Our vision
To achieve a diverse mix of well-designed, community friendly, cost-effective regulated product stewardship schemes that maximise social and environmental benefits and achieve a zero waste, circular economy in Aotearoa New Zealand.
What is product stewardship?
Effective product stewardship ensures that those who design, manufacture, import and sell products take primary responsibility for those products at the end of their useful life.
Well-designed product stewardship systems represent a fair, ethical and economically efficient way to reduce the negative impacts of extraction, production, consumption and waste management whilst protecting human and non-human life and their respective supportive ecosystems.
Considerations such as cultural values, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, precautionary principles, community engagement, public health and worker safety can and should be incorporated into the design and management of product stewardship systems.
These inclusions make product stewardship a powerful and popular market-based, community-centered option to minimise negative externalities and maximise the benefits of a product and its packaging throughout its full lifecycle. In New Zealand, Product Stewardship is made possible by Part 2 of the Waste Minimisation Act (WMA) 2008.