NZ's Plastic Ban Has Stalled, But the Straw Rules Haven't Moved

If you run a café in Aotearoa and you've been reading the news lately, you could be forgiven for thinking the plastic bans are going backwards. The Government has shelved the next round of phase-outs, and there's an election on 7 November. A couple of people have already asked me whether that means the straw rules are up for grabs too.

Short answer: no. The straw rules that came in on 1 July 2023 are still in force, nothing in the recent news changes them, and the detail most venues miss is that compostable plastic straws count as plastic. If you're ordering for summer, that's the bit worth checking.

What was actually shelved?

The work that stopped is the third tranche of New Zealand's phase-outs, the one aimed at hard-to-recycle PVC and polystyrene food and drink packaging. Think cling film on meat trays, sushi and bakery containers, and those snap-apart yoghurt pottles. The Post reported in August that the ministry had told stakeholders the proposal wouldn't proceed because of "other Government priorities", and RNZ covered the same decision in early September.

Then on 10 October, The Post published documents released under the OIA showing the Environment Minister had planned to take a 2030 deadline to Cabinet before the paper was pulled. Her quote was that "a decision will be a matter for a future government."

So that's packaging, and it's on hold. None of it touches straws, plates, bowls, cutlery or produce bags, which were dealt with in the earlier tranches.

The straw rule, in plain English

Here's what the Ministry for the Environment guidance says. Since 1 July 2023, you can't sell or hand out single-use plastic drinking straws for general use. The restricted product is described as a single-use straw "that contains any type of plastic (including compostable or biodegradable plastic)."

Read that bracket twice. A PLA straw printed with "compostable" is still a plastic straw under the NZ rules, whatever the box says about breaking down. I've seen venues buy these in good faith because the word "compostable" sounded like it ticked the box. It doesn't.

There was also a temporary exemption for straws attached to juice and milk boxes by machine. That ran until 1 January 2026, so it's gone now. It mostly affected manufacturers and retailers, but if you resell boxed drinks, it's worth knowing.

The accessibility part matters too

The ban has always come with an exemption for disabled people and people with health conditions, and hospitality businesses are on the list of places allowed to provide plastic straws to people who need them. The guidance is clear on how that works: you give them on request, you don't ask anyone to explain or prove anything, and you don't put plastic straws on display.

You're not required to stock them. But I'd encourage it if you can, even just a small box behind the counter. For some customers a paper or fibre straw simply isn't safe or workable, and the MfE's own straw ban flyer makes that point. We wrote more about this in our post on choosing straws for aged care and accessibility.

What this means for your summer order

Late spring is when straw usage starts climbing. Smoothies, iced lattes, bubble tea, the first proper beach days. If you're placing a bigger order now, here's what I'd check, in roughly this order:

1. Does the straw contain any plastic at all? Not "is it compostable", but is there plastic in it, including bioplastics like PLA, plastic binders or plastic coatings. Ask the supplier to put the material composition in writing for the exact product.
2. Is the paperwork for the actual SKU? A certificate for a different size or a sister product doesn't help you. The same goes for food-contact and PFAS documents.
3. Do the claims on the carton match the rules where you are? A "home compostable" claim needs a named standard and someone to back it up. Our FOGO and home compostable post covers why the label and your bin are two different questions.
4. Have you tested it in your real drinks? A straw that's fine in an iced latte can struggle in a thick smoothie that sits for half an hour. Trial before you commit to cartons.
5. Have you sorted the on-request plastic straws? Decide whether you'll keep some for customers who need them, and make sure staff know the "no questions, not on display" approach.

None of that is exciting. It's just the stuff that saves you a box of stock you can't use, or an awkward conversation when a customer asks what your straws are made of.

Will a new government change the straw rules?

I don't know, and I'd be wary of anyone who says they do. What's on record is that the straw restriction is in regulation and is in force today, and the shelved work was about packaging, not straws. If anything changes after the election, it'll come through official channels with notice, and we'll update our New Zealand straw rules page when it does.

My honest view is that betting on a rollback is a poor reason to delay sorting your supply. Customers have got used to plastic-free straws, and the conversation has shifted to whether the alternative actually works. That's where a lot of the paper straw grumbling comes from, which I wrote about in what the paper straw pushback really means.

A quick word for Australian venues

Across the Tasman, things are moving differently. On 18 September, federal, state and territory environment ministers agreed to explore harmonising bans on problematic plastic items that are handled differently between states. The starting list includes things like EPS food trays, loose-fill packaging, balloon accessories and degradable plastics. Straws aren't on it, because the states already ban them, each on its own timeline. Our Australian state-by-state page has the details, and if you run venues in both countries it's worth keeping both rule sets in mind when you write one supply policy.

Want to check before summer?

If you'd like to put our sugarcane-fibre straws in your own drinks first, ask for samples here and let me know which documents you need for NZ. I'll send the paperwork for the exact SKUs you're testing, and if a document doesn't exist for a product, I'll tell you straight. Already know what you need? The wholesale enquiry form is the quickest way to talk volumes and freight to New Zealand.