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Why a waste disposal levy?

Every year, New Zealanders send around 3.2 million tonnes of waste material to landfill (also referred to as “disposal facilities”). Disposing of waste to landfill is a sign we are using our resources inefficiently and contributing to environmental pollution.

To improve our environmental performance, New Zealanders need to start taking responsibility for the waste we produce and find more effective and efficient ways to reduce, reuse, recycle or reprocess it.

On 25 September 2008 the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (the Act) was introduced to encourage waste minimisation and decrease waste disposal in New Zealand.

Under the Act, a $10 per tonne (excluding GST) levy on all waste sent to landfill is imposed from 1 July 2009. The purpose of the levy is to create funding opportunities for waste minimisation initiatives and provide an economic incentive to polluters to change their behaviour.

The levy is designed to encourage people and organisations to rethink how they dispose of waste and reward efforts made to divert material from landfill. Placing this cost on waste helps us to recognise the true social, economic, and environmental impacts and costs that waste has on people and the environment

The levy will be charged at facilities where waste (including household waste) is disposed of and which operate, at least in part, as businesses which dispose of waste.

Half of the levy money will go to territorial authorities (city and district councils), on a population basis, to spend on promoting or achieving the waste minimisation activities set out in their waste management and minimisation plans.

A waste minimisation fund will be set up with the remaining levy money, minus administration costs, to fund waste minimisation projects. Projects will be assessed according to a set of criteria established in consultation with the Waste Advisory Board. The Minister for the Environment has final approval on project funding.

Further background information

Waste Minimisation in New Zealand – A discussion document for the Ministry from the Environment (2009) A discussion document which sought feedback on policy proposed to implement the Waste Minimisation Act 2008, including measures to improve the operation of the waste levy

Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) to amend the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill (2007) SOP developed in conjunction with the Ministry for the Environment based on the Government’s policies in relation to waste, waste minimisation and sustainability 

Towards a Sustainable New Zealand: Measures to minimise solid waste (2007) Cabinet paper in which new waste legislation was proposed to consolidate some waste-related provisions in existing legislation, and to implement other measures proposed in this paper that needed to be given effect through regulation

Regulatory impact statement: Towards a Sustainable New Zealand – Measures to Minimise Solid Waste (2007) Statement of the nature and magnitude of the problem and the need for government action

Waste Policy Discussion: The Potential Unintended Consequences of a National Waste Levy (2006) report prepared by the Ministry for the Environment to assist and inform the work on the use of waste levies and other options for funding waste minimisation activities.

Issues Associated with a Levy on Solid Waste – A Review of Positions and Possibilities (2006) Background document commissioned by the Ministry for the Environment that highlights some of the issues to be considered in progressing policy on national waste levies.

The New Zealand Waste Strategy (2002) A framework for addressing how New Zealand can minimise and manage waste. The targets in the New Zealand Waste Strategy are currently being revised following public consultation during April-May 2009. Revised targets are expected to be released in late 2009.

Last updated: 9 June 2009