Photo: https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz
New Zealand currently has one of the highest rates of waste production per capita in the developed world and it's not likely to have its own recycling infrastructure until at least 2030. Things are looking up, earlier this week the government announced $124 million for onshore recycling plants. To pay for it, the government will expand the waste levy six fold by 2025, gradually pushing up what it costs to take rubbish to the tip. Yet advocates say if the government wants to bring about systemic change it must introduce an overarching national strategy. The Minister of the Environment Eugenie Sage has told Nine to Noon a waste strategy is in the work plan. Meanwhile, fewer types of plastic are being recycled, with Wellington City Council, the latest to announce it will only recycle plastics 1, 2 and 5 from Monday July 20th. Lynn Freeman talks to Local Government New Zealand President Dave Cull, WasteMINZ chief executive Janine Brinsdon and Wellington City Council Waste Operations Manager Emily Taylor-Hall about what the strategy should look like.
