Roche Denise: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRoche Denise: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 11 August 2015. Volume:707;Page:5566. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.DENISE ROCHE (Green) to the Minister for the Environment: Why has he announced a plastics recycling initiative rather than a levy when recycling will only maintain the volume of plastic in the waste stream whereas a levy will reduce the number of plastic bags in circulation?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment): Plastic shopping bags actually make up only about 2 percent of plastic waste. Focusing only on these ignores the large volume of waste from plastic bread bags plastic frozen food bags plastic vegetable and fruit bags and actually dozens of other types of plastic packaging. The strength of the Government’s approach is that it enables recycling of all soft plastic packaging. The Government has introduced a levy on waste going to landfill.Denise Roche: Given that there are less harmful alternatives for the 1.6 billion plastic bags used in New Zealand every year why will he not introduce a levy to reduce their use?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Plastic shopping bags make up only 0.2 percent of waste that goes to landfill. I would also point out that in the scientific surveys of amounts of litter these plastic bags are actually only about 1 percent of New Zealand’s litter problem. So they are such a small proportion that it seems somewhat unusual to target all our waste efforts on this single product. I note that some supermarkets are tempted to introduce a levy. It was not at all popular with consumers.Denise Roche: Why then is he spending $1.2 million from the Waste Minimisation Fund on a scheme that does not actually minimise waste?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I am somewhat surprised to see the Greens criticising recycling. What the Government is doing is saying that by recycling those plastics whether they are plastic shopping bags or frozen food bags—all those soft plastics that are often collected by New Zealanders and currently end up just going to landfill—as in Australia if we can recycle them this enables us to reduce the amount of petrochemicals that we are importing from overseas to make new plastic bags.Denise Roche: Will the Minister listen to the 89 percent of Local Government New Zealand delegates who are calling for a levy on plastic bags because a levy would lead to fewer plastic bags being used and ending up in the environment?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I noticed that in 2009 a number of supermarkets took the Green Party’s advice and did introduce a levy on shopping bags. It went down very badly with consumers and actually this Government is more focused on the general public than we are on what general councils or others want to think people want to do. There are also large numbers of perfectly responsible New Zealanders who use those plastic shopping bags to dispose responsibly of their other wastes. My advice is that that poses little harm to the environment.Denise Roche: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was specifically—Mr SPEAKER: Order! No your question has been addressed by the Minister.