Environmental consultancy Eunomia Research & Consulting Ltd has published a study that maps out how, by raising and restructuring its waste disposal levy – currently just £5 per tonne – New Zealand could boost its gross value added (GVA) by £287m.
Recommendations made in the report A Wasted Opportunity – Using the waste disposal levy to create economic and environmental advantage for Aotearoa New Zealand are anticipated to move 32% more waste to recovery, upping the recycling rate from 28% to 60%, whilst also contributing additional levy revenue of £108m. An estimated 9,000 jobs would also be created.
“The recommendations are all possible within the current legislation and the cost of implementation can easily be funded through the increased levy income. There are no real reasons for us not to take this forward.”
The report was commissioned by the New Zealand Waste Levy Action Group, a consortium of public and private sector organisations, and comes at a time when New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment (MfE) has reviewed the levy – currently one of the lowest in the developed world.
Eunomia’s study recommends that:
- the levy rate is increased to £76 per tonne for the “active” waste landfilled;
- a lower rate of levy of £8 per tonne is introduced for landfilling inert waste;
- a levy of £22 per tonne is introduced on waste sent for incineration; and
- to minimise illegal disposal of waste, improvements should be made to monitoring and enforcement systems – the costs of which would be greatly exceeded by the additional levy income.
The report maps out an effective transition to the new system using a waste disposal levy escalator process over 7 years, echoing the process that saw UK recycling rates increase dramatically in the 2000s. It also outlines an implementation programme with suggested timings and actions.
Eunomia Senior Consultant and report author Tim Elliott said: “It’s widely recognised that, at $10 (£5) per tonne, New Zealand’s waste levy does not reflect the true cost of disposal, or stimulate market change. In fact, because the levy has not been increased since it was first introduced in 2009, inflation has eroded its value by around 15%. The suggestions we have made in this study will stimulate waste prevention, reuse and recycling, and will deliver significant benefits for the economy and the environment.”
The Head of Eunomia’s Auckland office, Duncan Wilson – who has been based in New Zealand for 10 years – said: “Eunomia’s international experience shows us that that one of the most effective ways to move material up the waste hierarchy, promoting prevention, reuse and recycling, is to make waste disposal more costly.
“What the report has shown is that by making some well-designed changes to the levy, we can get much better outcomes for New Zealand.
“The recommendations are all possible within the current legislation and the cost of implementation can easily be funded through the increased levy income. There are no real reasons for us not to take this forward.”
A summary report A Wasted Opportunity – Using the waste disposal levy to create economic and environmental advantage for Aotearoa New Zealand is available for download here
The full report The New Zealand Waste Disposal Levy – Potential Impacts of Adjustments to the Current Levy Rate and Structure is available for download here
