Three New Zealand organisations working to prevent and mitigate plastic pollution, Para Kore, Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance (APPA) and the New Zealand Product Stewardship Council (NZPSC) welcome the Ministry for the Environment’s recently-released National Plastics Action Plan, but say it could go much further.
PERC co-director and Co-Founder/Trustee of APPA and NZPSC, Trisia Farrelly, says
The Plan begins rightfully noting the “opportunity to change behaviours, and redesign products, services and systems to avoid using plastics, and enable plastic reuse and repair,” and notes important work already underway, like phasing-out some single-use and hard-to-recycle plastics.
“What’s critically missing, however, is a comprehensive list of actions and timebound, measurable plastic pollution reduction targets,” says NZPSC trustee, Dr. Trisia Farrelly.
“We want to see a plan with actions to support a shift towards a safe and regenerative economy with reduce, reuse, refill and repair at the forefront, and a regulatory pathway to protect human health and our environment from hazardous plastics,” Dr. Farrelly adds.
Read the full press release here.