Having announced its plans to further restrict what we may say, the government turned to further restricting the materials used for packaging or for making goods we may buy.
And as part of the plastics announcement, Environment Minister David Parker launched a $50 million trough, enticingly named the Plastics Innovation Fund, to help support projects that reimagine how we make, use and dispose of plastics.
Funding will be available for innovative projects from designing out waste in products and packaging, or adopting and scaling up existing technologies, through to switching materials and developing recycling solutions not currently available.
Another measure with implications for civil liberties and for the wellbeing of the people affected was the extension of Alert Level 2 in the Wellington region.
At time of writing the ACT Party was preoccupied with expostulating against the speech constraints on the Ardern government’s legislative agenda, and had yet to give its views on the proposed plastics prohibitions, but the Nats and the Greens did respond critically.
The Greens, typically were disgruntled that the government hadn’t gone far enough. But when were they ever satisfied? Continue reading “Parker pours $50m into a new trough to reduce waste while announcing plans for further plastics prohibitions”