The government has recently released its Plastics Action Plan, but so far, a container return scheme (CRS) is only on the ‘potential’ list despite the already existing strong public mandate to get one into operation:

• 96% of mayors, and 83% of the public support a CRS (p.2).
• 15,450 New Zealanders signed The Kiwi Bottle Drive petition, calling for a CRS.
• A majority of the Environment Select Committee recently supported the Kiwi Bottle Drive petition, stating “there is a clear mandate from local government and the public for the Government to implement a CDS in New Zealand” (p.5).

The simple act of putting a small, refundable deposit on all beverages would lift New Zealand’s beverage container return rates to 85 percent or higher. This would mean more beverage containers will be recycled, or better yet, reused – just like the old days. 

The Zero Waste Network and NZ Product Stewardship Council have created a series of factsheets about a container return scheme that explain in detail what we would like to see in a CRS for Aotearoa NZ:

• Container Return: Better recycling, more refill systems and the building blocks of a circular economy (pdf)
• Container Return: CRS and Refillable Beverages complementary systems to reduce waste and emissions (pdf)
• Container Return: A Hybrid Return System for NZ’s Container Return Scheme (pdf)