The deadline to phase out single-use plastic is fast approaching, with the first stage starting in October.
But where are we at in this process and are businesses ready to implement these changes in just a few months?
Since 2018, the Archer family has managed to only put out one bin of landfill waste each year.
That's one bin for seven family members.
"We'd just pick one thing in the rubbish that wouldn't be there the following week and it just kept slowly reducing down," father-of-five Stephen Archer tells Newshub.
"When we started, we would fill up that council bin weekly."
They're committed to reducing their rubbish and it's rubbing off on those around them.
"We've gotten to a point where I think it's just second nature to us and to our wider family and friends," Stephen says.
It's estimated New Zealanders generate about 17.49 million tonnes of waste every year. More than 12 million tonnes of that is sent to landfills.
"When we look in our recycling bin, which you and I have at home, most of it is glass and then you've got paper and cardboard. But then you've got plastic," Parul Sood, Auckland Council waste solutions general manager tells Newshub.
Plastic makes up about 5 percent of Auckland's kerbside recycling. While that may not seem like much, that's the equivalent of more than 6000 tonnes every year.
"Those stats are based on weight and plastic is light - so that's quite a lot," Sood says.
The Government is set to start phasing out problematic single-use plastics this year. On October 1, products like plastic stirrers, cotton buds and polystyrene food packaging will be banned.
"We are ready. I think we just need to check whether the industry is ready," Sood says.
Pact Group is just one of the companies which will need to change the way they manufacture some of their products - and it's welcoming the changes.
"We're on track, and in fact, early. So everything that was required to be done this year was already done last year, so we've ceased production of foam," says Deanne Holdsworth, Pact Group's sales and marketing general manager.
"Don't get me wrong, it's not easy. But it is actually supportive of the pathway we're on."
By mid-next year, single-use plastic like straws, cutlery and produce labels will also be phased out.
"Every day, New Zealanders throw away an estimated 159 grams of plastic waste per person, making us some of the highest waste generators in the world. New Zealanders told us they support urgent change in how we use plastic," Environment Minister David Parker says.
"Almost 8000 people and businesses responded to our consultation. The majority supported the proposals."
By mid-2025, all other PVC and polystyrene food and beverage packaging will be phased out.
Holdsworth says ceasing production of those last few things will be a challenge.
"To change [products] like yoghurt pottles is actually really difficult - and the alternatives aren't that easy in terms of implementation."
She's concerned some alternative packaging options will still be harmful.
"We don't want to go to another alternative which will then have a worse impact on our environment, or that there's not [the] existing infrastructure in New Zealand to be able to cope with whatever those changes are," Holdsworth says.
The Ministry for Environment says the new rules will come into force in stages to make the changes more achievable for the industry. The ministry is also promising to give businesses guidance.
The Archer family has already changed their consumption habits and they're hoping others will do the same.
"Think of us, the amount of waste we've prevented going to landfill from our family of seven. It's only small, but if multiple families do that, if everyone just reduces something small each week, it does make a huge difference overall," Coralie Archer says.
