Plastic Packaging Product Stewardship Scheme Progress

The Steering Group for the Plastic Packaging Product Stewardship project comprises representatives from plastic manufacturers, plastic packaging users, retailers, local authorities, mana whenua, product stewardship groups and recyclers, with the remit to lead the design process, take decisions and make final recommendations to the Ministry and the Minister.

Mr Tony Nowell, Independent Chair of the project, has provided an update on the Scheme design’s progress, as well as announcing members for both the project Steering and Governance Groups.

“Currently the project has seven milestones, with the project intended to be completed by mid2024. The milestones cover the initial set up of the project (Stage gate Process) to current state reports to defining the problem, scheme options for New Zealand, and the final report and recommendation to be presented to the Ministry for the Environment,” says Mr Nowell. “So far, the team has completed Milestone One and is progressing well with Milestone Two.

Our own Rachel Barker, Plastics NZ CEO, sits on the steering group representing the Plastics Industry. The PPPS project will also be supported by subject-matter experts who will form part of a Technical Advisory Group (TAG). These members will be announced in early 2023. View Members of the Governance and Steering Groups here

“We are also pleased to launch a dedicated website for the project https://ppps.org.nz/ which provides information about the project and the co-design process and is where we will share news about how the co-design process is progressing,” says Mr Nowell.

“We strongly encourage members of the public, industry, and stakeholders to provide feedback through the site to ensure the wide range of opportunities and concerns are considered.”

The Steering Group has approved the Request for Proposal (RFP) to seek research consultants to conduct the first tranches of detailed data and information gathering. The RFP will be placed on the GETS portal, however, interested parties should contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. For more information on the PPPS and the project team please visit www.ppps.org.nz

Read more about the Steering Group and the full media release update on the PPPS design process here