Business keen to work with Government on circular economy

Business keen to work with Government on creating a circular economy

The Government’s initiative to establish regulated product stewardship schemes for priority products to reduce harm posed by certain end-of-life products and design waste out of the system, has the strong support of business.

Michael Barnett, Auckland Business Chamber CEO, welcoming today’s Government announcement noted that stewardship schemes are used extensively in other countries to reduce waste.

The reduction of the waste we produce must always remain a priority. Six proposed priority products have been selected as a stage one step-up of New Zealand’s efforts to turn-around New Zealand’s ‘throw away’ culture to a circular economy of ‘make-use-return’: Tyres, electrical-electronic products, agrichemicals, refrigerants, farm plastics and packaging.

Barnett, who chairs the Waste Management Industry Forum, said a scheme in which people could place their used goods in a container at strategic points around New Zealand makes a lot of sense.

The Forum is keen to collaborate with government in setting up a workable scheme. “China’s National Sword refusing to take New Zealand recyclables and our growth-led economy has resulted in a huge build-up of certain used products.”

A plus in today’s announcement is the strong recognition of the key role that business has in terms of understanding the logistics chain of a products journey from producer-to-customer-to-dispose.

“We have already engaged with Government on its initiative and look forward to making a positive, cost-effective and efficient difference to reducing waste in our economy.”

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