Mallard Trevor: Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill — Second Reading 
Mallard Trevor: Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:647;Page:16729] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 I speak in support of the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill which I note has been returned to the House with unanimous support. I thank the Greens especially the departing member Nandor Tanczos and the Local Government and Environment Committee which put in a lot of hard work on the bill and considered over 300— 
Nathan Guy 
: You’re not leaving are you Trev? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think the member who was beaten by the schoolboy from Otaki had better be quiet; I would still be embarrassed if I were that member. 
The select committee considered over 300 submissions on the bill and another 125 on the Supplementary Order Paper. The result of that effort is legislation that is more workable and pragmatic. The Government wants this nation to be sustainable. The passing of this new waste minimisation legislation will help that to occur. It fits in with other work that the Labour-led Government is doing around fresh water amongst other things. 
Briefly this bill puts a levy on all waste disposal for landfill. It is initially set at $10 per tonne. I think it is fair to say that that amount is designed to set up the system and that at some stage it will go to a more realistic level. Revenue from the levy will be used to help communities and businesses address waste issues. The bill helps and where necessary makes producers brand owners importers retailers consumers and other parties take responsibility for the environmental effects of their products. It allows for regulations to be made on reporting on waste by territorial local authorities and by operators of landfills and recycling facilities to improve information on waste. This is an area where a lot of work needs to be done. The bill clarifies the roles and responsibilities of local authorities in respect of waste minimisation and it introduces a new board to give independent advice to me as the Minister for the Environment on waste minimisation matters. 
As part of the select committee process and following feedback from submitters the bill now defines “waste” and gives it a broad meaning. It covers every item that is no longer wanted for its original purpose and were it not for waste minimisation initiatives such as recycling would be thrown away. Industry submitters proposed a narrower definition that would confine “waste” to materials that are landfill. Industry stakeholders consider that defining waste broadly gives territorial authorities the ability to obtain commercially sensitive information from the recycling industry about the source and destination of recyclable material. But the bill now restricts the ability of territorial authorities to obtain the information. 
The process for developing waste management and minimisation plans and the content of the plans have also been significantly changed as a result of the select committee process. Territorial local authorities must now have regard for the New Zealand Waste Strategy or other Government policies on waste management and minimisation. This will ensure that plans have a degree of national consistency and will assist with achieving the goals of the Waste Strategy. The strategy provides actions and targets that territorial authorities can adopt in order to address waste issues. The authorities will need to carry out an assessment of their current and future waste services in their districts. The requirement to carry out an assessment of services is already contained in the Local Government Act 2002. It is now broadened so that the authorities carry out an assessment of recycling recovery and treatment services as well as collection and disposal. 
The Government has been focusing on waste minimisation for some time as the member in the Chair Marian Hobbs is well aware. When the Waste Strategy was launched in 2002 it set a new direction for minimising waste and for improving waste recovery. It is a programme of actions for the medium term and also has some far-reaching commitments. I am pleased to inform the House that since 2002 good progress has been made. However there are still aspects of waste where further progress is needed in order to meet those commitments. Waste minimisation in New Zealand has been based on voluntary initiatives; to move towards zero waste we need a more concerted effort. 
The bill intends to significantly reduce the amount of waste generated and disposed of and to lessen its environmental harm. It also aims to benefit our economy by encouraging better use of materials throughout a product’s life cycle promoting domestic reprocessing of recovered materials and providing more employment. I must say that there already are some very good examples out there and I compliment in particular the work that has been done in Canterbury. It is led by the Christchurch City Council but is done cooperatively on a regional basis. The participants’ ability to reduce waste to landfill by good recycling—the work that they are doing in the glass area is superb—makes them a shining example of what can already be done. If that can be further expanded then that will be good. 
Product stewardship proposes to make producers importers retailers consumers and other parties take responsibility for the environmental effects of products. It is a tool to greatly improve how we deal with some of the more difficult forms of waste such as electronic goods. A Green Ribbon Award was recently given to eDay which is run by Computer Access; it has been giving some very good leadership in this area. The bill will assist and recognise businesses that develop voluntary product stewardship schemes and enable them to prove that they are taking steps to minimise environmental impacts from the manufacture use and disposal of their product. There will be some issues to work through around the number of areas that we focus on initially. The question is whether we go wide and shallow or narrow and deep. My inclination is that we should focus on where we can make some big gains. Those areas may have a little bit more focus than some people would like and some areas will be brought in earlier than others but I think that is appropriate. 
The bill will provide benefits that go beyond reducing what we throw away. It will provide economic incentives and rewards for those who do the right thing. Businesses councils and the public will find that reducing waste saves money. If less material is needed in the first place greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and new business opportunities are created. In short this bill provides the opportunity to deal with waste in a smart and sustainable way. The Government is pleased to support it. 
I say to Mr Tanczos—this is probably the last occasion that I can do this within the House—that members on this side of the House appreciate not only the way that he has dealt with this legislation but the contribution he has made to Parliament generally in the time he has been here. The fact that he has been able to work with a range of parties on this legislation and to bring people together I think is an indication of the way that he has worked in Parliament generally. I thank him for doing that and for making a contribution over a period of time. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.