“The Government is dumping a $210 million tax on Kiwis to pay for initiatives that won’t solve New Zealand’s landfill crisis,” says ACT’s Environment Spokesperson Simon Court.
“The Greens are rolling out a massive, six-fold increase in landfill taxes.
“Households and businesses will now pay $60 a tonne to send waste to landfill at a time when we need to increase business productivity and return to growth.
“Meanwhile, red tape denies New Zealanders access to the technology that solved the landfill crisis in Europe in fewer than 15 years.
“Labour banned modern waste incinerators in 2005 and getting a permit for waste to energy under the Resource Management Act is now almost impossible.
“As a result, New Zealand buries 3.5 million tonnes of waste in landfills every single year, one million tonnes more than in 2005.
“Over the same timeframe, the EU increased household waste recycling and recovery rates, through national high-intensity recycling and composting schemes.
“In the UK, 44 waste incinerators burned 10.9 million tonnes of rubbish last year, much of it in England, where it accounted for 42 percent of rubbish disposal.
“ACT supports this approach, because we know recycling and waste minimisation alone will never solve New Zealand’s landfill crisis.
“We will continue to support waste minimisation initiatives where there is actually a net benefit to the environment, and a market for those recycled products.
“However, ACT would repeal the 2005 RMA amendment which bans high temperature incineration and makes it almost impossible to obtain a permit for waste to energy.
“A Party Vote for ACT at this election is vote for pragmatic and sensible environmentalism.”