Reuse Aotearoa’s submission on the Ministry for the Environment’s 2025 consultation on proposed amendments to waste legislation, which, among other things, proposed law changes that could affect reuse, including a new framework for extended producer responsibility and product policy.
Our submission in a nutshell
We focused on explaining why reuse should be prioritised in waste minimisation strategies, and the specific opportunities that updating waste legislation presents to increase reuse activity in the New Zealand economy.
We offered suggestions of where the proposals could be improved so that these levers are actually put forward and have a chance of being drafted and included in amended legislation, highlighted the issues with broadening the scope of what waste levy revenue can be spent on from a reuse perspective, and made some general comments about the consultation document’s use of terminology in relation to reuse.