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Industry Liaison Group workshop feedback

June and July 2007

The Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry for Economic Development and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise hosted a series of workshops with local and national business representatives about the package of sustainability initiatives announced by the Prime Minister in February 2007.  Meetings took place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch during June and July 2007.

The meeting started with a presentation on the six sustainability initiatives.  Discussions at the meetings focused on five themes:

  • Supporting Business
  • Market Leadership
  • Enhanced Eco-verification
  • Procurement
  • Waste

The five themes relate to four of the sustainability initiatives:

In addition to the above themes, there were also tables for general discussion.  Comments raised at these tables that related to the topics above have been incorporated into the discussion summaries below.  Additional comments coming out of the general table discussions were:

  • the need to take action and plan for future action at the same time
  • the importance of wider consultation with stakeholders on the issue of sustainability
  • consideration of the impacts of sustainability on individuals and households
  • the development of a clear framework across all the six sustainability initiatives.

Below is an introduction to the four initiatives and a summary of the discussions about the five themes.

Business Partnerships for Sustainability

The Business Partnerships for Sustainability programme aims to promote and develop the adoption of sustainable business practices in New Zealand. The three main elements of the programme are:

Discussions about the business partnerships for sustainability programme were split into two themes: Market Leadership and Supporting Business.

Market Leadership discussion summary

There was a desire to understand what New Zealand’s reputation is for sustainability.  There was agreement that New Zealand is uniquely placed to lead the way in certain areas, potentially trialling or piloting specific sustainable business initiatives.   

Building on its existing reputation for integrity and innovation, New Zealand is well placed to develop sustainable solutions.  There is the potential to build a sustainable image of New Zealand through exporting sustainable products. However, to succeed in this, New Zealand businesses need integrity and robustness in their products and services, ensuring their reputation is maintained by being sustainable at home and abroad.

There was recognition of existing action on sustainability, although it was felt to be quite fragmented.  There is a need to increase reporting on sustainable practices among New Zealand businesses to raise the profile of New Zealand globally.  Currently, there is a reluctance to report on sustainability; this needs to be understood and overcome.

To become market leaders, businesses need to monitor markets, both domestic and international.  Internationally, a number of green venture capital funding schemes are available.  Locally, the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund provides normal venture capital funds for business, but at present provides no funds specifically for ventures with a sustainability focus. 

There needs to be a targeted and bold approach to promoting and encouraging sustainability to create market leadership.  Focus should initially be on priority areas such as finance, food and beverage, and tourism.

There was a strong emphasis on the need for good communication. This will ensure the market gets a balanced view about the commercial realities of sustainability, along with the promotion and application of good sustainable practices.

Supporting Business discussion summary

Businesses are not clear about what sustainability means for them and this needs to be addressed.  There was consensus that sustainable business should be promoted as a journey or a pathway, not a set of requirements or a standard to aim for.  Businesses must be sold the business case for sustainability and then be given tangible information on how they can achieve sustainability in their outputs and internal systems.

Businesses need to understand how different manufacturing processes and business practices can affect how the market perceives their brand. The values that a brand relies on can be altered, according to what is important to the customer. Therefore, as production changes, softer values can be applied, as long as they are consistent with customer demands. To spread the word about sustainability, businesses need to produce simple statements that engage people’s emotions.

There was recognition of government commitment to sustainable procurement and the driver this will create within business.  However, it was felt there needed to be strong market and public drivers as well. Incentives were also voiced as a useful tool for encouraging the production of sustainable products and services.  It was also felt that any regulatory barriers to sustainable business activities need to be identified and overcome.

To engage with and support business in sustainable practices, there is a need for government to appreciate the differences between business types (manufacturing, retail, finance etc) and business size (large corporate, SME, micro etc).  There was also a need to understand how doing things in a sustainable way will impact businesses that produce commodities, such as cement, where better alternative products have not yet been researched.

General comments about government’s support and communication to business were that:

  • messages must be clear, show direction and tell the story of sustainability
  • existing good practice must be highlighted and promoted
  • all three pillars of sustainability – environmental, social and economic – must be addressed
  • the use of existing tools should be encouraged
  • networking opportunities should be identified or developed
  • businesses need support to influence the supply chain
  • consultants should be up-skilled to provide support – they currently think sustainability is a fringe issue
  • businesses need to be supported through the necessary culture changes within their organisations.

Enhanced Verification of Eco-friendly Goods and Services

Eco-verification is a system for setting standards for the environmental impact of products and services, tools to help businesses meet those standards, and processes for verifying that those standards have been met. The government is developing a set of detailed actions to:

  • accelerate uptake by businesses and government agencies of ISO 14000 environmental management systems, including product standards, or other internationally recognised systems
  • position New Zealand as a global leader in research and development in product life-cycle analysis and application of eco-verification support structures
  • work with stakeholders to ensure New Zealand is a leader in carbon-footprint measurement and management, and in areas that will make the greatest contribution to sustainability and economic transformation
  • work with primary-sector stakeholders to develop a greenhouse-gas footprint response, including scoping opportunities for coordination of research, eco-verification, promotion, market development and international trade.

The government will develop an online database to provide guidance on the eco-labels and eco-standards that are in use in New Zealand.  It will also develop a verification system and criteria so that any business wanting to trade on sustainability will know what to look for before they commit to any commercially available eco-label or sustainability programme.  The programme will be closely aligned with the government’s business partnerships for sustainability and enhanced sustainable procurement programmes.

Eco-verification discussion summary

The use of good science to back up environmental and sustainability credentials was seen as critical.  Standards for eco-verification need to be robust, scientifically based and in harmony with international standards. International standards should be enhanced by sound New Zealand research to ensure New Zealand is leading in this field.   There were strong concerns that standards would inhibit innovation and striving beyond best practice.  Therefore, there needs to be a balance between eco-verification and the pathway to sustainability in business.

The use of a life-cycle assessment approach was promoted, due to the desire to consider the whole life of a product from conception through to final disposal.  Whole life-cycle costing was also highlighted as important.

There was a strong desire to see integrity and confidence in eco-verification.  There needs to be clarity from government about the appropriateness, interpretation and reliability of the various eco-labels available in the market.  There are already many firms and agencies supplying eco-verification services.  However, there is a need to ensure there is not duplication among existing eco-verification systems.

It was felt that business requires more guidance on how to measure sustainability in business practice and management.  There was an appreciation of the need to have sustainability within both the company itself and individual products.  Concerns were raised about the usability of eco-verification by SMEs (small and medium enterprises).  It was felt that SMEs found it difficult to implement sustainable business practices as well as make a profit. 

Government to buy sustainable goods and services

The government will develop a single procurement policy to ensure sustainably produced goods and services are purchased wherever possible.  This programme will be closely aligned with the development of eco-labels, standards and verification processes to assist procurement decisions and influence businesses.

Procurement discussion summary

It was agreed that for government procurement to be successful there needed to be confidence in eco-verification.  This included confidence in the standards for reporting and measuring the sustainability of products.

There was concern about the impacts of sustainable procurement on SMEs.  It was felt that many SMEs lack the resources for the “long sell” often required for government engagement.  In many instances, SMEs are unwilling to work with larger players due to their suspicions about the motivations of larger companies.  It was therefore highlighted that one procurement policy might not fit all companies and consideration should be given to SMEs.

There was a desire for government to provide clear and open guidance on what it requires for sustainable procurement.  Some queries about this were as follows.

  • Is procurement now more than just price?
  • Does sustainable procurement consider the whole life-cycle of a product or service?
  • What will the minimum standards be?
  • What are the government’s core values and rules for sustainable procurement?
  • What does sustainability mean for government?
  • Is sustainable procurement beyond environmental sustainability?

It was felt that sustainable procurement was an opportunity for government to demonstrate the commitment that is required if sustainability is to move forward in New Zealand.

Towards Zero Waste

The initiatives announced in February 2007 build on existing solid waste management and minimisation work. This includes the following actions.

  • Establishing a network of recycling facilities in public areas.  Working in partnership with local government, these facilities will be placed in larger cities and tourist destinations.  This programme will also help with providing recycling facilities at major public events to encourage people to recycle while out and about, as well as at home.  During the first year, three sites will be piloted to iron out any issues before expanding the programme nationally in high population areas.
  • Securing dedicated funding for solid waste minimisation and management.
  • Securing dedicated funding for further waste minimisation and management, including improving national infrastructure, as the government would like waste reprocessing to occur onshore in the future.
  • Regulating to allow for mandatory product stewardship.

The government is committed to product stewardship schemes as a way of minimising and managing waste, especially for products that cause particular environmental harm or pose disposal problems, such as electronic waste.

The government proposes providing an accreditation scheme to recognise businesses and industry sectors that establish successful product stewardship schemes, and introducing regulations to support product stewardship schemes.

These last two proposals are likely to require legislative change.  The Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill, currently before a Select Committee, is one way of making these changes.

Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill discussion summary

Discussions about the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill related to specific aspects of the Bill.  Topics included:

  • exemptions from the waste levy
  • glass recycling and container deposit legislation
  • existing product stewardship schemes
  • waste funding – levy avoidance by innovation in business and use of levy funds for research.

Public Space Recycling discussion summary

It was felt that one bin for all recyclables was preferable as it would be easier for the public, with an alternative for non-recyclables near by. The preferred option was a bin that can collect both recyclable and non-recyclable wastes.

The economics of public space recycling do not work if only the materials collected are used to fund the scheme.  It was felt that the public would pay for the schemes though their rates in the long term.

Plastics were seen as a potential problem, as not all plastics can be collected and recycled in all areas, especially rural areas.  However, it was felt higher value materials, such as paper and aluminium, would offset the cost of collecting plastic.  Public space recycling schemes may have to adapt to the specific area they are in.  Although, where possible, the types of materials collected and systems of collection should be uniform.

Public education was seen as key to the success of public space recycling.  Existing public attitudes towards recycling are good and the public are recycling quite well at home.  It was therefore hoped that they would be able to transfer this behaviour to public places.  Education about schemes needs to be clear and concise, using signage and colours to make people behave instinctively – not a “look and read” but a “see and do” behaviour.