The Waste Minimization (Solids) Bill has opened the door for CDL in New Zealand. The bill has now been through the Local Government and Environment Select Committee. The Select Committee received hundreds of postcard submissions in support of CDL, a large number of written submissions and many verbal submissions. Since these submissions, the Local Government and Environment Committee have put a supplementary order paper (SOP) out. The SOP proposes significant amendments to the bill.

An update on the Select Committee response to the bill has just been made.

The amendments continue to provide us with the opportunity in Part 2 of the Bill - Product Stewardship - to make Container Deposit Legislation (CDL) mandatory in New Zealand.

Container Deposit Legislation (CDL) is legislation that establishes a deposit and refund system for used beverage containers. Although CDL systems vary around the world, the basic principle remains the same: a small (around 5 or 10 cents) charge is added to the cost of beverages at the point of purchase. Customers redeem all or part of this deposit, depending on the programme, when they return the empty container to a retailer or an appointed collector such as a community group, school or sports group.  CDL is popular as both a social fundraising mechanism and a tool for achieving massive reductions in beverage container waste.

If they choose not to return the container, someone else returns it and collects the deposit. There is also an additional hidden handling fee within the cost of each beverage to help cover recyclers’ costs.

The ‘secret’ to CDL’s success is the financial incentive it provides to firstly get consumers to return beverage containers for recycling, and secondly to generate the funding stream to do something with those containers once they are returned.

The New Zealand Packaging Accord

The Voluntary New Zealand Packaging Accord signed in 2004 was intended to meet public concerns about the rise of packaging types and waste, but has been ineffective, largely due to industry capture in its design and implementation. Although the Packaging Accord is clearly not working, the Ministry for the Environment as a signatory to the Accord have indicators that they do not support the introduction of CDL.

CDL is a well-proven form of Product Stewardship, one of the key principles of the New Zealand Waste Strategy^[1].

It transfers the cost of recovering and recycling beverage containers from local authorities and ratepayers (who pay for kerbside collections, recycling education programmes and landfills) back where it belongs – onto producers and consumers.

[1] “Those who make goods and deliver services should bear some responsibility for them and the waste they produce, throughout a Product’s entire life-cycle”