Waste
Waste angst
A woman in the USA has managed to reduce her waste to a couple of receipts and a wine bottle cap a week. How much can us mere mortals hope to achieve toward a zero-waste lifestyle? Audio
Where to put your compostable cups
Many of compostable products are innovative and could help reduce the amount we send to landfill. But say you've bought a coffee that comes in a compostable cup - where do you then put it? In the bin?
…Have you been feeding the Bigbellys?
Solar-powered 'Bigbelly' rubbish bins have been munching up New Zealand waste since 2015. The managing director of an Auckland waste firm tells Jesse Mulligan how they work. Audio
Global giants commit to tackling plastic pollution
A dozen local and international companies have pledged to make all of their packaging recyclable or compostable by 2025 - which they say will help create a 'circular economy' and reduce waste. Audio
Warnings over NZ's kerbside recycling
Councils across the country, and the world, are scrambling to find alternatives to sending their waste to China. So with increased costs & stockpiles of waste building up, what to do with our… Audio
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
Fighting NZ's waste mountain
Insight - New Zealanders have evolved from 'Tidy Kiwis' to diligent recyclers, but we can't seem to slow our growing waste piles. Teresa Cowie reports. 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
