How did we get here?

Published: 2009-04-21 By: Sue Coutts
Campaign: GetReal - Packaging is a priority
Category: Backgrounders

 

Way back at the beginning of the century all kinds of people worked together to create the NZ Waste Strategy  to move towards Zero Waste and a Sustainable New Zealand. It’s a great document full of splendid principles and policies.

 

Sadly the strategy has never been implemented properly. Some people, organisations and businesses got right behind it and did what they could with the resources they had.

 

Others have spent the last 7 years sitting on their hands, carefully explaining why they can’t, why they won’t and why they shouldn’t have to change their ways.

 

The Ministry for the Environment got busy with other things and waste issues pretty much slipped off the radar. The government made little progress towards the strategy’s targets, favoured voluntary action over other economic tools, was found wanting by international studies, and favoured managing waste over reducing it.

 

We badly needed a legal framework to back up the strategy.

 

Luckily for us all the Green Partiy's Waste Minimisation Bill was drawn out of the hat, went through the due parliamentary process and became an Act in September 2008. The Bill was supported by all the major parties. A collaborative approach was taken by those involved in the select committee process. They worked for sustainability rather than against each other. People from all over the country made submissions to make sure the act would contain effective tools for reducing waste.

 

But at the last minute, the government is wimping out on implementing the act. The strongest tool in the act, the product stewardship provisions, are being put into practice in a way that makes them pretty much useless.

 

We agree with Nick Smith that; “to reduce waste, we need stronger national leadership and businesses and communities need the right incentives”. P27 http://www.bluegreens.org.nz/discussion.html

 

This National Government is saying one thing and doing the opposite.

Down our way, we call that taking the piss.