Plastic bags battle won but the war against non-recyclables far from over

Disposable nappies should be next on the list of banned items as millions are sent to landfills annually.

Every time Ardern goes overseas something gets banned. This is all virtue signalling to the UN to help her CV when she applies for a job there.

Totally agree. Disposable nappies are an environmental disaster that need to be outlawed if the Govt is serious about banning plastic:From a 2016 stuff article:disposable nappies make up 11 to 14 per cent of domestic waste. While in New Zealand there are some nappy composting services, they only compost the organic waste, meaning the poo, not the plastic. The plastic in the nappy takes up to 500 years to degrade. Disposables also have a big environmental impact through the manufacturing, transport and chemicals they require. Over 130 kg of wood, 20 kg of petroleum products and 4 kg of chlorine are used to produce disposable nappies for one baby per year.

Someone needs to invent a way to recycle plastics into home insulation.

Wrong, one single type of single use plastic bag is being phased out. What about all the other single use plastics like bread bags, biscuit packets, those little plastic bags used in the deli, etc. Any plastic packaging that is not readily recyclable needs to be banned.

Hardware stores sell tools and other hardware packed in large and thick plastic packs 2-5 times the size of the actual item.Just one example of ridiculous packaging with no justification.Maybe our NZ packaging billionaire could make a contribution to research and develop solutions.

Already available overseas, we dont have the will to recycle comprehensively

I actually re-use virtually every plastic bag that I am given at the supermarket.That means my biggest guilt is over the single-use plastic bags that the Council makes me put our rubbish out it every week. I wouldnt be surprised if they all went straight to the landfill.Time for the Councils to show some leadership?

Or other building materials:bricks, framing, cladding, roofing etc.

Hi Andy,Many plastics produce extremely poisonous and carcinogenic gas when burnt. A quick google will show you thats not a super good idea.My suggestion is shred it then use it as a filler in concrete. A new concrete patio would take a lot of plastic.

You are right Richard. 95% of the plastic pollution comes from 10 rivers, 8 of which come from??? Yes, you guessed it, 8 of them are in Asia. Same with the major air polluters, so we get penalised for the tiny little bit we contribute to world pollution. But the Greens would have you believe NZers are really bad per head of population...Bollocks!!

Not good for the burner nor the quality of air for everyone else.

Agree plastic nappies are far worse in New Zealand than plastic bags were. The test will be wether powerful women like the PM are prepared to give up the convenience of these for the betterment of the environment. Easy to ban them if the will is there.

Jobs lost , more people on the dole.

20 African countries huh? Please list which ones and your source of information. Most African countries have numerous urgent social concerns to deal with, I doubt plastic bags even register on their list.

If everyone had your attitude, nothing would ever change. For your information, more than 20 African countries have introduced a ban on plastic bags - Western countries are dragging the chain.

I have said it before, Jonsey has a big pool of tax payer money he should be looking at how to create an industry around dealing with the issue such as using waste for power generation. Instead we have the Coalition of Lets Ban It.

Perhaps NZ could show a bit of innovation and invest in developing or supporting the businesses required to carry out plastics recycling here, rather than looking for someone to ship the problem to.Didnt a new plastic recycling plant recently open in Lower Hutt? Sounds like a great opportunity for a company in this field to create some jobs and business that helps address the problem!

As per Richardrights comment, Asia and Africa have big issues with plastic, the West not so much. So of course we havent introduced the same draconian laws.

Nice hole in the ozone layer above your house