Waste
Auckland boosts funding to tackle waste dumping
Auckland Council is spending an extra $200,000 on new measures to crack down on 'fly tipping'.
Calls to regulate 'recycling, compostable, biodegradable' labels
Christchurch City Council has saved more than 23 tonnes of rubbish from heading to the landfill, by insisting all major events use compostable food packaging. It might seem a small change, but it's… Audio
Zero Waste NZ says the UK is "kicking New Zealand's butt"
Waste warrior Marty Hoffart says a 50 cent tax on disposable coffee cups in New Zealand will make people move to reusable cups. Audio
The UK propose a 25p "latte levy", will NZ follow suit?
Reporter Charlie Dreaver talks to coffee drinkers in Wellington to see if there's appetite to introduce a levy on disposable cups in Aotearoa. Audio
Contributing to plastic waste: the last straw
Some retailers are opting to get rid of straws or offering biodegradable ones after their plastic counterparts pollute coastlines and take up to 200 years to break down, Nita Blake-Persen reports. Audio
Closing the packaging waste loop
How can you turn junk into cash, and encourage manufacturers and consumers to do the right thing when it comes to cutting down and disposing of packaging waste? Audio, Gallery
$21m-worth of NZ recycling banned from China
There are fears $20 million-worth of plastic, paper and other waste will end up in landfill when it can no longer be recycled in China. From next year, China will stop taking certain waste products… Audio
Urgent action needed on NZ construction waste
As landfills around the country continue to grow every year, major construction firms are doing their bit to reduce waste in the sector. Demolition rubbish makes up half of what's thrown away. An… Audio
Calls to raise costs of dumping rubbish
The Waste Action Levy group says increasing the cost of dumping rubbish to $140 per tonne would create 9000 jobs, and boost the country's economy by $500 million dollars a year by 2025. Audio
'It's time to levy plastic bags' - local councils
Councils around the country want a levy on single-use plastic bags and are calling on the government to step up and impose one. They say the country's landfills are clogged with the non-biodegradable… Audio
The supermarket where you pay what you can
Ronni Kahn is the brains behind 'OzHarvest'. Its aim is to prevent food waste. All food is "recycled"; produce which would otherwise have gone to the dump. Punters pay what they can and take what they… Audio
Junk Run: saving stuff from the landfill
Junk Run is an Auckland rubbish collection business where the end goal is to recycle and repurpose rubbish into treasure... and it seems to be working. Audio, Gallery
Waste Warrior - Kate Meads
Kate Meads started to take notice of the waste produced in her household when her son Daniel was born 12 years ago. She also became aware of the amount of money which was being spent on disposable… Audio
Forget microbeads! Active wear is scary new sea pollutant
Most people don't consider the inside of their wardrobes as dangerous to marine life, but they should think again. Clothing made from synthetic materials are a source of sea pollution because of the… Audio
Fridge sharing is caring
A new campaign is tackling the problem of getting wasted food to those who need it, with a community fridge in central Auckland. Audio
The Importance of Well Made Clothes
Courtney Sanders is a Melbourne-based Kiwi and co-founder of Well Made Clothes. She talks to Sonia Sly about setting up an online ethical clothing business and a movement towards slow fashion. Audio
Juliet Arnott: waste and re-use
Kim Hill talks to occupational therapist Juliet Arnott, who is the founder and director of Christchurch reuse business Rekindle. She is currently driving the Design for Reuse - Resource: Rise Again… Audio
Innovative recycling initiatives
Kathryn Ryan talks to Hawkes Bay recycling company 3R about some innovative ways to get rid of household waste. Audio
Turning waste into power
Matt Silver is the chief executive of Cambrian Innovation, a wastewater processing company that's using electrically active bacteria which eat waste and produce electricity as a by-product. Under… Audio
Waste Crime
Waste crime in the European Union is big business, illegal dumping is estimated to be worth at least 900 million dollars a year. Kathryn Ryan speaks to Jim Baird, a professor of waste and resource… Audio