Kiwis’ views sought on plan to deal with farm plastics

The proposed regulations would support a nationally consistent product stewardship scheme for agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics, helping farmers and growers to reduce the environmental impact of these essential products.

Plastic products play a critical role in supporting New Zealand’s world-leading agri-economy. However, 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.

Public consultation is focussed on proposed regulations needed to support the product stewardship scheme, provisionally named Green-farms.

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.

The industry-led scheme 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 new scheme is designed to work with regulations that apply a small advance disposal fee on targeted in-scope products. This fee would fund free-to-use services for farmers and growers, ensuring they have easy access to national take-back and recycling systems as an alternative to landfilling, burying or burning the plastics.

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.

Consultation on the proposed regulations to support the new scheme will run until 1 June 2025.

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

Read the Beehive press release. Help shape the future of farm plastics recycling | Beehive.govt.nz [Beehive].