Aotearoa New Zealand Waste Strategy
Find out about our national waste strategy and development of new legislation to support its delivery.
Find out about our national waste strategy and development of new legislation to support its delivery.
Te rautaki para | Waste strategy
Te rautaki para | Waste strategy: A snapshot
The waste strategy is our roadmap for the next three decades for a low-emissions, low-waste society built upon a circular economy.
It recognises the need to balance:
By 2050, Aotearoa New Zealand is a low-emissions, low-waste society built upon a circular economy.
We cherish our inseparable connection with the natural environment and look after the planet’s finite resources with care and responsibility.
The strategy provides high-level direction. We already have an extensive waste reduction work programme in place that will help us achieve its goals.
The next step is for Government to work with local authorities, the waste management sector and others to develop the first waste action and investment plan.
The action and investment plan will focus on what is needed to deliver on the waste strategy including:
The strategy and the action and investment plan will then guide planning and activity across central and local government. They will also enable organisations in the waste management sector to plan their own activities. The Ministry will assess and publicly report on progress against the strategy and action and investment plan.
We are developing more comprehensive waste legislation to replace the current Waste Minimisation Act 2008 and the Litter Act 1979.
The new legislation will support the delivery of many significant initiatives including the waste strategy and waste actions of the Emissions Reduction Plan.
Public consultation was held in 2021 to seek ideas and feedback on the content for the new waste strategy and legislation. There were nearly 2500 submissions from individuals, the waste sector, businesses and local government.
There was a high level of support for transforming the way we manage waste and the move towards a circular economy. A greater focus on reducing waste generation was broadly supported and for waste to be designed-out of the system. The new legislation will give us the tools to enable this.
See the consultation document: Taking responsibility for our waste consultation