What is Council doing to find a long-term solution for recycling?

Change requires a collaborative approach involving councils, producers, manufacturers and the community, with central government as the key enabler.

In 2020, we supported the Local Government Waste Manifesto as a remit at the Local Government New Zealand conference. Since then, central government has put out several key pieces of work, including a draft Waste Strategy, a work strategy for the motu to 2050, and a proposal to introduce a Container Return Scheme (bottle deposits) and to Standardise Kerbside Collection services. CODC has made submissions to support these proposals whilst highlighting the unique challenges for recycling and waste minimisation faced by rural populations without ready access to waste and recycling infrastructure.

Central government has a programme to phase out the use of hard-to-recycle and single-use plastics within Aotearoa New Zealand. The first of these bans came into effect in October 2022. The following items will not be allowed to be imported into or sold within the country:

• PVC food trays and containers for produce, baked goods and meat
• Polystyrene and expanded polystyrene takeaway food and drink packaging
• Plastic with chemical additives designed to physically breakdown, e.g. ox-degradable and photo-degradable plastics
• Plastic drink stirrers
• Plastic stemmed cotton buds

CODC is also working with our neighbouring districts and at a regional level to ensure we work to support the vision of our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan - Towards Zero Waste and a Sustainable Central Otago.