Keep New Zealand Beautiful (KNZB) has today announced the findings of the 2022 National Litter Audit (NLA), the most comprehensive and scientifically robust litter audit in New Zealand.

The 2022 NLA follows on from a baseline audit carried out by KNZB in 2019 and compares data and insights between the two data sets. The 2022 NLA found that, overall, the litter problem in Aotearoa is worsening, with the total number of items, volume and weight of litter at a national level all increasing since the audit in 2019.

Developed in consultation with Stats NZ, the Department of Conservation and the Ministry for the Environment, the NLA involved experienced environmental field researchers collecting and analysing litter in specific fixed sites, recording the key metrics of the litter collected as well as brand data.

“The results of the 2022 NLA are surprising and alarming, even off the back of years of Covid-19 restrictions,” says Heather Saunderson, CEO of Keep New Zealand Beautiful. “Despite the efforts of tidy Kiwis nationwide, the audit results really speak to the fiction of New Zealand's clean green image and illustrate the need for government, industry and Kiwis to take immediate action.

“The 2019 NLA provided a baseline for litter intelligence in New Zealand, painting a picture of how litter impacts our communities. The 2022 results serve to highlight that the need for educational and behaviour-change programmes, when it comes to litter in New Zealand, is more important and urgent than ever.”

Even though the 2022 NLA shows a drop in some material subcategories, across the board the litter problem in New Zealand has grown worse, with the total number of individual items, the combined weight and estimated volume of litter nationally all increasing.

Key outtakes from the 2022 NLA:

Count

• Plastic was the most prevalent main material type found nationally in 2022 with a 72.4% increase since 2019 (50 plastic items per 1,000 m² in 2022 vs. 29 items in 2019).
• There was a drop in the number of cigarette butts found in 2022, but they remained the most frequently identified material subcategory (34 items per 1,000 m² in 2022 vs. 39 items in 2019).
• Despite the protocols associated with the Covid-19 pandemic that were in place between the 2019 and 2022 audits, medical waste such as Covid-19 test kits, masks and disposable gloves did not feature prominently in the 2022 NLA.

Weight

• In 2022, glass beer bottles (less than 750ml, all colours) continued to be the leading material subcategory in any single main material type (i.e. glass) for national litter weight (0.09 kg per 1,000 m² in 2022 vs. 0.12 kg in 2019).
• However, construction waste (a subcategory across multiple material types), when totaled nationally, was the largest contributor to litter weight overall, contributing 0.11 kg of waste per 1,000 m².

Volume

• There was over a sevenfold increase in the estimated volume of the main material type paper and cardboard nationally in 2022 compared with 2019 (12.19 litres per 1,000 m² in 2022 vs. 1.66 litres 2019).
• Cardboard boxes (a new subcategory in 2022) contributed most significantly to the increase in estimated paper and cardboard volumes nationally (9.32 litres per 1,000 m²)
• A large increase in estimated volume nationally was also seen with illegal dumping (4.45 litres per 1,000 m² in 2022 vs. 1.31 litres in 2019).

Branded litter

• Snack wrappers and packets overtook alcoholic beverage containers and packaging as the top industry category of branded litter in 2022, with a leading fast-food brand accounting for 5.03% of all branded litter items recorded.

Sites

• Nationally, most litter in 2022 was found at Retail Sites, overtaking Industrial Sites which had the highest levels of litter in 2019.

For more insights on litter in Aotearoa, please view the full 2022 NLA report here.

Ms Saunderson says the 2022 National Litter Audit is an extensive piece of research that is critical for New Zealand.

“The importance of the NLA for both land and ocean litter management are immense. The findings will help inform national and local policy development, guide industry strategies and enable Keep New Zealand Beautiful to identify the originators and activities that generate land and marine litter, and to guide our efforts accordingly. We’re focused on education, behaviour change and working with leaders of industry who are committed to sustainability.”

While the results of the 2022 NLA are concerning, it’s important to acknowledge those who are actively involved in tackling the litter problem – many of whom are everyday Kiwis. Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s Backyard and Upstream Battle programmes, for example, provide a way for citizen scientists to contribute to a secondary dataset to the NLA and generate litter intelligence that makes a crucial difference to New Zealand’s land, waterways and ultimately the ocean’s ecosystems too.

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