New Zealand is now a member of the ANZPAC Plastics Pact, a voluntary programme providing a platform to share knowledge and ideas on a range of topics, including effective recovery systems, circular design, and new business models.
Through ANZPAC membership, the New Zealand Government is joining with industry, business and governments from Australia, and the Pacific to help reduce plastic waste and pollution in our region.
This knowledge and collaboration will support New Zealand’s significant work underway in the National Plastics Action Plan, including phasing out problematic plastic items, developing regulated product stewardship for six waste streams and proposing a set of changes to transform recycling.
New Zealand’s ANZPAC Plastics Pact membership builds on the commitments made in the joint statement by New Zealand and Australian Prime Ministers in May 2021, including providing support to Pacific Island countries, addressing marine litter and other waste issues, and incorporating these into their collaboration towards a circular economy.
As a supporting member, the New Zealand Government has not signed itself or our domestic stakeholders onto the targets that have been developed through ANZPAC. However, the targets that members sign up to are aligned with the New Zealand Plastic Packaging Declaration, and our broader policy objectives.
Working with ANZPAC members will shape up future work that facilitates the transition toward a circular economy for New Zealand and the region.
The ANZPAC Plastics Pact is a voluntary programme that membership includes businesses, governments, and non-governmental organisations from across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands to collaborate and commit to actions that work toward a circular economy for plastics.
ANZPAC is administered and delivered by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO). APCO is a membership-based organisation working on Circular Economy outcomes for packaging in Australia.
It is the second pact in the world to be established under the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Plastics Pact network. It is connected to the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment to which New Zealand is a signatory.