New research conducted by Ipsos¹ shows 80% of National and NZ First Voters want a container deposit return scheme, almost as many as Green Party voters (84%).

While Act voters are a bit less keen, two-thirds of them (67%) also support a scheme.

Withthree quarters (76%) of kiwis overall wanting a refund scheme for bringing back empties, support also spans all regions, all age groups and all income levels.

What will a scheme achieve for Aotearoa?

The research also showed New Zealanders see the top likely impacts of a good scheme as:

1. motivating people who buy drinks to return their containers
2. drink container collection for fundraising
3. Reduced litter
4. Reduced cost for Councils for recycling and waste
5. Increased recycling rates

Importantly, with only 6% of kiwis opposed to a scheme, there’s no reason for Parliament not to proceed with this proven, popular and practical way to cut waste and litter. The balance of people (19%) were unsure, undecided or didn’t state a view.

#BringitBackNZ

“The research shows overwhelming support from voters across the political divide for a scheme that pays 20c, covers all types of drink containers and has drop off points everywhere. The survey showed people understand how it’ll work and if they buy drinks in bottles, cans or cartons they’ll also pay a bit more.

It’s a good reminder that the Waste Act in 2008 passed with cross-party support. We’re optimistic politicians will again do the right thing.

The development work for a New Zealand Container Deposit Return Scheme has already been done. We hope MPs will take as common sense a view on a container deposit return scheme for New Zealand as their voters do,” says Sue Coutts, Zero Waste Aotearoa

A whopping 2.6 billion drinks are sold in containers here in New Zealand each year.

Every day, about 4 million of those drink bottles, cans and cartons get landfilled or littered in Aotearoa. They make up a quarter of all our litter, by volume², explaining why they are such a common sight in our towns and along rural roads and why so many end up in our ocean.

International comparison research shows New Zealand could halve that litter, fast with a Container Deposit Return Scheme, like 58 countries and states have already done ³.

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1 The study was conducted by Ipsos using online research panels between 11 and 18 August 2025, with 1,002 New Zealanders aged 18 and older representing the adult New Zealand population. Quotas were set to ensure representativeness. The precision of Ipsos online surveys is calculated using a credibility interval. Here, the total New Zealand results have a credibility interval of +/-3.5 percentage points. For more information on the Ipsos use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website.

² Keep NZ Beautiful National Litter Audit 2019 – Total beverage containers found in litter 4,956 units / 106.98 kg.

³ Littered with evidence: Proof that deposit return systems work, Reloop, June 2025 – Global average litter reduction of 57% for countries with Container Deposit Return Schemes.