{"id":75260,"date":"2025-10-13T08:09:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T08:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/75260\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T08:09:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T08:09:07","slug":"government-backed-foodstuffs-trial-aims-to-cut-single-use-plastic-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/75260\/","title":{"rendered":"Government-backed Foodstuffs trial aims to cut single-use plastic waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

However, customers can get a partial refund of $1 if they return the container within six months.<\/p>\n

Once returned, Foodstuffs\u2019 deli team washes and sterilises the container, readying it for reuse.<\/p>\n

\"BonsonBonson Packaging’s system is designed to keep packaging in circulation at high value, rather than being downcycled.<\/p>\n

Foodstuffs sustainable packaging manager Debra Goulding said the trial was about seeing if returnable packaging could work in supermarkets at scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know there\u2019s often a gap between what people say they\u2019ll do and what they actually do. We\u2019re going to learn if a returnable system can help customers bridge that gap and whether returnable containers can become the new normal in supermarkets,\u201d Goulding said.<\/p>\n

Bonson Packaging\u2019s general manager Rodney Bennett said he believed RePlay has real potential because it\u2019s built on a circular business model.<\/p>\n

Key to the trial is learning how many times containers can be reused and understanding the customer return rate, as the system is designed to keep packaging in circulation at high value, rather than being downcycled.<\/p>\n

A Foodstuffs spokeswoman confirmed the plan is to have more stores hosting the trial in the coming weeks and months, although she couldn\u2019t provide details as to when or where.<\/p>\n

\"MinisterMinister for the Environment Penny Simmonds said the Government recognised the important role industry can play in reducing the release of plastic into the environment. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

Ministry on board<\/p>\n

Helping fund the RePlay initiative is the Government\u2019s now-closed Plastics Innovation Fund, which was funded by the waste levy.<\/p>\n

The Ministry for the Environment has allocated $329,725 towards the project, with Environment Minister Penny Simmonds confirming that Bonson has claimed about half of the available funds.<\/p>\n

Simmonds said the Government recognised the important role industry can play in reducing the release of plastic into the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government is committed to practical, evidence-based solutions and we welcome industry-led trials that allow businesses to test, refine and demonstrate what works in practice. These kinds of initiatives help ensure schemes are effective, manageable, and scalable before wider adoption,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ministry\u2019s contribution to this initiative is modest and designed to support industry leadership. This is not a large, taxpayer-funded programme, but rather targeted support to enable collaboration, innovation and testing of approaches that can inform future policy and regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

As to how the initiative\u2019s funding aligns with the Government\u2019s scrapping of the 2025 deadline for the third tranche of plastic phase-outs, Simmonds said the Government\u2019s commitment to reducing plastic waste remained firm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are progressing product stewardship schemes and legislative reforms to modernise how we manage waste and ensure cost-of-living impacts are minimised.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said plastic waste was a global issue and that New Zealand continues to participate in international efforts to develop a global treaty to end plastic pollution.<\/p>\n

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.<\/p>\n

Listen and subscribe to the Today in Business<\/a> podcast \u2013 the top headlines from the NZ Herald business team summarised and delivered by an artificial intelligence (AI) voice as an easily digestible recap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"However, customers can get a partial refund of $1 if they return the container within six months. Once…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4886,58928,138,50905,3588,58930,2732,273,58925,295,58924,30538,23807,2514,28874,111,139,529,69,29737,58927,11325,4887,58929,58926,61,54,25361,102],"class_list":["post-75260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-aims","tag-bonson","tag-business","tag-container","tag-cut","tag-deli","tag-developed","tag-environment","tag-foodstuffs","tag-fund","tag-governmentbacked","tag-helping","tag-initiative","tag-island","tag-ministry","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-packaging","tag-partnered","tag-plastic","tag-reduce","tag-returnable","tag-singleuse","tag-to","tag-trial","tag-waste","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}