Proposed product stewardship regulations for agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics

Plastic products play a critical role in supporting New Zealand’s world-leading agri-economy. However, rural communities also know that once they have been used, products such as agrichemical containers, bale wrap and other farm plastics can quickly pile up and become difficult to deal with in a way that does not cause harm. 

Supporting New Zealand’s farmers and growers to better manage plastic waste is a priority, and industry has been working to improve services. Following an industry-led design process, this consultation seeks your views on proposed regulations to support a national product stewardship scheme for agrichemicals and their containers, and for other farm plastics including bale wrap. Product stewardship helps producers and manufacturers play a bigger role in the end-of-life management for the products they place on the market.

The new scheme, provisionally called Green-farms, would bring the existing Agrecovery and Plasback schemes into a single national take-back and recycling programme, simplifying and expanding services so they are accessible to everyone who uses the products that are proposed to be regulated. The national take-back service would include free-to-use drop-off sites at convenient locations, including rural-sector retailers. Free-to-use collection services would be available for remote locations. 

As well as farmers and growers, consumers such as the forestry, manufacturing, hospitality, tourism and sport sectors, local authorities, contractors and households would be able to use the national take-back services.

A product stewardship approach recognises that everyone involved in a product’s lifecycle, from design and manufacturing to use and disposal, has a role to play in ensuring that products are handled and disposed of in a safe and environmentally responsible way. The Government is committed to continuing to support industry-led product stewardship schemes.

I welcome your feedback about how the new scheme and proposed regulations might affect you. I encourage you to share your views on these proposals.

Hon Penny Simmonds
Minister for the Environment

Accreditation

In this context, a decision by the Minister for the Environment confirming that a proposed product stewardship scheme meets the requirements set in sections 14 and 15 of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. 

Agrichemicals

Chemicals (in liquid or solid form) used to control pests, weeds, and livestock diseases (eg, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and veterinary medicines), to support plant growth or soil health (eg, fertilisers). 

Agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics

In this context, all products covered by the Declaration of Priority Products Notice 2020 for ‘agrichemicals and their containers’ and ‘farm plastics’, unless specified otherwise.

Bale wrap

Plastic film for ensiling feed for livestock, to protect it from moisture and spoilage. 

End of life

When a product is no longer useful for its original purpose.

Free-rider 

In this context, a person or company that benefits from a voluntary product stewardship scheme without paying their fair share into the scheme for the services the scheme provides to manage their products at end of life.

Guidelines

In this context, the General Guidelines for Product Stewardship Schemes for Priority Products Notice 2020.

In-scope products

In this document, the four product groups that the Government proposes to regulate (listed below). They are a subset of the products covered by the Declaration of Priority Products Notice 2020. 

Priority product

A product declared to be a priority under section 9 of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008.

Producers

Includes manufacturers, brand owners and importers of a priority product.

Product stewardship

When people and businesses take responsibility for the environmental impacts of products through their life cycle, either voluntarily or in response to regulations.

Product stewardship organisation (PSO)

The organisation that implements an accredited product stewardship scheme. 

Recycling 

Reprocessing waste or diverted material to produce new materials.

Silage sheet

A plastic sheet used to cover silage feed pits, preventing air and moisture from entering. 

Take-back services

Collection of end-of-life products for recycling. Take-back services may include collection sites where users can drop off their products (eg, rural supplies retailers, depots and other convenient sites), or they may involve collection from a user’s premises (eg, more remote farms).

WMA

Waste Minimisation Act 2008.

Purpose of this consultation

We are seeking your views on proposed regulations to enable a national take-back and recycling scheme for agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics.

This is a form of product stewardship. Product stewardship is where people and organisations involved in the life cycle of a product (eg, producers, importers, retailers and consumers) share responsibility for minimising environmental harm and maximising the net benefit from the product at the end of its useful life.

In-scope product groups we propose to regulate 

The regulations would cover four types of product considered to be among the most problematic: 

• agrichemicals sold in plastic containers and drums of 1,000 litres or less (including household pest and weed control products)
• plastic bale wrap and silage sheet
• small plastic bags (40 kilograms or less when full) containing products such as seed, feed, fertiliser, soil and crop inputs, farm and animal supplements
• bulk woven polypropylene bags (over 40 kilograms when full) containing products such as seed, feed, fertiliser, soil amendments, minerals and bulk nutrition.

What is the problem we are seeking to address?

Currently, not all farmers have access to take-back and recycling services for agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics. This contributes to ongoing but avoidable practices, such as on-farm burning, burial or indefinite storage in some rural areas. This in turn risks harming the environment and our health, and losing recyclable materials. Regional council rules to control on-farm waste disposal – including bans on burning plastics – vary greatly between regions and are difficult to enforce. 

Since 2006, two voluntary product stewardship schemes – run by Agrecovery and Plasback – have offered take-back services for agrichemicals and their containers, and some farm plastics. Both schemes have made steady progress in reducing waste, but engagement by producers and farmers has plateaued, and some parts of the country remain poorly served.

The Green-farms Product Stewardship Scheme

A new product stewardship scheme was developed by industry stakeholders, and accredited by the Minister for the Environment in October 2023. It is provisionally named Green-farms, according to its accreditation. This scheme is not operating yet, pending government decisions on the regulations.

According to its accreditation, the scheme would offer a free-to-use take-back service to consumers (mainly farmers and growers), initially covering the four product categories listed above. For agrichemicals, the scheme would take back containers and residual agrichemicals only.

Over time, the scheme may include other farm plastics, such as netting and wool fadges. However, these are not among the materials currently proposed for the regulations to cover.

The scheme was designed to work alongside regulations under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (WMA). This approach was supported by industry stakeholders during the co-design process. The costs of running the scheme and managing the take-back and treatment will be covered by fees paid by producers and importers of in-scope products, who will likely pass on some or all of the fees to consumers. 

The proposal

We are consulting on two options:

• Option 1: Introduce WMA regulations. These will support the accredited scheme for the in-scope products.
• Option 2: No action (maintain the voluntary approach). No regulations would be made. The current schemes may continue with voluntary stewardship of agrichemical containers and other farm plastics.

Your responses to this consultation will inform Cabinet consideration of the options.

Under Option 1, WMA regulations would prohibit the sale of agrichemicals in specified container types and certain farm plastics, except in accordance with the accredited scheme for these (ie, Green-farms). The obligation to sell only in accordance with the scheme would apply to the four product groups listed above.

All producers and importers placing these products on the New Zealand market would be required to pay a stewardship fee designed to cover end-of-life management of the products.¹ The proposed fees are in section 3.2.

The regulations aim to address the shortcomings of voluntary stewardship by:

• establishing a level playing field, in which all producers, importers and retailers of priority products share responsibility (and costs) for managing the in-scope products at end of their life, eliminating the free-riding costs on the existing voluntary Agrecovery scheme
• offering farmers and other consumers a free-to-use and convenient take-back service – reducing the incentive for inappropriate disposal (eg, burying or burning) and diverting waste away from landfill
• enabling the Government to enforce the requirements. 

¹ For in-scope agrichemicals, the fee only covers the end-of-life management of residual agrichemicals in the containers that farmers (and other consumers) give back to the scheme. For non-residual/bulk agricultural chemical recovery and disposal, Agrecovery will continue its user-pays service.

1.1 About this consultation

This consultation aims to: 

• seek your views on proposed regulations to enable a national take-back and recycling scheme for agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics
• understand business and consumer perspectives on the possible impacts of these proposals.

How to have your say

We welcome your comments on this consultation. The questions are a guide only, and you do not have to answer them all. 

Closing date for submissions

Send in your comments by 11.59 pm on 1 June 2025. If you have questions or want more information about the policy proposals or the submission process, please email rps@mfe.govt.nz.

What happens next?

After receiving submissions, we will analyse them to inform policy and government decisions on regulations for a product stewardship scheme for agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics.

1.2 Policy context

In 2020, agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics were among the six product groups declared as priority products under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (WMA).² Once a product is declared a priority product, a stewardship scheme³ for the product must be developed and accredited as soon as practicable. Regulations can also be made under the WMA to support product stewardship. 

² New Zealand Government. 2020. New Zealand Gazette. Declaration of Priority Products Notice 2020 (updated 29 September 2020).

³ Product stewardship is where people and organisations involved in the life cycle of a product (eg, producers, importers, retailers and consumers) share responsibility for minimising environmental harm and maximising net benefit from the product at the end of its useful life.

1.3 Scope of this consultation

We are only consulting on regulations covering a subset of the declared priority products, namely:

• agrichemicals⁴ sold in plastic containers and drums of 1,000 litres or less (including household pest and weed control products)
• plastic bale wrap and silage sheet
• small plastic bags (40 kilograms or less when full) containing products such as seed, feed, fertiliser, soil and crop inputs, farm and animal supplements 
• bulk woven polypropylene bags (over 40 kilograms when full) containing products such as seed, feed, fertiliser, soil amendments, minerals and bulk nutrition.

At this stage we are not proposing to regulate the other agricultural and horticultural plastics covered by the Declaration of Priority Products Notice 2020.⁵ We may consider these in future, once we have more information on logistics and costs from voluntary take-back and recycling trials.

Under these proposals, the regulated parties would be the scheme manager, as well as entities that sell and distribute in-scope agrichemicals and farm plastics. Farmers, growers and other consumers of in-scope products would not be regulated. They would have wider opportunities to reduce waste and risk of harm from these products. 

The proposals here aim to improve end-of-life management of agrichemical containers, their residual agrichemicals, and certain farm plastics. They do not affect the Environmental Protection Authority rules for the approval, labelling, packaging and disposal of hazardous substances.

⁴ In liquid or solid form and excluding gases.

⁵ New Zealand Government. 2020. New Zealand Gazette. Declaration of Priority Products Notice 2020 (updated 29 September 2020).