Wagner Nicky: Waste Minimisation Bill — In Committee 
Wagner Nicky: Waste Minimisation Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:648;Page:17571] 
NICKY WAGNER (National) 
: 
 As members know National members are supporting this bill. We are supporting this new iteration of the bill. We found that the original bill was excessively prescriptive but this new iteration has been absolutely gutted. We did a lot of work on it in the Local Government and Environment Committee and we believe that it is pretty rational and pretty reasonable. 
Part 2 deals with product stewardship and this is perhaps the most important part of the bill. We know that there are some very successful voluntary product stewardship schemes in existence already but the inclusion in the bill of the focus on product stewardship will highlight the need for these schemes and encourage more development. The big advantage of a product stewardship scheme is that manufacturers and distributors of a product are incentivised to think about the product’s whole life cycle. The manufacturers are in a position to redesign their product in light of its future use and final disposal. Too often we have seen products that have been created with no thought given to their final disposal and we need manufacturers to make smart decisions at the beginning of the design process. It is easy and cost-effective to make good choices about a product at the start—for example whether we use recyclable material or non-recyclable material. The very worst products that we come across are those that are a mixture of different materials that make recycling impossible. 
During the select committee process we visited Fisher and Paykel and its recycling and recovery operation. We were really impressed to hear how the company collected old whiteware whatever the brand and reused or recycled most of the componentry. The company was also proactive with recycling its packaging. We might be aware that when we buy a new Fisher and Paykel washing machine it is delivered to our house the old one is taken away and the packaging is taken away as well. The packaging is then reused if it is in good enough condition for another washing machine or if it is not believe it or not it is used to pack flowers for the export market. Fisher and Paykel is an example of an excellent product stewardship scheme and the sort of thing we would like to encourage with this bill. 
The bill also introduces the concept of priority products. The select committee was concerned that we actually deal with our most harmful products first and that they should be identified as a priority for a stewardship scheme. The Minister can declare a priority product but he has guidelines when he declares that product. The waste from the product must cause significant environmental harm there must be benefits from reusing reducing recycling or recovery of the product and it must be able to be managed effectively under a product stewardship scheme. The Minister cannot do this alone. He or she must take advice from the Waste Advisory Board consult the public and consider the effectiveness of any relevant voluntary product stewardship schemes. 
The bill requires that all priority products must be included in a product stewardship scheme. The scheme can use existing voluntary schemes as long as they are accredited or a new scheme must be developed. We were very conscious that there were some industries and some companies that have been proactive in managing their waste companies such as Resene Paints Ltd that has developed a paint recycling scheme Agpac which collects bulk plastics and companies everywhere that collect and recycle oil collect unwanted chemicals or chemical containers and collect packaging. We wanted to be sure that the bill rewarded those companies exhibiting good waste behaviour rather than punishing them so it was important that existing voluntary schemes could be accredited whether or not they involved priority products. 
We heard in the select committee that many companies and industry sectors were successfully managing their waste but that they were struggling to get all their members involved. It is the same old story that one hears everywhere. The majority of people and organisations were prepared to do the right thing but there were a minority of free-riders who were not prepared to contribute. In these cases a mandated scheme would ensure that everyone was included and would be beneficial to those who were already carrying the costs of managing their waste responsibly and there were a large number of organisations that supported this. 
The rest of Part 2 covers the details of the accreditation scheme its requirements and its regulation. It also gives details of the monitoring of accredited schemes. To be an accredited product stewardship scheme one must have a scheme manager and must provide a description of the scope of the scheme and measurable waste minimisation disposal objectives. It must list the people who are participating in the scheme and provide for assessing the scheme’s performance and reporting to the Minister. It must also outline how the scheme will be publicised so users are able to access it and how it will be funded. The teeth behind this part of the bill— 
Nathan Guy 
: What are they? 
NICKY WAGNER 
: The teeth are the significance of the product being declared a priority product. The teeth are that the Governor-General can prohibit the sale of priority products unless they are included in an accredited scheme. In other words all manufacturers or distributors of a product are forced to carry the same level of responsibility. There can be no free-riders. 
The final clause in Part 2 concerns the monitoring of imported products. The New Zealand Customs Service must provide information about priority products if requested by the Secretary for the Environment. The select committee was conscious that we wanted to keep the whole process of setting up and running product stewardship schemes as simple and as cost-effective as possible. To keep a sensible balance the Minister must take advice of the Waste Advisory Board and consult the people and the organisations that would be most affected by the scheme.