Submission on the Proposals to Amend the Wast Minimisation Act 2008 (WMA) and the Litter Act 1979

1 June 2025

Ministry for the Environment

Manatū mō te Taiao

PO Box 10362

Wellington 6143, New Zealand

E-mail: wasteamendment@mfe.govt.nz

Tēnā koutou katoa,

Re: Submission on proposals to amend the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (WMA) and the Litter Act 1979

The Federation of Business and Professional Women New Zealand (BPW NZ) seeks solutions to reduce emissions and address climate change, noting it impacts women and girls disproportionately. We are more vulnerable, constituting the majority of the world’s poor and are more likely to have roles in agriculture, water management and household responsibilities, particularly in developing countries. Social, political and economic barriers compound women and girls’ ability to respond to the consequences that climate change will have on their lives.

We support proposals to amend to create fit-for-purpose, modern waste legislation that gives us more options and flexibility to reduce and manage waste effectively and efficiently.

Food and all manner of goods produced in New Zealand and many goods imported into New Zealand are supplied to suppliers and consumers with excessive packaging (including many very small goods which are imported being individually wrapped).

All of this packaging has to be disposed of in some way; much of it is dumped and a proportion of food wrapping becomes litter. There is a limited ability to recycle and reuse in New Zealand and so a great proportion is discarded to naturally ‘break down’. Some packaging may never break down.

Excessive packaging adds to the cost of goods at all stages of the marketing chain. Profits from much of the paper and cardboard packaging go ‘off shore’ and do not directly benefit New Zealand. The manufacture of plastic packaging is in itself a pollutant process.

For over twenty-five years, BPW NZ has had policy on waste management. This includes urging regional councils and their territorial local authorities to have adopted a zero Waste or Waste Minimisation Programme.

We have called for action in the product stewardship space. Specifically, we urge the Minister for the Environment to fast track legislation on Product Stewardship, with the introduction of Product Stewardship principles into the NZ Waste Management landscape, with all parties concerned from producer, to importer, brand owner, retailer and others involved in putting a product and its packaging on the market, taking responsibility for the environmental impacts of that product throughout its life cycle. We call for this to be backed up by appropriate legislation to ensure compliance and equity among industry participants and that the time frame for this be three to a maximum of five years.

We also have policy on waste minimisation, asking the government to build on existing initiatives and legislation and implement national waste minimisation and management strategies.

We also have a product stewardship policy specific to plastics, that urges the Government to include plastic containers as a priority product for product stewardship under the Waste Minimisation Act.

Our Organisation

BPW NZ is an affiliate of BPW International. BPW International is one of the most influential international networks of business and professional women with affiliates in over 120 countries in five continents. BPW International has General Consultative Status at the United Nations through the UN Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC). This enables BPW International to appoint official representatives to UN agencies worldwide and to accredit members to attend specific UN meetings.

Our submission is informed by our government’s commitments to United Nations mechanisms, including the:

• Beijing Platform for Action

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

• United Nations Global Compact

• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Thank you for the opportunity to provide our submission and we hope that our comments are of use.  BPW NZ would like to be involved in more consultation engagements should they occur and we would appreciate the opportunity to continue to offer a voice for women in your work. We ask that as much notice as possible is provided for invitations, this gives us time to engage with our membership and provide more informed input.

On behalf of New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women Inc.

Janet Gibb, President

BPW New Zealand