This report provides an overview of international reporting on recycling rates and describes how Aotearoa New Zealand stacks up against various international measures on recycling and waste generation.
This report provides an overview of international reporting on recycling rates and describes how Aotearoa New Zealand stacks up against various international measures on recycling and waste generation.
In doing so, the report compiles and describes the best available information on nation-wide recycling and waste disposal as of 2023.
There is no widely adopted international standard for recycling performance that considers all sources of waste. Limiting comparison to just household and similar waste (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] standard), the proportion of waste Aotearoa recycles (38 per cent) is about average among OECD countries. Using a comparable measure that includes both household and business (eg, commercial, construction) waste, Aotearoa recycles a lower proportion of waste (39 per cent) than Australia (63 per cent).