In 2021, the Ministry for the Environment funded research into home composting and home compostable packaging to find out how households were disposing of these products.
We found:
- 55 per cent of respondents currently compost at home — a drop of 8 per cent from the last national survey in 2008.
- Only 1 per cent compost all materials that have been traditionally composted (eg, food scraps, garden waste).
- 82 per cent agree or strongly agree that compostable packaging is better for the environment than plastic packaging. However, many held incorrect beliefs about compostable packaging — 49 per cent said compostable packaging could be recycled when it cannot.
In 2021, the Ministry for the Environment funded research into home composting and home compostable packaging to find out how households were disposing of these products.
We found:
- 55 per cent of respondents currently compost at home — a drop of 8 per cent from the last national survey in 2008.
- Only 1 per cent compost all materials that have been traditionally composted (eg, food scraps, garden waste).
- 82 per cent agree or strongly agree that compostable packaging is better for the environment than plastic packaging. However, many held incorrect beliefs about compostable packaging — 49 per cent said compostable packaging could be recycled when it cannot.