Want your sour cream without a number 6 and your sushi sans the non-recyclable plastics?
Right now submissions are open on the Government’s proposals to phase-out of some hard-to-recycle and single-use plastic items.
Proposal #1: Phase out PVC and polystyrene packaging, which include things like meat, biscuit and sushi trays, styrofoam containers and small yoghurt pottles that can’t be reprocessed in New Zealand.
Proposal #2: Phase out single-use plastic items: cotton buds, drink stirrers, tableware (like plates, trays, bowls & cutlery), produce bags, cups & lids made from plastic types 3, 4, 6 and 7, non-compostable produce stickers and straws.
Wastebusters supports these proposals –
- except the inclusion of straws, as we support consultation and agreement with the disabled community before plastic straws are considered for removal from circulation
and
- we’d like to see single-use coffee cups & lids, and single-use plastic cups and lids made of plastics 1, 2 and 5 included in the phase out.
Removing plastics we can’t recycle reduces contamination, keeps harmful plastics out of our environment and is a necessary step in the shift to a circular economy.
There’s an easy to use form at zerowaste.co.nz/action-on-plastics so making a submission is quick and painless! Help us get rid of these problem plastics and make a submission before 4 December.