Ministry for the Environment Plastic Phase-outs
We're excited that central government is starting to phase-out unnecessary plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand under the Plastic and Related Products Regulations 2022.
These regulations will prohibit the sale and manufacture of some single-use and hard-to-recycle plastic items. The first phase (October 2022) is aimed at:
- PVC food trays and containers (trays that are manufactured and sold separately to the food it packages)
- Polystyrene takeaway food and drink packaging
- Expanded polystyrene food and drink packaging
- Plastics with pro-degradant additives (oxo- and photo-degradable plastics)
- Single-use plastic drink stirrers
- Plastic stemmed cotton buds
More information on the plastic phase-out can be found on the Ministry for the Environment's website.