A proposed product stewardship programme will support collection and recycling services for selected plastic products used in agriculture and horticulture.
New Zealand is developing a product stewardship scheme to reduce the amount of agricultural plastic waste that is burned, buried or otherwise sent for disposal. The proposal is intended to establish a more organised system for collecting and recycling eligible plastic products, helping businesses and growers manage waste more responsibly.
The scheme is expected to focus on targeted plastic products used by farmers and growers. Under the proposed approach, a small advance disposal fee would help fund free-to-use take-back and recycling services, giving users an alternative to landfilling, burying or burning these materials.
Product stewardship places responsibility for a product’s environmental impact across its lifecycle. In the case of agricultural plastics, this can include manufacturers, importers, distributors, users and waste-management providers working together to improve collection and recovery.
The proposed programme could help address the challenges associated with agricultural plastic waste, which is often difficult to collect and recycle because of contamination, mixed materials and its use in dispersed rural locations. A coordinated take-back system could make it easier for growers to access appropriate disposal services.
The initiative also reflects New Zealand’s wider efforts to improve plastic waste management and reduce reliance on disposal methods that lose recyclable materials. The government has been developing product stewardship approaches for selected priority products, alongside measures to phase out certain hard-to-recycle and single-use plastics.
However, the scheme remains under development. Detailed regulations, the final list of products covered and the collection fees had not been confirmed in the available information. Further consultation and policy decisions will be required before the programme can be implemented.
If introduced, the scheme could strengthen New Zealand’s agricultural recycling infrastructure and encourage more efficient use of plastic resources. It would also provide a framework for moving suitable plastic waste away from disposal and towards recovery, recycling and reuse.