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The disposal of vehicles at the end of their useful life is a rapidly growing waste management problem in New Zealand. Vehicles abandoned on public and private property impose environmental costs on society, as do some practices within the automobile recycling industry. The increasing number of vehicles entering the country will exacerbate these environmental costs. In this paper, New Zealand's abandoned vehicle problem is quantified and contributing factors identified. The end-of-life vehicle (ELV) management approaches of the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and the UK are examined, and their effectiveness assessed. Policies, such as extended producer responsibility and recycling targets are discussed in the context of an economy without domestic producers and with limited opportunities for economies of scale. Policy recommendations for New Zealand target four areas: legislation and institutional practices relating to vehicle licensing and disposal; entry of vehicles into the recycling system; information sharing; and dismantling operations. Key recommendations are the free acceptance of ELVs for recycling, an up-front disposal charge to cover the cost of de-pollution, licensing and monitoring of automotive dismantlers from within the industry, and the enforcement of vehicle licensing and disposal legislation in order to close the data gaps and overcome free-rider problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the environmental health protection issues in New Zealand and compares the environemtal law in the country with that in the U.S. The Environmental Performance Index ranked New Zealand first out of 133 countries in the areas of health, biodiversity, energy, water, air, and natural resources, in an announcement at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in January 2006 in Davos, Switzerland. With 78.5/100 points, the U.S. ranked 28th. Demand for water for all purposes is increasing in New Zealand. The current pressures on freshwater ecosystems are less severe in New Zealand than those in many other industrialized countries. As the 1986 New Zealand Environment Act establishes the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment and its associated minister, it roughly corresponds to the 1969 U.S. National Environmental Policy Act.

The article offers information on the April 2007 training activities program update on environmental protection in New Zealand and Australia. The training courses being conducted in conjunction with the IUAPPA Congress include air pollution control, ambient air quality monitoring, indoor air, and hazardous air pollutants. A course on air pollution meteorology and ausplume is scheduled in Christchurch, New Zealand on May 17-18, 2007. A training course on industrial odor control is slated on February 27-28, 2007 in Fremantle, Western Australia.

focuses on developments in environmental protection in New Zealand as of November 2004. Progress of the government's investigation into vehicle emissions standards; Development of a guideline for assessing air quality effects from roads; Ministry for the Environment's release of national environmental standards for key priority contaminants and prohibitive standards for certain activities; Decision of Meridian Energy to abandon the development of a hydropower scheme on the South Island's Waikati River.