As we enter the month of September it’s hard to imagine how quickly the year has gone and as a friendly reminder, it’s less than 17 weeks before Christmas!
So, we thought it would be a good time to quickly take a look at some of the key updates and changes that have come our way so far in 2024.
Let’s start in the early part of the year, February 1st to be exact. The first major change and update took place in the packaging world which was the standardisation of kerbside collection.
Now you may be thinking, isn’t this already standard across New Zealand?
The short answer is no.
Slightly long answer, each council around the country basically had its own approach to what was kerbside recyclable and what wasn’t. This was based on several factors, but the key factor to the variations between councils and regions was dictated by the facilities that were able to perform the relevant process.
So, for example, some councils accepted bottle caps and lids, others didn’t.
With this new regulation that came into effect in February, every council is now directed to accept standard packaging materials from kerbside.
Not sure what they are? Check out the snapshot from the Ministry for the Environment below.
Another key update was the banning of PVC packaging. There was an initial deadline to ban this particular material mid 2025 for brands and suppliers to remove from their operations and products.
However, after a review from the new Government earlier this year the Ministry for the Environment decided to push this timeline out by a year, now making the proposed deadline to mid-2026.
Tranche 1 of Plastics Banned
Illegal to provide, sell or manufacture:
- Single-use plastic drink stirrers (all plastic types)
- Single-use plastic cotton buds (all plastic types)
- Plastics with pro-degradant additives (subset of plastic type 7)
- Certain PVC food trays and containers (plastic type 3)
- Polystyrene takeaway food and beverage packaging (plastic type 6)
- Expanded polystyrene food and beverage packaging ((plastic type 6)
Tranche 2 of Plastics Banned
Banned Single-use:
- plastic produce bags
- plastic plates, bowls and cutlery
- plastic straws*
- plastic produce labels
*Plastic straws are available for disabled people and medical use.
Tranche 3 Plastic Banned
- All PVC food and beverage packaging- E.g. PVC biscuit trays and containers
- All polystyrene food and beverage packaging- E.g. Polystyrene food pottles
*Regulation date is not set, only indicative and no sooner than mid-2026
Finally, another key update in the packaging world that relates to regulations and changes was the start and draft of the proposed scheme design for Plastic Packaging, also known as the “Plastic Packaging Product Stewardship”, also known as PPPS.
The start of this scheme aims to create more accountability towards brands, suppliers, manufacturers and distributors of plastic packaging and also create a scheme that captures material handling, processing and funding to ultimately reduce plastic packaging waste.
While the PPPS was still in its infancy and draft stages, what it signals and is creating is awareness for a better understanding and system for plastic packaging of all kinds.
So, 2024 continues to move quickly and so too does the evolving nature of packaging regulations and changes. If you want to keep up and be up to date with some of these changes then be sure to check out our resource pages below.
Till next time
Hi-Tech Packaging Team
