But National Party environment spokesperson Scott Simpson says the waste increase is “another tax” on New Zealanders.
“This is going to make it too expensive for people to use their local tips, and instead they’ll realise it’s cheaper to dump it illegally,” Simpson says.
“Fly-tipping is already a huge problem in New Zealand, and knee-jerk price hikes like this only make it worse. It’s typical of this clumsy Government to just hit the tax button instead of looking into sensible alternatives, like waste to energy schemes which are used in other countries.”
ACT Party environment spokesperson Simon Court says the Government’s initiatives “won’t solve New Zealand’s landfill crisis”.
“Households and businesses will now pay $60 a tonne to send waste to landfill at a time when we need to increase business productivity and return to growth. Meanwhile, red tape denies New Zealanders access to the technology that solved the landfill crisis in Europe in fewer than 15 years,” Seymour says.
“Labour banned modern waste incinerators in 2005 and getting a permit for waste to energy under the Resource Management Act (RMA) is now almost impossible. As a result, New Zealand buries 3.5 million tonnes of waste in landfills every single year, one million tonnes more than in 2005.”
Instead, he says ACT backs a method that was used in Europe.
“In the UK, 44 waste incinerators burned 10.9 million tonnes of rubbish last year, much of it in England, where it accounted for 42 percent of rubbish disposal.
“ACT supports this approach, because we know recycling and waste minimisation alone will never solve New Zealand’s landfill crisis.”
He says it would repeal the RMA amendment which currently bans incineration and makes it “impossible” to get a permit for waste to energy.
