Feedback received during public consultation was supportive of regulations to enable implementation of the accredited product stewardship scheme for agrichemicals, their containers and farm plastics.
Government has now agreed to drafting these regulations.
The regulations will build on the voluntary schemes that have been operating for nearly 20 years. This will establish a nationally consistent product stewardship scheme for agrichemicals, their containers and farm plastics by helping farmer, growers and other consumers of these products to:
The accredited scheme, named the 'Rural Recycling scheme', will require the producers of in-scope products to declare their sales and then pay regulated fees in proportion to the declared sales volumes. The accredited scheme is run by the Agrecovery Foundation, a not-for-profit charitable trust.
When the consumer (farmers, growers and others) has used the product, they will have the option of a free-to-use recycling service for those plastic products and containers.
The recycling (take-back) service will be primarily funded by the fees collected from the producers of the in-scope product.
See further information around in-scope products including changes made following consultation and general information of the Rural Recycling Scheme.
|
Term |
Definition/scope |
|---|---|
|
Agrichemicals |
Liquid and solid chemical products used for agricultural purposes such as plant protection (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides), and veterinary medicines such as anthelmintics. |
|
Household pest and weed control products |
Liquid and solid agrichemicals that are intended for domestic use around the home or garden to manage or eliminate pests, weeds, and other unwanted organisms, and available to the public through standard retail outlets. |
|
Bale wrap |
LLDPE (Linear Low-Density Polyethylene) to encase bales of feed for the purpose of feeding livestock. |
|
Silage sheet |
LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) sheeting for covering silage feed pits for the purposes of feeding out to livestock. |
|
Agricultural product types |
Definition |
|---|---|
|
Seed |
All seeds used in the primary sectors for sowing such as pasture, arable, horticultural, and specialty crop seeds. |
|
Feed |
Livestock, equine, and poultry feeds. Including grain-based rations, protein and energy supplements, and specialty feeds. |
|
Fertiliser |
Conventional and specialty fertilisers used to enhance horticultural production, crop and pasture growth. |
|
Soil and crop inputs |
Inputs to improve soil structure, fertility, and overall productivity, including soil conditioners such as lime, gypsum, biochar, and zeolite. Excludes home garden products used for improving soil structure, including potting and planting mixes, mulch, pumice, vermiculite and perlite |
|
Farm and animal supplements |
Mineral supplements, lick blocks, electrolytes, and other products used to support livestock health, performance and nutrition such as mineral supplements, lick blocks and electrolytes. |
Note: These definitions may be subject to minor changes during the regulation drafting process.
Regulations will include clear definitions that distinguish in and out-of-scope products.
Users will be supported through clear communication from Agrecovery, including guidance on the scheme’s website, through retailers, and at the point of sale.
The scheme will roll out clear, targeted communications across all regions, ensuring retailers, farmers and other users know exactly what is in scope, how to return it, and why it matters.
While labelling will not be mandated, where it is relevant to do so, many already voluntarily include the scheme logo for easier identification
A completed product is one that is ready for retail sale and is not being purchased for, or used, for further manufacturing or processing in New Zealand.
An example is whole seed that is contained in a plastic bag and purchased by a company that uses it, and other ingredients, to make an animal feed. The animal feed is the completed agricultural product that is in-scope of the scheme (the producer pays the fee for this product).
Agrecovery will continue to offer voluntary solutions for the use of plastic bags used earlier in manufacturing supply chains.
The name of the accredited scheme has been changed from Green Farms to the Rural Recycling Scheme. Feedback received suggested that the name needs to better reflect the nature of the scheme and what it aims to achieve.
Changes to the product scope include:
These changes were made to avoid products that are more likely to be used by households, from being captured by the regulations.
The Rural Recycling Scheme take-back model will include:
Many farmers and growers already utilise take-back services available. We expect more will use the free and convenient services provided by the Rural Recycling Scheme.
However, farmers, growers, and other consumers of the in-scope product are not required to use the take-back services provided by the Rural Recycling Scheme. They will be encouraged to.
| Status quo - voluntary product stewardship | Rural Recycling Scheme supported by Regulations | |
|---|---|---|
| Fees paid by producers |
Some producers pay the voluntary schemes a fee to help fund the take-back services provided for their products. Other services are user-pays and are subsidised by a producer or local government. |
Fees (a levy) will be paid by producers of all in-scope products to cover the full-service costs. Fee collection will fund a nation-wide take-back model. |
| National coverage |
The voluntary schemes cover a good proportion of the country, but some regions and remote areas remain without access to take-back solutions. Other commercial enterprises may provide take-back services in some regions at a cost. |
The take-back scheme will be distributed across the country providing free-to-use and convenient take-back options across all regions. For remote locations, on-farm or nearby collections may be utilised instead of fixed collection sites. |
| Free riders | Free riders who utilise take-back services without contributing to running costs, exist under the voluntary schemes. |
There will be no opportunity for free riders as all producers of in-scope product will be required to pay a fee. Both the scheme manager and the Ministry will be involved in compliance monitoring and enforcement, ensuring all producers pay the fee. |
| Convenience for farmers | Farmers who use multiple in-scope product types, may need to engage with both voluntary schemes (where available) or other take-back services in order to recycle their waste. |
Take-back solutions for all in-scope product will be provided by one unified scheme, providing a one-stop-shop approach with more convenient take-back options |
The scheme fees are below. These have not changed following consultation. The fees typically range from less than 0.2 percent up to around 1.7 percent (and generally less than 1 percent)
| Category | Product | Fee rate ($) |
|---|---|---|
| Agrichemicals and their containers | Packaging part of fee | Per litre |
| Containers up to 60 litres | 0.10 | |
| Containers over 60 litres, and less than Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC) | 0.025 | |
| IBC (approx. 1,000 litres) | 0.02 | |
| Chemical part of fee | Per litre | |
| Group 1 – chemicals unlikely to be brought for disposal (the consumer typically uses them up) | 0.01 | |
| Group 2 – chemicals with lowest disposal cost | 0.03 | |
|
Group 3 – chemicals with higher disposal cost
|
0.04 0.06 |
|
| Household pest and weed control products | ||
| Cost per container | 0.10 | |
| Group 1 - Chemicals unlikely to be brought for disposal (per kilogram or litre) | 0.02 | |
| Group 2 - Chemicals with lowest disposal cost (per kilogram or litre) | 0.08 | |
| Group 3 - Chemicals with higher disposal cost (per kilogram or litre) | 0.10 | |
| Farm plastics | Bale wrap and silage sheet | Per tonne |
| Bale wrap | 462.021 | |
| Silage sheet | 462.02 | |
| Bags | Per bag | |
| Small bags | 0.20 | |
| Large bags | 3.58 |
| Product | Fee (per unit) | Typical purchase price (per unit) of a full product | Fee as a percentage of cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bale wrapped feed | $0.52 | $30-$60 per bale | 0.87 - 1.73 |
| Large fertiliser bag | $3.58 | $400-$1000 per bag | 0.36 – 0.9 |
| Small feed or fertiliser bag | $0.20 | >$100 per bag | <0.2 |
| 20-litre container of agrichemicals in group 2 | $2.60 | Ranges widely, e.g. $181-$1,516 for products of the biggest provider of agrichemicals in New Zealand | 0.7 – 1.4 |
The producer of the in-scope products will pay the fees. A producer can include manufacturers, importers and distributors who are responsible for placing the in-scope product on the New Zealand market. Producers will be required to register with the scheme and declare how much product they have sold before paying the proportional amount of fees.
For many in-scope products, the fee is likely to be passed onto the consumer. Some large retailers are already committed to the voluntary schemes which includes a fee paid per product. Where this is occurring, it is unlikely that regulated fees will be passed onto the consumer as voluntary fees of a similar amount are already factored into their product retail prices.
The fees will be paid to the accredited scheme after the producer declares the amount of in-scope product placed on the New Zealand market
The scheme will be required to operate in accordance with its accreditation. This includes several objectives and targets relating to its performance and effectiveness. The scheme manager will be required to report on its performance at set intervals (e.g. annually) to the Ministry.
The Ministry will monitor the performance of the scheme and recover the monitoring costs from the scheme manager (up to 1 FTE), using part of the stewardship fee revenue.
Two schemes currently collect about half of the estimated total quantity of agrichemical containers, bale wrap, and silage sheet sold in New Zealand.
Agrecovery operates a drop off scheme for agrichemical containers and small plastic bags and provides a take-back service for residual agrichemicals. Agrecovery has around 200 collection sites already, mostly at retailer sites such as Farmlands and PGG Wrightson.
Plasback operates a user-pays scheme for collecting some farm plastics, mainly bale wrap and silage sheet.
Once regulations are in place to support the Rural Recycling Scheme, most services currently offered by the voluntary schemes will no longer be needed. However, the voluntary schemes, or other commercial enterprises may still provide take-back solutions at a cost to the users. Solutions may include:
The Ministry is working with the Parliamentary Council Office to draft the regulations. The final draft regulations for agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics are expected to be brought back to Cabinet for decision mid-2026.
If the Government approves, the draft regulations will come into force 6-12 months after publication. Likely to be late 2026, early 2027.
If you have any further questions, please email rps@mfe.govt.nz.