scholarly journals Is Voluntary Product Stewardship for E-Waste Working in New Zealand? A Whangarei Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicktoria Blake ◽  
Trisia Farrelly ◽  
Jonathon Hannon

New Zealand currently manages its annually-generated 99,000 tonnes of e-waste via voluntary product stewardship schemes. Limited data is available to determine the success of this approach. This lack of data is cited as the logic preventing the declaration of e-waste as a priority product by the Minister for the Environment which would trigger the enforcement of mandatory product stewardship. This case study involved an online survey of 264 Whangarei District householders asking questions about e-waste creation and management, as well as analyses of local services, and local and national policy. It found that only 1.8% of the estimated e-waste created in the district is recycled by municipal services, with the ‘cost to recycle’ and ‘a lack of knowledge’ presenting barriers to engagement in these services. The ‘lack of ability to repair/the cost to repair’ was found to be the most significant driver for e-waste creation. The adoption of mandatory product stewardship for e-waste was recommended to ensure robust and transparent data collection, see recycling services become more accessible, and raise awareness of these services, thus reducing the value-action gap. Mandatory e-waste management would also impact product design to ensure affordable repair-ability, further supporting a circular economy for electronic goods.

Author(s):  
Stefanie Vandevijvere ◽  
Nick Young ◽  
Sally Mackay ◽  
Boyd Swinburn ◽  
Mark Gahegan

Author(s):  
M.J. Willocks

Commercialisation of genetically modified organisms creates new challenges for marketers and developers of this technology. The cost of development is high, and the need to gain a return on investment that reflects this cost is critical to ensure that this technology is brought to New Zealand agriculture. A further challenge is that the regulatory requirements differ from those required for non-transgenic crops. Once introduced into the market, it is important to develop a product stewardship programme to ensure continued trait performance and prevent factors arising that will negate the value of these traits such as pest resistance. Keywords: genetically modified organisms, market analysis, product stewardship, regulatory process, return on investment


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3636
Author(s):  
Navid Majdi Nasab ◽  
Jeff Kilby ◽  
Leila Bakhtiaryfard

This paper evaluates the feasibility of using a hybrid system consisting of wind and tidal turbines connected to a microgrid for power supply to coastal communities that are isolated from a main supply grid. The case study is Stewart Island, where the cost of electricity, provided by a central diesel power station, is higher than the grid network in New Zealand. Local residents believe that reducing the consumption of diesel and having a renewable source of electricity generation are two of the island’s highest priorities. Merging a tidal energy source (predictable) with wind (unpredictable) and diesel (back-up), through a microgrid, may be a way to increase reliability and decrease the cost of generation. Several off-grid configurations are simulated using HOMER and WRPLOT software. Using two wind and four tidal turbines, plus one diesel generator for back-up, is the best design in terms of lower greenhouse gas emissions, higher renewable fraction, and reduced net present cost.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Maxwell F Reid

<p>Existing research establishes a clear link between poor housing and poor health. There is also growing evidence that the physical, mental and social wellbeing of individuals and households can be improved by ensuring their access to suitable accommodation. Despite the growing body of research documenting the benefits of supported independent accommodation (SIA) as a means of maintaining the independence and wellbeing particularly of older people, there is little research evaluating the place of such accommodation within the New Zealand context. This thesis aims to address that gap. It reviews the existing body of literature surrounding this topic - exploring population and accommodation demographics, and analysing government policy in relation to both housing and health. It considers six New Zealand examples of SIA - each selected on the basis of their distinctiveness and innovation - documents these, and compares them using a case study approach. Adopting a general inductive methodology, each case study is then analysed against themes identified in the literature review, identifying any further trends, and the implications of these for ongoing policy and service development. Intersectoral collaboration is identified as having had particular bearing upon the development of SIA within the New Zealand context. This thesis concludes that SIA will play an increasingly important role in the continuum of accommodation and care for older people. It offers an alternative to more institutionalised models of care for older people, maintaining their independence and social integration within their own community. As demographic and economic factors drive up the cost of more traditional models of residential care, SIA offers government an equally important alternative. However, ongoing development in this area is not without it challenges. To this end, a number of policy implications are also identified and discussed.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Maxwell F Reid

<p>Existing research establishes a clear link between poor housing and poor health. There is also growing evidence that the physical, mental and social wellbeing of individuals and households can be improved by ensuring their access to suitable accommodation. Despite the growing body of research documenting the benefits of supported independent accommodation (SIA) as a means of maintaining the independence and wellbeing particularly of older people, there is little research evaluating the place of such accommodation within the New Zealand context. This thesis aims to address that gap. It reviews the existing body of literature surrounding this topic - exploring population and accommodation demographics, and analysing government policy in relation to both housing and health. It considers six New Zealand examples of SIA - each selected on the basis of their distinctiveness and innovation - documents these, and compares them using a case study approach. Adopting a general inductive methodology, each case study is then analysed against themes identified in the literature review, identifying any further trends, and the implications of these for ongoing policy and service development. Intersectoral collaboration is identified as having had particular bearing upon the development of SIA within the New Zealand context. This thesis concludes that SIA will play an increasingly important role in the continuum of accommodation and care for older people. It offers an alternative to more institutionalised models of care for older people, maintaining their independence and social integration within their own community. As demographic and economic factors drive up the cost of more traditional models of residential care, SIA offers government an equally important alternative. However, ongoing development in this area is not without it challenges. To this end, a number of policy implications are also identified and discussed.</p>


Author(s):  
Dewi Padmo ◽  
Lidwina Sri Ardiasih ◽  
Olivia Idrus

he Covid-19 pandemic forced all universities in Indonesia to divert their learning process from face to face to online mode within a limited resource and in a very short time. The approach, methods, and mechanisms of learning process, which have to be adjusted, during the Covid-19 are extremely varied within university. The study was conducted to explore the implementation of online learning in Indonesia during Covid-19 pandemic. In order to get information on how the institution, lecturers and students face this situation, an online survey was conducted. The questionnaire contained some aspects of approaches, methods and mechanisms of online learning; provisions of learning materials; resources such as devices for accessing online learning, internet connection, the cost of the internet connection; as well as the usability of online learning after the Covid-19 pandemic. There were 828 respondents participating in the survey. The participants involved in the survey were lecturers (51.21%) and students (35.39%) from various universities and the rest 13.41% from other institutions in Indonesia. A case study of Universitas Terbuka on the strategies, methods, and techniques of organizing online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic was discussed specifically to enrich the information. Based on the information from online survey and a case study of Universitas Terbuka, the learning strategies, methods and technics in online learning in the future, after the Covid-19 pandemic have been addressed.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Kühmaier ◽  
Hunter Harrill ◽  
Mohammad Ghaffariyan ◽  
Manfred Hofer ◽  
Karl Stampfer ◽  
...  

Steep country harvesting has been identified as the main bottleneck to achieving greater profitability in the forestry sector of New Zealand and Australia. An improvement of efficiency, work safety and environmental sustainability should be realized by developing an advanced steep terrain timber harvesting system based on innovative Austrian technology. To identify the best suitable configuration of a cable yarder for steep terrain harvesting, user preferences based on an online survey (conjoint analysis) have been evaluated to answer the following questions: (1) What attributes of a new yarder design are most important to consumers? (2) Which criteria do stakeholders consider when selecting a cable yarder? (3) What are the weights representing the relative importance of criteria? Using eight specific design scenarios a fourth question, being which cable yarder concept is the best, was also answered. This case study shows that conjoint analyses is an effective tool to assess, rate and subsequently integrate design characteristics. Based on the results of the analysis, a cable yarder prototype will be manufactured in Austria and transferred to New Zealand for testing and demonstration.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135581962110160
Author(s):  
Cervantée EK Wild ◽  
Ngauru Rawiri ◽  
Esther J Willing ◽  
Paul L Hofman ◽  
Yvonne C Anderson

Objective To identify barriers created and maintained by the health system affecting engagement in a family-based multidisciplinary healthy lifestyle programme for children and adolescents in New Zealand. Methods We conducted 64 semi-structured interviews with participants of the programme (n = 71) with varying levels of engagement, including those who declined contact after their referral. Half the interviews were with families with Māori children, allowing for appropriate representation. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Five health system factors affecting engagement were identified: the national policy environment, funding constraints, lack of coordination between services, difficulty navigating the health system, and the cost of primary health care. Conclusions Engaging with a health system that creates and maintains substantial barriers to accessing services is difficult, affecting programme engagement, even where service-level barriers have been minimised. Lack of access remains a crucial barrier to improved health outcomes for children and their families experiencing childhood obesity in New Zealand. There is a need for comprehensive approaches that are accompanied by a clear implementation strategy and coordinated across sectors.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosi Crane ◽  
B. J. GILL

William Smyth, unable to get work in a New Zealand museum, ran a commercial taxidermy business at Caversham, Dunedin, from about 1873 to 1911 or 1912. His two decades of correspondence with Thomas Frederic Cheeseman at the Auckland Museum provide a case study of Smyth's professional interaction with one of New Zealand's main museums. We have used this and other sources to paint a picture of Smyth's activities and achievements during a time when there was great interest in New Zealand birds but few local taxidermists to preserve their bodies. Besides the Auckland Museum, Smyth supplied specimens to various people with museum connections, including Georg Thilenius (Germany) and Walter Lawry Buller (New Zealand). Smyth was probably self-taught, and his standards of preparation and labelling were variable, but he left a legacy for the historical documentation of New Zealand ornithology by the large number of his bird specimens that now reside in public museum collections in New Zealand and elsewhere.


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