the introduction of the bylaw was criticised by some members of the council because they believed it was impossible to enforce. in may 2018, the wellington city council strategy committee voted to repeal the clause. councillor brian dawson claimed that the most effective way to reduce cigarette butt litter was to reduce the number of people smoking. in 2019, wellington city council launched the smokefree wellington action plan in support of the government's smokefree aotearoa 2025 campaign. this government plan was established in 2011 which, amongst health incentives, plans on preventing and ultimately ending cigarette butt litter nationally. public rubbish bins overflowing rubbish bin at sports stadium according to the keep new zealand beautiful litter behaviour study, bin use was recorded to be at a nationally high rate. cigarettes were the only item observed to be littered more than binned. in addition, a litter behaviour survey revealed that 33% of respondents thought the best way to prevent littering would be to provide more bins. in 2020, christchurch city council launched "smart bins". the smart bins replaced traditional rubbish bins in 2021. they were designed to prevent the overflow of rubbish. with a secure design and sensor technology, the smart bins would be able detect the amount of rubbish being disposed and therefore be emptied by council staff before they overflowed. in november 2021, the banks peninsula settlement of akaroa reported overflowing bins and an increase in littering due to jammed bins, lack of staff and not enough smart bins to replace traditional bins. another approach to litter abatement in new zealand has been the removal of bins. in 2019, the city of whangārei removed bins from three of its beaches. the primary incentive behind removing the bins was to avoid illegal dumping. since removing the bins, the whangārei district council has reported a reduction in the amount of litter found on the beaches. reducing the impact of plastic the new zealand ministry for the environment has stated that single-use plastics items are more likely to be littered than other items. this is because they are considered inexpensive, ubiquitous, and not designed for reuse. with the aim of reducing plastic and its impact on the environment, the office of the prime minister's chief science advisor released a rethinking plastics in aotearoa new zealand report in 2019. in 2020, the new zealand government agreed to further investigate the environmental impact of plastic and develop a national plastics action plan. the aim of the national plastics action plan is to help new zealand develop into a low-waste economy. as of 2021, the action plan sets out a new system of plastic production and use for the future of new zealand. this new system is designed to be sustainable, beneficial to society and help new zealand eventually achieve a low-carbon circular economy.: 6 in order to achieve these objectives, the action plan aims to minimise plastic use to a sustainable level through behavioral reform. to achieve a circular economy, it also aims to put better systems in place for the efficient reuse, repairing and recycling of plastic materials. overall, the national plastics action plan has invested approximately $100 million in resource recovery infrastructure. plastic bag ban single-use plastic shopping bagsto reduce plastic pollution, the new zealand government banned single-use plastic bags on 1 july 2019. the "mandatory phase out" of all single-use plastic bags was first introduced by the ministry for the environment in 2018. the plastic bag ban means that no businesses in new zealand can sell, distribute or in any way provide customers with single-use plastic shopping bags. keep new zealand beautiful keep new zealand beautifulfounded atbotany, aucklandtypenon-profit organisationregistration no.218445legal statusincorporated societypurposelitter abatementwebsitewww.knzb.org.nzformerly callednew zealand litter control council the most recognised anti-litter organisation in new zealand is keep new zealand beautiful, originally established by government in 1967 as the anti-litter council. with the passing of the litter act in 1979, the council became an incorporated society under the name new zealand litter control council, and was officially recognised in the act as the primary body responsible for promotion of litter control in new zealand. in 1984, the organisation adopted a more community-based approach to the problem of littering and changed its name to the keep new zealand beautiful society inc. since its foundation in 1967, keep new zealand beautiful has created nationally recognised educational campaigns to promote litter abatement. anti-litter campaigns additionally address further issues like climate action, reducing environmental pollution and protecting biodiversity. popular campaigns launched by keep new zealand beautiful include ‘be a tidy kiwi’ and ‘do the right thing.’ other programmes include: kiki kiwi & friends litter less programme young reporters litter less programme clean up week community clean ups tidy kiwi volunteer of the month beautiful awards the national litter hub the national litter hub is a resource launched by keep new zealand beautiful. it allows people in new zealand to access information regarding litter disposal and recycling policies around the country. this resource was created in response to survey results which were recorded in the national litter behaviour study in 2018. the litter intelligence programme the litter intelligence programme is an educational initiative developed by the new zealand-based charity sustainable coastlines. the programme was launched in may 2018 and is funded by the waste minimisation fund which is administered by the new zealand ministry for the environment. the programme focuses on beach litter and functions as both a citizen science project and a school education programme. on a local level the programme addresses the issue of litter through behavioural reform. it aims to encourage schools and citizens to address and measure the environmental impact of litter. on a national level, it aims to create a national litter database. the litter intelligence programme uses a localised version of the monitoring methodology established by the united nations environment programme. according to camden howitt, co-founder and coastlines lead at sustainable coastlines: “robust environmental monitoring programmes are few and far between, and where they do exist, communities are seldom engaged with the monitoring work and data that inform the decisions that shape their communities.”