Western Bay of Plenty embracing fight against plastic one bag at a time

Envirohub projects manager Liesel Carnie is heading a movement of businesses who are fighting to reduce plastic waste in Western Bay. Photo / File

July 1 marks a milestone in the war against New Zealand's 'plastic monster' and nearly 100 Bay of Plenty businesses have already joined the fight. Reporter Kiri Gillespie finds out what motivates those campaigning for less use of plastics and reveals just how prevalent plastic waste is in the Bay's landfills. Plus, a businessman shares his story about doing what he can do to make the planet better - one sushi box at a time.

Mondaymarks a milestone in the war against New Zealand's "plastic monster" and nearly 100 Bay of Plenty businesses have already joined the fight.

From next week, it will be illegal for retailers to sell or give away single-use plastic shopping bags.

In the Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga, 91 businesses have already signed up to Envirohub's Zero single-use plastic campaign. The businesses have pledged to reduce their use of single-use plastic in order to eliminate it.

"And we help them do it," Envirohub projects manager Liesel Carnie said.

The Zero campaign was launched 12 months ago at the Mount Enviro Fest on Maunganui Rd's main shopping area. Carnie admitted she was initially concerned businesses might take the proposed pledge negatively "but pretty much the whole street signed up straight away".

"That was pretty encouraging," she said,

"A lot of businesses have already started to make changes and that's because people want it," she said.

And word has spread, with some businesses and "a couple of corporates" now approaching Envirohub to take on the Zero pledge.

Fifty of these businesses are based in Tauranga city, 41 in the Western Bay.

Carnie said many were small to medium enterprises, more nimble making changes. Such changes include retailers asking suppliers to avoid sending goods in plastic where possible and switching out common single-use plastics such as bags, coffee cups and takeaway cutlery.

"These businesses have signed up because their customers are asking for it. So why is it any different for retailers to ask their suppliers? It just shows how much people power works."

Sustainable Business Network Bay of Plenty regional manager Glen Crowther. Photo / File

Carnie said she felt the plastic bag ban, which most supermarkets have already taken on board, had already made a big difference and got people talking. However, there were still plenty of sceptics out there.

"I hear 'why should I bother?' but it's because so many people say 'why should I bother?' that we have this problem.

"We've created this plastic monster. If we take that [plastic use] and go the other direction ... " Tauranga City Council's sustainability and waste manager Malcolm Gibb estimated about 10 per cent of household waste in the city was plastic, equating to 2.7 thousand tonnes going to landfill a year.

It was hoped the council's proposed kerbside collection would help bring these figures down.

Already this year, the council has sold 386,750 rubbish bags. About 25 per cent of Tauranga residents use the bags. The remaining 75 per cent used by private companies. The bags are made of 60 per cent recycled plastic.

"If the proposed kerbside collection goes ahead, the bags will be replaced with wheelie bins."

Western Bay District Council's Ilze Kruis said waste audits in 2016, 2017 and two in 2018 showed on average, recyclable plastics made up 2.5 per cent of waste going to landfill. Non-recyclable plastics made up 9.1 per cent.

"On average, 8 per cent of New Zealand's waste stream can be contributed to plastic."

It was the council's vision to reduce these figures and it was supporting the Plastic Free July campaign starting on Monday, challenging staff and community to go plastic-free for a month, Kruis said.

In Whakatāne the district council operates "co-mingle recycling collections", which incorporates paper, cardboard, tins, cans and plastics in the kerbside collections.

Whakatāne District Council's Nigel Clarke said because of this the council could not specifically measure the area's plastic component.

Rotorua Lakes Council did not provide information regarding what it was doing to reduce waste or what the district's plastic profile was.

Sustainable Business Network's Glen Crowther said everyone had a role to play when it came to reducing plastic use. This included individuals choosing non-single-use options when shopping, to manufacturers considering plastic alternatives with packaging and design of products.

Crowther referred to the New Zealand Plastic Packaging Declaration, which aimed to have all plastic packaging 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. Lewis Road Creamery, Earthwise, Foodstuffs, Countdown and NZ Post are among New Zealand companies already signed up.

"Everyone's got to do their little bit," Crowther said.

In a Bay of Plenty Regional Council meeting last week, Crowther likened plastic to a gateway drug.

People got hooked on using plastic bags but they did not necessarily need them, they just thought they did, he said.

From August 10 to September 14, 2018, the Ministry for the Environment ran public consultation and garnered almost 10,000 submissions. Of this, 92 per cent of respondents said New Zealand should get rid of single-use plastic shopping bags.

Monday's legislation means anyone caught breaching the new plastic bag ban can be fined up to $100,000 under the Waste Minimisation Act.

Making an environmental stand, with sushi containers

Joy Sushi's John Mileham is looking to replace plastic with environmentally friendly options ahead of Monday's ban on plastic bags. Photo / Andrew Warner

Te Puke businessman John Mileham is doing what he can to make the world a better place, one sushi container at a time.

Mileham runs Joy Sushi in Te Puke. He and his wife have got rid of plastic takeaway bags, and they will also remove the plastic containers their sushi comes in.

There have already been several people "nicely complain" in the past month about the plastic sushi containers. But Mileham's efforts to reduce plastic waste are as much a personal mission as a social one.

"I have a 16-year-old daughter and 21-year-old son and in their lifetime and their children's lifetime, to think of what the world is going to be like for them ... we have to try. Even if it costs us money.

"Everywhere is using this stuff and we are a tiny country. We are going to bury ourselves in rubbish that can't be broken down."

Mileham is currently working through a shortlist of alternative container options and is mindful of the cost difference of up to 40 cents a container for some options.

"It's making the right choice at the right price. That cost eventually has to be passed on to the customer. We've owned this place for five years and have increased our price by 10 cents in that time. It was the absolute minimum we could do. My wife was not happy, she loathes to put up prices. For her, customer is king.

"We aren't a big shop for sushi but we go through a lot of plastic containers and they all probably end up in the landfill. We are just one shop, not even a chain.

"We have to get rid of them. It's ridiculous the amount that's out there."