Have your say on proposed amendments to waste legislation

The WMA establishes roles and responsibilities for central and local government.³ The Litter Act establishes roles for a variety of public organisations to appoint Litter Control Officers (LCOs) (see the section on Enabling efficient and effective controls for littering and other types of mismanaged waste).

Under the WMA, territorial authorities must adopt a WMMP, which must have regard to the New Zealand waste strategy. Minor amendments to a WMMP can be made based on the territorial authority’s significance and engagement policy, which allows for minor ‘out-of-cycle’ refinements to a plan. Any substantial proposed changes would require local consultation.

Currently, under the WMA:

• the Minister may set performance standards for the implementation of one or more WMMPs
• the Minister may require a territorial authority to amend its WMMP
• the Secretary must retain levy payments to a territorial authority if it has not adopted a WMMP, or if it has not reviewed the WMMP within the specified time or at the Minister’s direction.

³ This includes waste levy settings (eg, allocation and distribution settings, controls on the use of levy funds, and consideration of the appropriate legislative responsibilities informed by this funding), the overall strategic framework (ie, how strategic direction via the waste strategy or other mechanism is given effect through localised waste planning and activities), and data collection and reporting requirements.

We propose amending some roles and responsibilities in relation to the purpose and functions of the WMA. These amendments largely mirror the existing WMA provisions, with some refinement. Where we propose variations to existing provisions, these are described below.

Central government

The Ministry (and, where applicable, specifically the Secretary) would have responsibility for:

• setting strategic direction
• policy development
• system stewardship
• investment of the waste disposal levy
• provision and dissemination of information and services to promote environmental policies⁴
• national data collation and reporting
• various EPR powers (such as establishing a PRO and setting the regulatory parameters for a scheme) (see appendix 1 for more details on the Ministry’s and the Secretary’s proposed roles in relation to EPR)
• levy collection and administration
• compliance, monitoring and enforcement.

These proposed responsibilities largely mirror what is currently in the WMA, with the addition of EPR powers, which are proposed improvements on the current product stewardship roles and responsibilities.

New Zealand Customs Service

We propose that NZ Customs should:

• share data with the Ministry (including in relation to products and/or materials within scope of regulated product stewardship and EPR schemes)
• collect EPR-related charges where appropriate.

We propose to require that NZ Customs’ import and export information is shared with the Ministry to support development and implementation of product stewardship or EPR schemes.

The WMA amendments proposed as a part of the Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill would enable the Governor-General to make regulations specifying NZ Customs as the person responsible for collecting product stewardship charges. It is proposed that these changes will continue under the proposed EPR framework and that NZ Customs will have the ability to recover its related costs.

Local government

We propose clarifying the legislation to better specify the minimum obligations of territorial authorities. These could include a requirement to ensure the delivery of household waste and recycling services in their district,⁵ which could be delivered directly or by other private providers.

We also propose amending section 48 of the WMA to enable the Minister to direct territorial authorities to do a particular activity through the WMMPs (rather than the current ability to only amend, add or omit a WMMP provision). We propose providing the Secretary with a discretionary (rather than mandatory) power to retain levy payments to territorial authorities if a WMMP has not been adopted.

Producer responsibility organisation

The PRO would run an EPR scheme. The responsibilities of the PRO (outlined in appendix 1) are broadly in line with those set out in product stewardship guidelines and practically undertaken in existing product stewardship schemes. We propose to provide clarity for all parties by setting the obligations in legislation and regulations. The PRO would be more directly responsible for scheme performance, and there would be more opportunities for the Minister to intervene if the scheme was not being managed appropriately and effectively.

Waste Advisory Board

We propose enabling the Waste Advisory Board to provide advice to the Minister or Ministry at its discretion, rather than only on the request of the Minister. The advice would need to be consistent with an agreed strategic plan. We also propose to enable the Board to provide advice on strategic and overarching issues, and on opportunities that reflect the purpose of the WMA.

⁴ Functions of the Ministry section 31 of the Environment Act 1986.
⁵ For example, through kerbside services or other collection methods.