Scrap Metal Dealers Demonstrate at Parliament

Press Release by Trevor Munro, President of the Scrap Metal Recycling Association of New Zealand (SMRANZ) on today’s Demonstration outside Parliament.

“We are demonstrating today because we are very unhappy with the Waste Minimisation Bill’s inclusion of scrap metal in the definition of waste.

“This was done by an amendment that we were not consulted on. And it is patently obvious that scrap metal – which is New Zealand’s 17th biggest export earner, with a turnover of about a billion dollars per annum – is not “waste”. Defining it as waste will only undermine our ability to export it and jeopardise the jobs of around 1,000 New Zealanders.

“Through hard work on our part, we have managed to get some discussion going to change this part of the Bill. Overall, we support the Bill’s sentiment, which is to prevent material being deposited into landfill. That is what scrap metal recyclers have been doing successfully for decades.

“The purpose of the demonstration today is to highlight the importance of our industry to New Zealand and also to get public commitments by each of the political parties as to how they will vote on an amendment to get scrap metal out of the definition of “waste” in the Waste Minimisation Bill when that Bill comes back before the House tomorrow for its Committee of the whole House stage.

“We are looking forward with interest to what each of the parties might have to say on that matter! “ Trevor Munro said.

ENDS

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