Recycling of Beverage Containers in New Zealand: Critical Analysis of Existing Status and Proposed Best Practices

Environment conservation is one of the primary concerns of most countries in the modern world because of the continuous increase in environmental degradation and the resulting pollution. Environmental pollution has become a major problem, as pollutants are indiscriminately dumped in the environment either intentionally or unintentionally. This activity often hampers balancing of the ecosystem leading to environmental issues.
Air, water, land and food can carry pollution caused by different human activities and leading to environmental pollution. Although pollution can be natural as well as man-made, man-made pollution is the most severe and threatens the existence of life on the planet.
The main causes of environmental pollution through human activities are emission of pollutants into the air from fuels used in transport, plastic and electronic dumping. The last two are problematic as it takes years for them to decompose. When pollutants are dumped into rivers and the sea, they constitute a danger to waterways and aquatic life; and closely related to this is dumping waste into water causing environmental pollution. This also constitutes a danger to aquatic ecosystems and living beings. Indiscriminate cutting of trees for economic purposes constitutes environmental pollution because it results in floods, destruction of biodiversity and climate change (global warming).
Improper dumping of beverage containers and disposable cups is one of the biggest contributors to growing environmental degeneration in modern cities. This study probes the problem of waste from beverage containers and its consequential effects on the New Zealand environment, and recommends some best practices for minimizing this waste.