3 February 2005

Govt should implement car disposal plan immediately

Green Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons is applauding the Motor Trade Association for promoting a nationally-co-ordinated car disposal system and is calling on the Government to champion the cause.

"New Zealand's rivers, lakes, and streams are regularly contaminated because car owners have no financial incentive to ensure their vehicles are disposed in a responsible way," Ms Fitzsimons said.

New Zealand needed to follow European countries and Japan in placing a decommissioning charge on all new vehicles.

"We need to reduce the number of cars being dumped in our waterways at great environmental cost. A very effective way of doing this is to have people pay a deposit when buying new cars, to be recouped once the car is returned to a designated recycling and disposal centre. That encourages people to properly dispose of their old vehicles, rather than just dump them in their nearest stream or river.

Ms Fitzsimons said that it was of great concern that tens of thousands of cars were being abandoned every year.

"When a car reaches the end of its life, we want to encourage the recovery of materials that can be re-used and the safe disposal of the rest. The Government has been saying for years that it intends to deal with this issue, but we still haven't seen any actions to fit those fine words. I urge them to take up the cause immediately."

ENDS

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