1979 on 28 june 2006. the amendment act also removed the defence of “reasonable excuse” and instituted strict liability, meaning that the prosecution does not need to prove that the defendant intentionally committed an offence under the act. litter behaviour research in 2018, keep new zealand beautiful published a national litter behaviour research report. the study details both intentional and unintentional litter disposal observations of people in public places. it was conducted in late 2017 by an auckland-based consultancy firm called sunshine yates consulting. the behavioural litter patterns documented in the report indicate the prevalence of rubbish pollution within new zealand's most populous regions. objective the objective of the litter behaviour research project was to measure and evaluate litter behaviour through fieldwork undertaken across new zealand. the project was undertaken by sunshine yates consulting, with the purpose of informing litter abatement strategies and developing a precedent for future litter prevention activities. by conducting self-reports and through the collection of observational data, the report also aimed to establish a disposal behaviour index (dbi) for each major region in the country. method fieldwork was covered throughout the north island and south island of new zealand. research was primarily conducted in the greater auckland region, wellington region and the canterbury region. the study used a multi-method approach. it involved both an observational approach to disposal behaviour and surveys with members of the public. the observational approach (oa) is a method used to record details of disposal behaviour as it happens. according to the research report, the aim of oa was to “provide a systematic and direct method of measuring behaviour in the actual context in which it occurs.” the research was conducted by keep new zealand beautiful volunteers. all the volunteers were trained in ethnographic data gathering techniques. after observing an act of disposal, observers directed an interviewer to conduct a self-report. fieldwork commenced on 23 november and finished on 13 december 2017. observations were made during daylight hours only between 7am and 6pm. speciality sites included beaches, these were not available in every region. core sites included: parks markets waterfronts public buildings shopping streets public squares key findings according to the executive summary of the national litter behaviour research document, new zealand has a litter rate of 16%. this means that the observational study of littering in public areas showed that 84% did not litter and disposed of their items responsibly. results revealed that the national deposit behaviour index score of new zealand is 6 and therefore high. the deposit behaviour index operates on a scale from 1 to 7. the score 1 equals a low level of responsible rubbish disposable and indicates a high prevalence of littering. the score 7 indicates minimal littering and a high prevalence of people disposing of their rubbish in bins. the report revealed that the regional disposal behaviour index score in wellington is 7 and in auckland and canterbury it is 6. observational data revealed that the most littered items were cigarette butts. nationally, 78% of litter acts were of cigarette butts. instances of cigarette butt disposal observed during the project recorded 57% of cigarette butts littered while 43% were disposed of in bins. national surveys revealed that 75% of respondents considered it extremely important that people do not litter in the area where they were interviewed. a further 18% of respondents considered it very important. the remaining 7% of respondents considered it moderately or slightly important. nationally, 99% of respondents considered the maintenance of new zealand's 'clean green' image to be of importance. demographic the age and gender of people who were observed littering and subsequently agreed to be interviewed varied. the observational data collected in the litter behaviour study revealed that 53% of people littering were male. in addition, people aged between 25 and 34 made up a quarter of the overall people observed littering. the survey data further revealed that 66% of the people who self-reported having littered were either in full or part-time employment. in addition, the study concluded that the likelihood of a person littering did not appear dependent on their level of education. national litter audit 2019 the national litter audit 2019 was undertaken by keep new zealand beautiful, using a methodology developed in conjunction with statistics new zealand, the department of conservation and the ministry for the environment. it was supported by the waste minimisation fund which is administered by the ministry for the environment. the audit has been referred to as "the most comprehensive litter audit of its scale carried out in new zealand." sites national litter audit 2019 – top categories by weight per 1,000 m2 the audit revealed that 80% of the litter found in the country's waterways originated from the land. for this reason, the audit is primarily concerned with land-based litter. the main site types inspected in the audit were residential, retail and industrial areas as well as carparks, highways, railways and public recreational areas. these types of sites were surveyed within the local territorial authority regions of auckland, gisborne, nelson, tasman and marlborough. the highest numbers of littered items discovered per 1,000 m2 were within industrial sites. this was followed by retail and highway sites. the highest volume of litter objects recorded per 1,000 m2 were found at highway sites, railway sites and industrial sites. railway sites, highway sites and industrial sites also accounted for the highest weights per 1,000 m2. litter recorded per 1,000 m2 site type numbers volume weight industrial 256 items 13.66 l 1.27 kg retail 241 items 7.61 l 0.48 kg highways 195 items 43.67 l 2.29 kg railways 138 items 25.21 l 3.24 kg carparks 108 items 4.70 l 0.37 kg residential 103 items 7.66 l 0.67 kg recreational 20 items 1.02 l 0.08 kg litter materials national litter audit 2019 – top 12 categories by items per 1,000 m2 the main categories of litter materials identified in the audit included cigarette butts, paper and cardboard, metal, glass, plastic and organic waste. the most frequently found item nationally was cigarette butts. 39 butts were recorded per 1,000 m2. disposable nappies, which were included in "miscellaneous" items, made up the largest contribution to the estimated national litter volumes, recording 1.50 litres of volume per 1,000 m2. glass beer bottles made up the largest contribution to the national litter weights, recording 0.12 kg of weight per 1,000 m2. litter recorded per 1,000 m2 material type numbers volume weight cigarette butts 39 items 0.0003 l 0.012 kg plastic 29 items 1.16 l 0.11 kg paper/cardboard 15 items 1.66 l 0.06 kg metal 14 items 0.93 l 0.10 kg glass 12 items 0.64 l 0.23 kg miscellaneous 7 items 1.59 l 0.07 kg organic waste 1 item 0.04 l 0.03 kg illegal dumping <1 item 1.31 l not recorded cigarette butt litter while the smoking rate in new zealand is low, cigarette butts are the most littered item in the country. a 2018 study conducted by the keep new zealand beautiful council recorded that cigarette butts made up 78% of all items littered nationally. for these reasons, the littering of cigarette butts is recognised as a pervasive issue in new zealand. while the littering of cigarette butts is considerable in new zealand, it is also of international concern. according to the tobacco-free life campaign, the littering of cigarette butts is a global issue with an estimated 4,5 trillion butts littered internationally every year. in addition, research conducted by the royal society of new zealand has revealed that cigarette butts are amongst the most common plastic items collected in international beach clean-ups. littering behaviour the national litter behaviour study conducted by keep new zealand beautiful in 2018, revealed the littering of cigarette butts to be prevalent throughout new zealand. the study observed that 59% of cigarette butts disposed of in auckland were littered. in canterbury 71% of cigarette butts observed being disposed of were littered and wellington the percentage of cigarette butts observed being littered was 39%. the rate of littering cigarette butts is believed to be high because people do not generally view cigarette butts as a valid form of litter or they believe it to be harmless. in a survey conducted by keep new zealand beautiful 42% of respondents who were observed littering cigarette butts claimed they had never littered. in addition, the study found that the smokers did not believe their littering of cigarette butts to be a real form of litter or that they believed them to be biodegradable. a study conducted in urban wellington in 2011 found that smokers littering cigarette butts was conventional behaviour, even when rubbish bins were nearby. littering of cigarette butts was more common in the evening, where 85.8% of smokers were observed littering, compared with the afternoon, when 68.1% were observed littering. in addition, 73.5% of smokers did not extinguish their butts, making them fire hazards. environmental impact the toxic chemicals within cigarettes raise environmental concerns. cigarette butts primarily consist of plastic. they are made up of cellulose acetate which contains numerous chemicals. while cigarette butts can take up to 10 years to completely decompose, the chemicals they release last longer in the environment. the leachate chemicals in littered cigarettes butts have also been shown to pose acute or chronic ecological harm to marine life. behavioural interventions to address the issue of cigarette butt littering, new zealand's office of the prime minister's chief science advisor has cited research which states that:"there is a need to change perceptions about cigarette butts as harmless litter."a series of behavioural strategies have been suggested by the office of the prime minister's chief science advisor to reduce cigarette butt litter. the strategies involve: creating a suitable environment for the correct disposal of cigarette butts with signage on pathways directing smokers to the nearest bin. fostering a feeling of pride and ownership in smokers to maintain a clean environment and thereby encourage a commitment to dispose of their cigarette butts in a bin implementing positive social norming so that the binning of cigarette butts becomes standard practice. warning smokers of the consequences of littering. this means raising awareness about fines, implementing enforcement officers to monitor and speak to smokers and thereby increase recognition of cigarette butts as a form of litter. these strategies were trialled by australia's nsw environment protection authority (epa) across 40 smoking sights. all the strategies led to an increased rate of binning cigarette butts. fostering a feeling of pride and ownership was the most effective strategy but creating signage on pathways was considered the simplest and most cost-effective intervention. in 2019, new zealand launched a no butts campaign. the purpose of the campaign is to emphasise the negative impact of littering cigarette butts and to promote the correct disposal of butts. response fines under the offences and penalties section of the litter act 1979, anyone who deposits litter in or on a public place or on private land without the occupier's consent can be fined. the fines for rubbish dumping and littering in auckland and wellington range from nz$100 to nz$400. the dumping of rubbish on public conservation land in new zealand warrants a fine of up to $100,000 or up to two years' imprisonment. the department of conservation also has the authority to issue infringement notices for minor cases of littering. penalties for littering on public conservation land result in a $300 infringement fee. restrictions to freedom camping in new zealand were introduced to parliament in 2011 with the freedom camping bill. the bill passes a $200 instant fine for illegal camping and another fine of up to $10,000 for the illegal emptying of a campervans sewage. cigarette butt littering policy measures in new zealand aim to reduce the littering of cigarette butts. the littering of cigarette butts is the most prevalent form of rubbish pollution in nz. due to the prevalence of littered cigarette butts, a conflict has existed over the fines it should warrant. in 2017, wellington city council discussed whether the littering of cigarette butts should be subject to more expensive fines than other forms of litter. in 2018, a consultation addressed the creation of a specific bylaw. this bylaw would present the littering of cigarette butts as an offence. the consultation process revealed that 85% of responses were in favour of the bylaw and 14% were in opposition.