The average New Zealand rubbish bin is half-full of food scraps.
Although we hear a bit about megatonnes of food waste rotting in landfills being a massive problem, it is also a missed opportunity, says zero-waste advocate Liam Prince.
"We're wasting a really valuable resource that could be going into restoring our soils, increasing our food security and food resilience," he tells Kim Hill.
Liam Prince Photo: Supplied
Liam Prince is compost manager at South Wellington's Kaicycle and co-founder with Hannah Blumhardt of the zero-waste advocacy group The Rubbish Trip.
Single-use packaging is extremely resource and energy-intensive, but compostable packaging is a "false solution" to the problem, Prince argues.
Currently, New Zealand does not even have the facilities to compost all of the 'compostable' and 'biodegradable' packaging we generate, he says.
There are also no labelling requirements or certifications around the use of these words here in Aotearoa.
Then there's the issue of chemical additives that even compostable packaging requires to make it transparent or rigid or flexible.
"There's probably hundreds of thousands of chemical additives used in the packaging industry. Some we know are flagged as having real issues, the so-called "forever chemicals" such as PFAS."
One alternative is adopting reusable packaging systems that are designed to be washed, sterilised and reused.
"Why compostable has become such a big thing is it's just an easy switch… whereas reusable will be a whole different set of logistics and infrastructure. It will take a lot more to get it going but I think it is a really genuine alternative."
Kai Cycle is a Wellington based urban farm which makes compost from food-waste collected in and around Wellington's inner-city. Photo: Supplied
For Prince, biogas is not the answer. Although the energy production process is claimed to be renewable, it involves the removal of carbon, he says.
Although the byproduct of biogas production can be used as nitrogen fertiliser, New Zealand land does not need any more of that, Prince says, and we're better off not relying on an introduced substance.
What can't be debated, Prince says, is that emissions are a big problem.
On an individual level, the number-one thing each of us can do to reduce our own is generate less waste.
No human currently alive can achieve a completely zero-waste life, Prince says, but he and his partner Hannah Blumhardt get pretty close.
They've lived without a rubbish bin for more than seven years and produce about 0.2 percent of the waste that an average New Zealander produces in a year.
Related:
Read / Listen: Inside a zero-waste home (Liam Prince and Hannah Blumhardt)
Listen: Living a life that leaves a smaller carbon footprint
