already committed for waste infrastructure by the government, he said.

“Work has begun on six priority ‘product stewardship schemes’ in which a producer or seller of a product takes responsibility for reducing the environmental impact of their products.

“Those priorities are plastic containers, tires, electronic waste, agrochemicals and their containers, refrigerants and agricultural plastics.

“We hope we can implement the regulations for these schemes starting next year. Then Labor will look for more products that we can better manage through mandatory product stewardship schemes.”

“We will also continue to work on a deposit return scheme for beverage containers, as a step towards reducing the volume of single-use containers.”

Priorities to reduce waste would include:

• Additional optical and mechanical sorters to improve our recycling efficiency
collection.
• Facilities for processing products that we do not currently recycle on land, including
plastics and construction and demolition waste.
• Gas capture technology to reduce emissions from our waste.
• Divert food waste from landfill.
• Improved fiber recycling capacity on land.
• Establishment of the Plastics Innovation Fund to develop alternatives to plastics,
especially for single-use and difficult-to-recycle plastic products.
• Support more product stewardship schemes.

It would also seek to standardize the collection of recyclable materials on the sidewalk, as recommended by a report from the Ministry of the Environment and Waste MINZ, by:

• Collect plastics 1, 2 and 5, metal, glass, cardboard and paper throughout the
country.
• Encourage the collection of food waste.
• Collect the glass separately for other recycling.
• Provide guidance on best practices to councils.

Labor’s waste plan would be paid for with the waste tax that is already in effect and is expected to generate $ 276 million per year by 2024. Half of it would be protected for city councils to help with the costs of waste management.

The other half would go to initiatives that promote or achieve waste minimization, including the $ 50 million Plastics Innovation Fund.