Keynote Speech: WasteMINZ Conference

Speech – New Zealand Government
Kia ora tatou. My warmest greetings to you all.
It's a pleasure to be here with you at this year's WasteMINZ Conference — the flagship event for New Zealand's waste, resource recovery, and contaminated land sectors.
For over 30 years, this conference has been a space for industry leaders and innovators to come together — to be inspired, to share ideas, and to shape the future of this essential work.
Thank you for the opportunity to join you today.
As I begin, I'd like to acknowledge Parul Sood, Chair of the WasteMINZ Board, along with the board members, CEO Nic Quilty and her team, and all of today's delegates.
I also want to recognise the ongoing work of WasteMINZ members — your contribution to the sector is important and appreciated.
Today, I'd like to update you on several key areas I'm working on as Minister for the Environment.
Over the past year and a half, I've been focused on delivering the Government's priorities for waste, contaminated sites, and broader environmental challenges.
We know the waste sector has long-standing issues.
But these challenges come with opportunities to improve outcomes for both the natural world and our communities.
Before I expand on the Government's work on waste, I'd like to start with some announcements.
Last year, as part of Budget 2024, I announced the Government has changed the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 to allow the waste disposal levy to be spent on a wider range of activities.
As part of this, levy funds were allowed to support local authorities with the costs of managing waste from emergencies.
We know the frequency and magnitude of emergency events are increasing, partly due to the rise in severe weather events.
Emergency events often generate large volumes of waste, which needs to be dealt with quickly.
Today, I am pleased to confirm that we have now established emergency waste funding.
The funding will support councils with the cost of managing waste following an emergency, including repairing or replacing damaged waste infrastructure.
The Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes, recent cyclones, the Auckland Anniversary floods, and many other large-scale events have underscored the importance of resilient waste management and minimisation facilities and services.
So far, the costs of managing waste caused by these events have been dealt with on an ad-hoc basis, with no standing funds available to support councils.
The emergency waste funding will give councils timely access to funding to deal with waste in the aftermath of emergency events.
This will reduce the financial burden of these events on central and local government.
The simple application process means councils will be able to quickly and easily access funding.
Waste management in emergency events is a critical service to get up and running quickly, to reduce public health risks and support communities to get back on their feet.
This new funding will help councils and communities when they need it most.
Now, I would like to draw your attention to a new report on construction and demolition waste, which I know is a topic you will be keenly interested in.
Construction projects are essential to growing our economy.
However, they also leave behind a staggering amount of waste, which places a burden on New Zealand's landfills and the environment.
Yesterday, the Ministry for the Environment published the first national baseline report for construction and demolition waste.
This baseline measure is the first of its kind in New Zealand.
It will help us evaluate the state of construction and demolition waste, giving us a starting point for comparing changes over time.
The national baseline report provides an overview of how much construction and demolition waste New Zealand is sending to landfill, and what materials make up this waste stream.
The results show that construction and demolition waste is New Zealand's largest waste stream and highlight the significant role that surplus soil and rubble play.
To cover off a few key statistics from the report:
An estimated 5.25 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste was disposed at levied facilities (class 1-4) in 2023. This represents almost 70 per cent of all waste disposed at levied facilities.
Of all levied construction and demolition waste disposed, nearly 80 per cent of that waste is soil or rubble.
Of the remaining construction and demolition waste, timber, plastics, plasterboard and textiles (i.e. carpet) make up notable proportions of the overall waste stream.
Further to these findings, as many of you will know, last month I met with the WasteMINZ sector group on surplus soils.
This was to discuss the group's proposal to develop a national soils management framework through a Waste Minimisation Fund grant.
I would like to thank Nic Quilty, Parul Sood, Rod Lidgard and James Corbett for taking the time to meet with me to discuss this important issue.
I understand managing surplus soils is a long-standing challenge, with no national rules or clear guidance on how to reuse them.
The national baseline report highlights the scale of the problem.
Valuable soil resources are being lost to landfill, with clean or slightly contaminated soils often unnecessarily landfilled.
This contributes to landfill overuse, emissions, and high project costs.
For these reasons, I am pleased to confirm today that I support the WasteMINZ proposal to fund a national soils management framework.
Ministry for the Environment officials will be working with WasteMINZ to develop a phased approach for addressing these issues.
Details are still to be finalised, and the sector will be kept updated.
Following these announcements, I'd like to now move on to our waste strategy and work programme.
You may be aware that I recently launched the Government's strategy to reduce waste and improve how it's managed in New Zealand.
The strategy sets out the Government's approach to reducing the environmental and economic harm caused by waste.
Alongside that, I confirmed a comprehensive waste work programme to implement the strategy's goals.
You'll be aware of some changes made late last year to existing waste policies.
We're reducing costs to ratepayers by leaving decisions about kerbside collections, including food scraps, up to local councils.
The Waste Minimisation Fund will continue to support councils that choose to adopt these services.
We've also removed the 2025 deadline to phase out all PVC and polystyrene food and drink packaging.
We have had a positive response from industry on this decision as it gives them more time to adopt alternatives, while ensuring that new regulations are practical and workable.
These adjustments support our waste strategy while minimising cost-of-living pressures.
Our waste work programme is well underway, and I'd like to start by highlighting the proposed amendments to our waste legislation.
These changes would replace the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 and the Litter Act 1979, with the aim of reducing inefficiencies and providing greater clarity around the roles of central government, local government, and the wider waste sector.
We recently consulted on these proposals, which aim to make the legislative framework clearer and more effective.
Consultation closed on 1 June, and I want to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to make a submission.
Officials are now carefully considering that feedback to help inform the policy development.
The aim is to introduce the new legislation before the next general election.
We also recently asked New Zealanders to share their views on proposed regulations to improve the way waste from commonly used farm plastic products is managed.
We're proposing new regulations to support a national product stewardship scheme covering agrichemical containers and other farm plastics, such as bale wrap.
As someone who has lived on a farm almost all my life, I know how important this is.
It would bring together the services of existing schemes Agrecovery and Plasback, simplifying recycling and disposal for farmers and growers, and expanding access into a nationwide service.
This scheme would be funded through an advance disposal fee and offer free, nationwide take-back services.
And it won't just benefit farmers—sectors like forestry, tourism, hospitality, and manufacturing could also participate.
We have had strong engagement and feedback throughout the consultation process.
Thank you to everyone who shared their valuable insights.
In addition to the consultation on farm plastics, I'd like to provide a brief update on the progress of other product stewardship schemes.
Product stewardship schemes are designed to ensure everyone in a product's life cycle shares responsibility to reduce its environmental impact at the end of its life.
The Tyrewise scheme is a strong example of this principle in action.
Tyrewise addresses the estimated 6.5 million tyres that reach end of life in New Zealand each year.
Since going live last September, the scheme has collected and repurposed more than 2.8 million tyres into fuel and other useful products.
It is also on track to exceed its first-year targets – an incredible achievement.
I commend everyone involved in the development and daily operation of the scheme for their dedication and impact.
I also want to acknowledge the efforts of everyone involved in the accredited synthetic refrigerants scheme, known as Cool-Safe.
This scheme has been operating since 1993 and has now successfully collected over 600,000 kilograms of synthetic refrigerants, significantly reducing their environmental impact.
We are actively working with this scheme and the wider industry to support the responsible end-of-life management of these gases.
Earlier this year I received the Plastic Packaging Product Stewardship scheme co-design recommendations report.
I want to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to this report – it represents the culmination of over two years of dedicated work.
We will carefully consider the recommendations and continue to work with stakeholders to plan the next steps in developing this important scheme.
Work is also progressing on electrical and electronic products (e-waste).
I'm aware safe battery disposal is a growing concern for the sector, as improperly disposed of batteries pose significant fire risks.
There is currently a high level of activity in the battery space, with multiple stakeholders across industry and government actively engaged.
This momentum is encouraging, and I look forward to seeing continued progress toward a safe, more sustainable approach to managing e-waste in New Zealand.
Another area of focus focuses is remediating contaminated sites, including historic landfills vulnerable to weather events.
Historic landfills can be compromised by erosion, storm surges, rainfall events, high river levels and flooding.
There are hundreds of historic landfills and contaminated sites around New Zealand vulnerable to severe weather.
Remediating these sites is vital for protecting our environment from harm.
No-one wants a repeat of the Fox River landfill event in 2019.
Communities should not be left dealing with the aftermath of old landfill breaches.
Acting early to remediate these sites also saves money in the long run.
Councils have been asking for more support – and now they have it.
Last year, I opened the new Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfills Fund, a $20 million fund to support councils and landowners.
This fund replaces the previous Contaminated Sites Remediation Fund and significantly increases support.
Regional, unitary and territorial authorities can now apply.
The Ministry is actively supporting councils with applications.
There has been great progress already, like the remediation project at Tāhunanui Beach in Nelson where $2.9 million of Government support has helped remove more than 10,000 cubic metres of contaminated material from underneath the beach carpark.
This project is a great example of what this new fund can support.
More information is on the Ministry for the Environment website.
I would like to now move onto our work in improving recycling.
Standardising the materials accepted in kerbside recycling was a vital first step — sending a clear signal to businesses and households about what can be recovered through kerbside systems across New Zealand.
Thank you to everyone who helped develop this policy.
There is still work to do, but the new Recycling Leadership Forum is a great next step.
The forum is exploring challenging kerbside issues, including the tricky items that don't currently fit the system.
I'm watching their work with interest and expect to receive their first report on potential solutions soon.
Plastic is part of daily life, and while it has benefits, it creates far-reaching waste problems.
On the international stage, New Zealand is playing a part in negotiating a treaty to tackle plastic pollution globally.
Our delegation is heading to the next round of negotiations in Geneva in August.
Domestically, we continue to reduce waste and support recycling innovation.
The latest Our Environment 2025 report shows that our landfills received 11 per cent less waste per capita in 2023 than the peak in 2018.
The Waste Minimisation Fund is providing grant funding to upgrade resource recovery centres, transfer stations, and materials recovery facilities to increase the volume and quality of recovered plastic materials.
The fund is also supporting the construction of processing infrastructure to facilitate the reuse of this recovered material, stimulating the local economy and reducing our reliance on overseas markets.
We're managing hard-to-recycle plastics and working with industry to move away from problematic packaging like PVC and polystyrene.
Thank you for your efforts.
I understand that tomorrow, Ministry for the Environment officials will be speaking to the waste work programme in more detail.
I encourage you to attend and ask any questions you may have.
In closing, I want to thank you for your time, for your contributions, and for your commitment to innovation. Your leadership matters.
Together, we are building a more resilient and sustainable New Zealand—for our people, our economy, and our environment.
I wish you all the very best for the rest of the conference.
Thank you.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

NZ Herald

2 hours ago

• NZ Herald

Prime Minister Luxon, Peters to speak on US-Iran tensions as NZ sends plane to Middle East

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has yet to make his position on the US attacks on Iran known as it prepares to send a defence force plane to the Middle East. Yesterday, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the Government was still assembling 'the facts' of the US attack on several Iranian nuclear sites before stating New Zealand's view. Luxon will speak on Newstalk ZB just after 7.37am when he calls in from Europe, where he is about to attend the Nato summit in the Hague. You can listen to the interview live from the below link: Earlier, Labour Party defence spokesman Peeni Henare, who supports the Defence Force deployment, called for the Government to declare the US bombings are in breach of international law. had carried out a 'very successful attack' on three Iran nuclear sites. Trump said the objective was to put a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's 'number one state sponsor of terror', and accused Iran of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. He claimed there are 'many targets left', and if peace was not achieved, the US would target them with 'speed, precision and skill'. Speaking from the Whenuapai airbase yesterday alongside Defence Minister Judith Collins, Peters said a C-130J Hercules plane containing Defence Force and Foreign Affairs personnel would take off from Whenuapai today and would be based in the Middle East. The pair's statement didn't clarify where the Hercules would be based, nor the range of personnel travelling. It was expected to take several days to reach its destination. The deployment was intended to aid evacuation flights should the airspace around Iran and Israel become less restricted, which could take 'weeks', according to Peters. He noted discussions with commercial airlines were ongoing, but repeated his advice that Kiwis should leave the region if they could do so safely. All New Zealanders in the Middle East, not just in Iran and Israel, were urged to register on SafeTravel. New Zealanders in Iran and Israel needing urgent consular assistance should call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emergency consular call centre on +64 99 20 20 20. About 180 New Zealanders had registered as residing in either Israel or Iran, much higher than reported earlier this week. Peters said people were 'coming out of the woodwork' amid ongoing attacks.

Scoop

2 hours ago

• Scoop

New Zealand Announces Further Aid For Ukraine

Rt Hon Christopher Luxon Prime Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters Minister of Foreign Affairs Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have announced a new $16 million package of support for Ukraine ahead of this week's NATO Summit in the Hague. 'New Zealand stands in solidarity with Ukraine. Its war of self-defence is well into its fourth year and our condemnation of Russia's illegal full-scale invasion remains undiminished,' Mr Luxon says. New Zealand's will make $4 million contributions to two multi-national funds providing lethal and non-lethal military assistance for Ukraine: the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) fund; and the United Kingdom and Latvia-led Drone Coalition for Ukraine. 'The defence of Ukraine has significant implications not only for the security of the Euro-Atlantic, but also for the Indo-Pacific,' Mr Peters says. 'We must continue to work with others in the international community to uphold a rules-based order that serves all our interests.' New Zealand will also provide $7 million in further humanitarian assistance for conflict affected communities in Ukraine, and $1 million for Ukrainians displaced in neighbouring countries. 'The scale of need remains vast, as Russia continues its bombardment of densely populated civilian areas of Ukraine,' Mr Luxon says. This support package follows the recently announced sanctions targeting Russia's 'shadow fleet' and other enablers of Russia's war in Ukraine. 'It is vital the international community maintains pressure on Russia to end its war and engage meaningfully with efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,' Mr Peters says. More information about diplomatic, military, humanitarian and economic support to Ukraine, as well as sanctions, travel bans, and export controls against Russia, can be found on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website here. Notes: The Government has implemented the following actions in response to Russia's war against Ukraine: · Passed the historic Russia Sanctions Act under which we have implemented sanctions targeting: o Vladimir Putin and key members of his inner circle. o Senior leadership of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. o All 620 members of the Russian parliament (State Duma and Federation Council). o All Russian Ministers and Governors. o More than 400 entities including state-owned enterprises, entities that are part of Russia's military industrial complex, Donbas militia groups, and Belarusian defence entities. o More than 110 oligarchs and immediate family with close ties and influence with the Russian Government. o 20 financial institutions, including Russia's Central Bank o 7 Belarusian financial institutions. o 56 individuals and entities involved in disinformation and cyber-attacks on Ukraine. o 15 members of the Central Election Commission. o Almost 100 Russian-directed leaders in occupied Ukrainian regions. o The Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation. o 23 Iranian individuals and 17 Iranian entities for supplying drones to Russia. o Individuals and entities involved in the supply of DPRK military materiel to Russia for use in Ukraine. · Banned all Russian and Belarusian Government and military aircraft and vessels from New Zealand. · Banned exports to Russian and Belarusian military and security forces. · Suspended bilateral Foreign Ministry Consultations with Russia. · Endorsed the UK-initiated Call to Action on the 'shadow fleet' engaged in sanctions circumvention by carrying Russian oil and gas. The Call to Action promotes compliance with international standards for maritime safety, environmental protection, and insurance. Trade measures · Implemented a 35% tariff on all Russian imports to New Zealand. · Banned the import of Russian gold into New Zealand. · Significantly expanded the export ban on Russia and Belarus to cover more industrial products of strategic importance (by adding more than 700 new prohibited tariff lines). · Banned the import of Russian oil, gas, and coal. · Banned the export of oil exploration and oil production goods to Russia. · Banned the import from and export to Russia of certain luxury goods. · Implemented the G7-plus oil price cap on Russian-origin oil. Other assistance to Ukraine · Since the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, New Zealand has pledged over $168 million in financial assistance and in-kind support to Ukraine in the face of Russia's invasion. That includes: o support for military training, equipment, and materiel valued at $110.3 million, including up to 100 NZDF personnel deployed to Europe. o $39.9 million in humanitarian assistance to conflict-affected Ukrainian communities in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries. o $6 million in support for recovery and reconstruction. o $5.2 million in support for international legal processes and human rights monitoring.

Newsroom

3 hours ago

• Newsroom

Cabinet frets over funding for Māori foreshore claims

Public funding for Māori claims to rights over areas of coastline could face further tightening, despite blunt cuts in 2024 being found to have seriously breached the Treaty of Waitangi. Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says the $13m set aside in this year's Budget followed a potential blowout a year ago to $30m – but a coming wave of court hearings and direct negotiations still presents problems for the Government. He has told MPs the Government is now 'turning our mind to the whole framework to see if there's a better way' to arrange financial support for resolving claims under the Marine and Coastal Areas (Takutai Moana) Act. The last cuts for 2024/25 put caps on funding, reduced claimants' lawyers maximum pay rates to those in the legal aid system and forced some to cover the work pro bono (for free) to keep hearings going. Cabinet refused the projected additional funding despite Goldsmith and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka recommending a further $19m to cover the claimant costs for that year. The Waitangi Tribunal found the way the funding limits were imposed last year breached the Treaty by insufficient consultation, prejudice to the cases before the courts and lacked analysis of legal or treaty implications. It said there are hundreds of court claims and also hundreds of bids for direct negotiations to come, but the direct negotiations had essentially never started and had little chance without funding. The cuts caused 'confusion and disruption to scheduled hearings.' The increase in costs should have been predictable for both past and present governments and officials because Māori had entered the legal process years ago, building cases towards High Court hearings. Preparing for and appearing in court cases was a higher cost than initial research and interlocutory phases. Those cases were starting to hit the courts as part of the normal progression of legal action. 'The escalation of hearings in the High Court is a natural consequence of the Crown's regime, the number of applications filed and the High Court fulfilling its judicial function of determining applications before it.' The $12m in applicant funding for 2024/25 was 'demonstrably insufficient'. Separately the Government introduced a bill in 2024 to amend the MACA Act to tighten criteria by which iwi, hapū and whānau can prove continuous, exclusive use under tikanga (custom) of coastline and waters since 1840. The amending bill would send unresolved court cases for Customary Marine Title (CMT) back to the High Court for re-hearing under its new provisions. In parallel, the Supreme Court set out alternative criteria in a November judgment which would also tighten possibilities of successful claims, and that has seen the Cabinet put the amending law on hold for seven months so it can decide which way to proceed. When Goldsmith appeared before Parliament's Māori affairs select committee as part of Scrutiny Week, MPs quizzed him on the Government's response to the Supreme Court decision, the fate of its amendment bill and its view on the Waitangi Tribunal criticism over the funding cuts. Green MP Steve Abel suggested the now stalled amendment bill would have worsened Goldsmith's budget problem over funding claims under the MACA Act because it would make Māori go back to court for repeated hearings, with a big double-up in costs. The minister answered: 'Based on the legislation we had introduced there was going to be a cost to potentially rehear elements of cases that were underway. The Government is still considering that. 'There's going to be an extra cost and we recognised that but our view was that those costs were justified.' He told Labour's Ginny Andersen the primary budget pressure point for the Government for agency Te Tari Whakatau (successor of Arawhiti – the Office of Crown Māori relations) was 'the payments for claimants for Takutai Moana. The demand is high and our ability to meet the demand is constrained.' Andersen asked if the cost blowout calculated in 2024 impacted the decisions the coalition took in pushing the MACA amendment bill. 'No, we felt the Court of Appeal had come up with a threshold materially different from what the Parliament had expected. 'The cost of the process we are going through at the moment is very high. The first step was to put some budgetary restraint around that as part of a much broader restraint government-wide.' The Waitangi Tribunal's findings on the cuts to the MACA Act funding scheme said 'the Crown does not suggest that the increase in costs incurred by applicant groups weren't actual or reasonable. 'When we consider the claims in this context, we acknowledge that this is an expensive regime. However it is the regime the Crown created. Māori have participated in the regime in good faith. 'The Crown accepts their costs have not been unreasonable. The Crown is concerned that its own regime costs more that it would like, a problem not caused by the applicants.' Despite this the $12m budget amount in 2024 was around 38 percent of what was projected for that financial year. 'Cabinet offered no reason for this decision. There is no evidence that Cabinet undertook a Treaty-compliant balancing exercise as part of this decision. 'This context highlights the serious nature of the [Treaty] breaches by the Crown. 'We find that the Crown has not acted reasonably or in good faith. It has not actively protected Māori interests in relation to this important taonga and not exercised good government.' The tribunal report said funding caps and lawyer rates could prejudice claimants by raising the risk senior counsel walked away from helping. 'We are extremely concerned at such a rudimentary approach being taken to applicant funding under the Act.' In another part of the report, tribunal members observe: 'The only inference we can draw is that this was a purely fiscal decision, but one made without any evidence that the additional funding would affect the economy, not any apparent consideration of how it would impact Māori rights and interests. 'This is not a Treaty-compliant balancing exercise,' the wrote, then concluding the Crown's decision 'breached the principles of partnership, good government, and active protection.' Tribunal members seemed perplexed at how the former Te Arawhiti officials had been unable to anticipate – even though it should have known in 2021 and 2022 – the surge in claimant costs as MACA Act claims moved to the court action phase. 'The Crown should have been on notice from this point that the High Court pathway was gathering momentum which would likely result in a significant increase in demand on the funding scheme.' The agency also had a significantly flawed modelling system to calculate how much would be needed each month, ignoring that some claimants would be involved in more than one case with overlapping Takutai Moana interests. The late identification of the problem had a significant impact, the report says, and the time pressure it put officials under in 2024 'was created by the Crown failing to properly identify earlier the growing pressure on the funding scheme.' The tribunal reiterated its concern over the lack of progress on the alternative Crown Engagement Pathway, in which 387 applications across 20 different coastline areas seek direct negotiations with ministers via Te Tari Whakatau. There has been no successful determination over the years and no chance now for applicants to seek financial assistance 'The Crown Engagement Pathway is effectively suspended at present.' It had advice for the Government for future funding decisions: 'When making decisions, the Crown cannot only consider fiscal matters. It must also consider, in good faith, Māori interests and the potential impacts of any decisions on Māori. 'Such decisions should not be made in isolation.'