Our first APPA Newsletter is out today – 30 September 2022! Read on for important updates from the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance, including new single-use plastic bans and an announcement of our upcoming end-of-year hui on December 11-12. The Newsletter also showcases some of the incredible research and publications our APPA members have been working on over the past several months.
Today we are very excited to announce the publication of our second newsletter, the first of 2024! 🎉 Featuring many important updates from the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance, including upcoming events such as the Zero Waste National Summit and INC-5 and lots of photos from our members’ work in action. If you’re an APPA member with something to include in our next newsletter, email us at nzappa.org@gmail.com
Monday 18 November, 5:15-7:30pm. Rutherford House, Pipitea Campus, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. Five topics, five experts, and a response from politicians. Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance is teaming up with Zero Waste Network to host not one but TWO panels, facilitated by legendary broadcaster, Kim Hill, to discuss some of the most challenging issues facing our planet. This event is part of the Zero Waste Aotearoa National Summit 2024. For more information Read more…
“It’s extremely disappointing to see the government and several large companies choosing to throw money at an experimental, risky and carbon-intensive technology that will only increase plastic, climate and chemical pollution, rather than reduce it” says Sue Coutts of the Zero Waste Network. Technology company Licella, along with cardboard packaging and paper recycler Oji Fibre Solutions, on-farm plastic recycler Plasback, Silver Fern Farms, and Woolworths New Zealand, with money from the Ministry for the Environment’s Plastics Innovation Read more…
Friday 9 February 2024 Statement The Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance (APPA) condemns the violence, genocide, and ecocide currently being inflicted by the Israeli Government against Palestinians and their territories, particularly in Gaza and the West Bank. APPA equally condemns the New Zealand Government who, simultaneous to their efforts to unilaterally redefine Te Tiriti o Waitangi and erode the rights of Tāngata Whenua here in Aotearoa, have failed to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza Read more…
APPA is excited to share information about our upcoming End of Year Hui 🥳 When: Thursday 7th & Friday 8th of December 2023Where: The Town Hall in Whāingaroa/Raglan (and online) The two-day hui will include:– Shared kai and kōrero– Talks and presentations– Site visit to Xtreme Zero Waste– Beach clean up Everyone is welcome to attend, so tell your friends and whānau to come along for a nourishing couple days (or weekend) in beautiful Whāingaroa Read more…
On 15 August 2023, the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance (APPA) and the Tāngata Whenua Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty (TWC) presented a joint submission (Part A and Part B) to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), providing our whakaaro on the scope, principles, and other critical elements of the Global Plastics Treaty (GPT). This submission expresses our positions on the GPT, which are Tiriti-led and based upon credible evidence from independent science, including Indigenous Read more…
Liam and Hannah from The Rubbish Trip have been living without a rubbish bin for more than 8 years. Join Hannah for a tour of their incredible zero waste bathroom and get all the answers to the questions you have about ‘eliminating waste’ in this part of the house.
Plastic pollution and throwaway culture are two sides of the same coin and must be tackled together. Join Hannah Blumhardt of The Rubbish Trip, Reuse Aotearoa, the Zero Waste Network and more in this wānanga/Q&A to hear about why replacing single-use plastic with single-use items made from other materials is a false solution to the plastics crisis. Hannah Blumhardt, Lead Researcher of Reuse Aotearoa will discuss why reuse systems offer a way to help communities Read more…
Does compostable packaging actually break down fully in compost?Confused by all the different labels and certifications?Ever felt that compostable packaging might just be greenwashing? Hear all about it from Compost Manager and zero waste researcher and advocate, Liam Prince, live and on-site from the Kaicycle Urban Farm where he works. Liam will talk through Kaicycle’s composting process, how it supports healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people, and the reasons why Kaicycle has stopped accepting Read more…
The Tāngata Whenua Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty (TWC) is a collaborative forum of Māori plastic pollution experts including community leaders, educators, scientists, businesspeople, and researchers committed to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi and ensuring the effective participation and representation of Tāngata Whenua throughout the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty (GPT) development and implementation processes. “With Global Plastics Treaty negotiations now well underway, it is vital that Indigenous Peoples are at the decision-making table. The Tāngata Read more…
Earlier this year, the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance has teamed up with the Indonesian Forum for Living Environment (Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia, WALHI) to co-convene Break Free From Plastic’s False Solutions Working Group for the Asia-Pacific region from September 2022 – March 2023. This Working Group has been developed to help facilitate collective action across our region in response to the many false solutions to the global plastic pollution crisis that are perpetuated by industry, Read more…
We had a fantastic line up of presenters at our Hui on 11 December 2022. We did our best to record the sessions with no real technical expertise, and we had challenges hearing some of the talks due to heavy rain – so apologies for the poor quality of some of the recordings. Nevertheless, here are links to the video or audio recordings and slideshows for all the presentations (still processing some so bear with Read more…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…the return of the APPA end-of-year hui! The APPA Committee are very excited to welcome some of Aotearoa’s plastic pollution prevention and zero waste community’s brightest for a range of wānanga, presentations, interactive events and inevitably lively discussions about our collective plans going forward. The full programme is now live! Check it out and please register if you haven’t already. It’s an event not to be missed.
Save the date for this free public event e hoa mā as the wonderful Miriama Kamo will be hosting a panel of zero waste and plastic pollution experts as part of the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance’s 2022 End-of-Year Hui! When: 6.30pm-7.30pm, Sunday 11 December 2022Where: Sustainable Coastlines Flagship (55 Madden Street, Tāmaki Makaurau) and online via Zoom and social media livestream Feel free to send us any questions you have for our panel: nzappa.org@gmail.com. As Read more…
When: Sunday 11 December + Monday 12 December 2022 Where: Sustainable Coastlines flagship building, Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) FULL PROGRAMME AVAILABLE HERE The two day hui will bring together some of Aotearoa’s plastic pollution prevention and zero waste community’s brightest for a range of wānanga, presentations, interactive events and inevitably lively discussions about our collective plans going forward. The two-day hui will include: Mingling with like-minded people Shared kai and kōrero Presentations and exhibitions Wānanga and Read more…
We have some wonderful Marine Studies postgrad students and plastic pollution researchers from the University of the South Pacific who are looking for mentors, supervisors, and general support. Can you help? Click here to learn more about the students and their research. These University of South Pacific students located in Marine Studies are looking for thesis mentors, supervisors, and/or publishing support from APPA members with shared research interests. If you are interested in connecting with Read more…
APPA is a core and active member of the #breakfreefromplastic (BFFP) movement. We would love to hear from APPA members who are attending the 7th International Marine Debris Conference (7IMDC) in Busan, Republic of Korea. This conference is being held 18 – 23 September 2022. If you are attending, we highly recommend getting in touch with other BFFP members to join in with their activities and meetings at the conference. If you would like to Read more…
Two of our brightest members, Hannah Blumhardt & Liam Prince (APPA’s chair) from The Rubbish Trip, have just produced & published their research article on zero-waste and developing Aotearoa’s circular economy. “From Lines to Circles: Reshaping waste policy” was included in the latest issue of Policy Quarterly, in a special issue on Environmental Issues. “The article is about waste, of course, so don’t expect to find a great deal of romance on the pages, and we Read more…
Join us December 2nd and 3rd for presentations and discussions from researchers, businesses, policy makers, artists and those interested in working together to mitigate and prevent plastic pollution in Aotearoa and Oceania. The 2nd annual APPA hui provides a platform for the community to come together and present their research and ideas and a space for collaboration and connection. Presentations will span both mornings, 9am-12:30pm at the Old Government Buildings, Pipitea Campus, Te Herenga Waka Read more…
An article summarising a range of plastic pollution issues for a public interest media website, The Big Q. Co-written by Liam Prince (The Rubbish Trip; APPA Chair), Dr. Emily Joy Frost (Research Fellow, Auckland University of Technology; APPA Member), Dr. Ursula Rojas Nazar (NIWA; APPA Member), and Mark Lungley (APPA Member)
TVNZ’s Breakfast programme invited Massey University Environmental Anthropologist and APPA founding member, Dr. Trisia Farrelly, to discuss some of the broad issues around plastic pollution globally and in NZ. Check it out here:
In collaboration with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia/Pacific (of which APPA is a member), APPA Chair Liam Prince moderated a panel discussion with Hannah Blumhardt (NZ Product Stewardship Council, The Rubbish Trip and APPA member), and Dorte Wray (Zero Waste Network Aotearoa) on policies and challenges around plastic pollution and waste in the South Pacific. Many thanks to GAIA Asia/Pacific for inviting us to speak on this topic. View the webinar below:
ABSTRACT This study aims to seek ways to prevent marine plastic pollution leakage in New Zealand’s commercial fin fishing industry supply chains. Drawing on a case study approach, this research investigates how sea and land-based plastic material flows are perceived by those working for commercial fishing company Moana NZ. It considers current global, regional and national policies, as well as current initiatives that seek to minimise marine plastic pollution and considers the potential for their Read more…
We pause to properly honour Richelle. Richelle’s legacy, both in APPA and in all of her mahi, is so large, multifaceted and positive that it is impossible to do it justice through words on this page. Her contribution to APPA as a founding member was unparalleled and gifted APPA with easily its most important guiding values and principles. And no one so prominent has ever been harder working, ever-present and such a good listener. In Read more…