NZ's plastic ban - what does it mean for your business?

Clean, green New Zealand – yeah right!

Currently, we are one of the top 10 per-capita producers of landfill waste in the world. New Zealanders throw away an estimated 159g of plastic waste per person, per day. We go through around 1.76 billion plastic containers and nearly 100 million plastic drink and milk bottles go into rubbish bins instead of being recycled.

This makes us some of the highest waste generators in the world.

Goodbye to hard-to-recycle packaging

In an effort to make Aotearoa’s green reputation more of a reality, we’ll soon be saying farewell to single-use plastics. The government has announced it will ban hard-to-recycle food and drink packaging made from PVC and polystyrene, as well as some degradable plastic products. The three-stage phase-out will take place over the next four years.

Between 2022 and 2025 plastic cutlery, cotton buds, PVC meat trays, polystyrene takeaway containers plastic plates and bowls, stirrers, straws and fruit labels will be banned in the hope that this will remove more than 2bn single-use plastic items from our landfills and environment each year and improve our recycling system.

Plastics to be phased out in three stages between late 2022 and July 2025:

• Late 2022: PVC meat trays, Polystyrene takeaway packaging, EPS grocery packaging, degradable plastic products – such as oxo and photo degradable ones - plastic drink stirrers, plastic stemmed cotton-buds.
• Mid 2023: Single-use plastic produce bags, plastic tableware (plates/bowls/cutlery), plastic straws, non-compostable produce labels.
• Mid 2025: All other PVC and polystyrene food and beverage packaging.

Good for the people and the planet

But what does this ban mean for businesses from a practical standpoint? These latest changes targeting food and drink packaging made from PVC and polystyrene, and some degradable plastic products will affect packaging for produce.

Fortunately, we sell environmentally friendly food packaging supplies, so we can help your business with finding reusable or environmentally responsible alternatives.

Helping NZ business with environmental choices

Since the 2019 ban of single-use plastic bags in New Zealand, the strong public and business support has meant over one billion fewer plastic bags have ended up in our landfills, beaches, and oceans. Our range of eco-friendly bags helped many local businesses find reusable packaging options then, and we can be of assistance again now.

We can help you phase out unnecessary and problematic plastics so your business can be part of global movement tackling the impacts of plastic pollution.

Sustainable options for food packaging are readily available on our site. We have certified compostable, and carbon-neutral alternatives made from sustainably sourced and rapidly renewable materials like paper-based containers, certified wood or bioplastic materials made from plants.

We have certified home compostable meat trays made from renewable sugarcane pulp, the reclaimed by-products from the sugar industry. Sugarcane products are a perfect replacement for plastic fruit and vegetable produce trays as they have a high wet strength and an indefinite shelf-life if kept cool and dry.

We also have biodegradable takeaway containers, biodegradable and compostable cutlery and stirrers as well as Potatopak biodegradable plates and bowls. Made in New Zealand from potato starch, Potatopak plates and bowls are more rigid than paper plates and can be composted or go into a worm farm.

Phasing out single-use plastics is a win win

We are all about moving Aotearoa New Zealand one step closer to being a low-waste nation, and we believe foodservice businesses have the opportunity to lead the way. Want to go there with us?

Move ahead with Insinc

We have an extensive range of environmentally conscious packaging options, but we appreciate that choosing the right packaging solutions can be confusing. So, feel free to contact us for helpful, impartial advice on the right options for your business, or call 0508 467 462. We offer cost-effective, competitive pricing with products ranging from economy to premium brands; we are bound to have something to suit your business. Buy online or open an account and we will deliver direct to your door anywhere in New Zealand.