The Government has declared six priority products for product stewardship under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. This is part of a wider plan to reduce the number of materials ending up in landfills or polluting the environment.
Priority product stewardship is when regulations may be used to:
In July 2020, the Government announced six products to be declared ‘priority products’ for the establishment of product stewardship schemes under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (WMA).
The products are:
This announcement followed public consultation held in 2019.
Government to regulate environmentally harmful plastic packaging, tyres, e-waste [Beehive website]
Declaration of Priority Products Notice 2020 [New Zealand Gazette website]
To declare a priority product the Minister must be satisfied that:
Declaration of ‘priority product’ under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 creates an obligation and opportunity:
an option becomes available to prohibit the sale of a priority product except in accordance with the accredited scheme (section 22(1)(a)). This means that participation in an accredited scheme is mandatory. This reduces 'free-rider' issues commonly experienced by voluntary accredited schemes.
Declaration of Priority Products Notice 2020 [New Zealand Gazette website]
General guidelines for Product Stewardship Schemes for Priority Products Notice 2020 [New Zealand Gazette website]
In 2023, regulations were introduced to support Tyrewise, the Minister-accredited tyre stewardship scheme managed by the not-for-profit organisation Auto Stewardship New Zealand.
The regulations help Tyrewise to manage the estimated 6.5 million tyres that reach end of life in New Zealand annually by diverting tyres away from landfill, stockpiling and illegal dumping towards use as a fuel source or a recycled product.
From 1 March 2024, tyre importers and manufacturers must register with Tyrewise and pay the tyre stewardship fee (the fee) when the tyre enters the market. This fee funds Tyrewise to track tyres, operate a nationwide tyre take-back service, incentivise onshore tyre processing and support the onshore manufacturing of tyre-derived products and fuel.
Find out more about how this might affect you:
More information on the Waste Minimisation (Tyres) Regulations 2023 (NZ Legislation)
Visit the Tyrewise website to learn more about how the scheme works.
Cool-Safe is the accredited product stewardship scheme for refrigerants.
The Government has approved the drafting of regulations that will support product stewardship for refrigerants.
Once these regulations come into effect, synthetic refrigerants and equipment must be sold in accordance with the accredited scheme.
This scheme will require the refrigerants sector to report data to Cool-Safe to allow synthetic refrigerants to be tracked across their life cycle.
Under the scheme, the sale and recovery of synthetic refrigerants and heating and cooling equipment containing synthetic refrigerants will be restricted to those who meet industry recognised training standards. These training requirements are proposed to come into effect three years after the regulations are introduced.
For more information see the Cool-Safe website.
Agrecovery led the co-design process for agrichemicals and farm plastics (farm waste). The Green-farms Product Stewardship Scheme was accredited in 2023.
Public consultation on the proposal for regulations to support the product stewardship for agrichemicals, their containers and farm plastics, was carried out May to June 2025.
Proposed product stewardship regulations for agrichemicals, their containers, and farm plastics
Government has agreed to the development of regulations in support of the accredited scheme, now called the Rural Recycling Scheme. Drafting of the regulations is now underway, expected to be completed in 2026.
Visit the Agrecovery website for more information on the Agrecovery Foundation and rural recycling.
New Zealand generates an estimated 80,000 to 101,000 tonnes of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) each year, with approximately 98 percent ending up in landfill or disposed of illegally.
E-waste contains hazardous materials that pose significant risks to human health and the environment. However, it also presents considerable opportunities for business innovation, job creation, and the recovery of valuable materials such as precious and rare earth metals.
Batteries are a subset of e-waste. The most used battery chemistries carry risks including fire hazards, the release of toxic substances, and the permanent loss of critical rare earth elements if not properly recovered.
Two industry led scheme design projects have been completed:
We are working with stakeholders to build on these designs and update the evidence base.
In 2022, New Zealand produced an estimated 263,000 tonnes of plastic packaging; 17 percent was recycled. Plastic packaging poses harm to freshwater and marine wildlife from ingestion and break down into microplastics and food chain contamination. Currently the financial and environmental burden of managing post-consumer plastic packaging falls on councils and communities.
In 2025, the Packaging Forum and New Zealand Food and Grocery Council published recommendations for a plastic packaging product stewardship scheme.
Read their recommendations on the Plastic Packaging Product Stewardship website.
We are working with industry and stakeholders on the next stages of scheme development.
Under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (section 23), there are a range of regulations that may be placed on products (whether or not they have been declared as priority products).
These include the following: