Ward Mike: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Ward Mike: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:619;Page:14725] 
5.  
MIKE WARD (Green) 
 to the  
Minister for the Environment 
: Will the voluntary Packaging Accord she signed today reduce the amount of packaging in people’s shopping baskets and the volume of packaging waste going to landfill; and if these voluntary measures do not work what will she do? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 Yes. Over 80 percent of the supermarket business— Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises—and more than 200 organisations have signed up to the Packaging Accord and intend to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Today we also agreed that if this collaborative effort does not achieve reduction then we would look at regulation. 
Mike Ward 
: Why are the target recovery rates so modest such as 23 percent for plastic compared with the current 19 percent and would those levels of recovery not be achieved through the ongoing expansion of local authority recycling schemes even without the Packaging Accord? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: The targets are not weak. For paper the recovery target is 70 percent by weight of all packaging materials consumed. The other targets include 65 percent for aluminium and 55 percent for glass. The recovery levels are comparable with the targets of the European Union packaging directive. Officials involved advise that the targets can be achieved or exceeded. 
Dr Ashraf Choudhary 
: What does the Government hope to achieve from signatories including businesses such as Cadbury’s McDonald’s and Heinz-Wattie? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: The brand owners of the key packaging sectors of paper plastic glass steel and aluminium—which include the likes of Cadbury’s and McDonald’s—and the retailers have outlined the steps they will take over the next 5 years to reduce waste and increase the amount of packaging that can be recycled. The Government’s hope is that brand owners will focus on the design of their packaging with the aim to reduce waste. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Is the Minister aware that a number of key players in the waste management field have boycotted the launch saying it is simply a joke a recycling of a previous accord and effectively a policy about rubbish that is rubbish? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: I would have found that the fact that 150 people attended today as against the 10 who attended the anti-accord meeting last week would speak for itself. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I want to say to members particularly those on my right that they do not have to be chipping when I have called another member. Mr Peters is entitled to the call; he alone gets it. 
Jim Peters 
: Do not international research and practice indicate that today’s media statement that: “A voluntary accord is likely to be more cost-effective for business than legislation.” is really nothing more than wishful thinking? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: Yes. 
Larry Baldock 
: Will the Minister and her department be waiting 5 years until the expiry of the accord before evaluating its success in contributing to the goals of the New Zealand waste strategy or can we rely on constant monitoring and the introduction of alternative plans earlier than at the end of 5 years if the voluntary accord does not meet expectations? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: On the Packaging Accord part of the Ministry for the Environment website there will be annual progress reports about how we are actually meeting those targets. Therefore we do not have to wait for the 5 years to be up before we make some decisions. 
Mike Ward 
: Why is the 2008 target for the recovery of aluminium set at 65 percent when that is 5 percent below the 70 percent of aluminium that was recovered in 2001 and in 2002? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: I am constantly disappointed by the people from the Green movement including the packaging movement who rather than concentrate on and work with businesses manufacturers and packaging manufacturers to reduce waste want to play games with one percentage versus another percentage versus a volume percentage versus a weight percentage which entirely confuses the public whom we are trying to persuade to indulge in waste reduction. 
Mike Ward 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked why the target was below the level not why I raised the issue in the first place. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Yes. I feared that the Minister was not addressing the question but she did at the end of it. 
Mike Ward 
: Does the Minister agree that the lack of a target for the use of recycled material and packaging is a glaring omission and that that omission is simply a reflection of the limitations of voluntary accords? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: No. 
Mike Ward 
: Does the Minister agree that this accord is not an example of extended producer responsibility; and when will the Government legislate to make producers take full responsibility for their waste rather than continue to transfer the cost on to local authorities and ratepayers? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: It is an example of extended producer responsibility. The only difference is that that member wants to force people to follow one prescription rather than actually to work with people and use the brains of the whole industry.