National is slamming the Government's eight-point recycling plan as "eco-babble".
The programme includes an education campaign and reviewing kerbside collection and processing. It was revealed on Friday by Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage.
A taskforce was set up last year after China banned the importing of many recyclable materials.
"The taskforce looked at how our resource recovery system is functioning, how we can support more onshore processing of recyclables, and help New Zealand shift to a circular economy approach where products are better designed so that more materials can be recovered and re-used," said Sage.
“As a country we have been sending our waste issues offshore. China's National Sword initiative has been a wake-up call that we need to deal with waste here in New Zealand."
- No plans for New Zealand to ban polystyrene - Government
- A complete guide to what you can and can't recycle in New Zealand
But National's environment spokesperson Scott Simpson says his party would look at more tangible solutions than what Sage has come up with.
"Such as the soft plastic recycling scheme that has been run by the Packaging Forum, we'd be putting a lot more effort into supporting businesses, like Flight Plastics in Wellington," he told Newshub.
New Zealand is one of the highest producers of household waste in the developed world, per capita.
Simpson described Sage's plan as as "eco-babble."
"This is a minister that is bogged down in environmental theory, and doesn't seem to be able to get to a practical solution on anything."
- Recycling sector warns Government the system is broken
- New Zealand needs to think about not recycling - expert
- Too much confusion about plastics recycling in New Zealand - Commissioner
He says he's especially disappointed the minister has refused to consider a container deposit scheme.
"To wait for a working group to come up with a few recommendations, then not to proceed in any tangible way, I think lets New Zealanders down in a big way."
Waste experts say the Government needs to focus on developing recycling facilities. Auckland Council's waste solutions spokesperson Parul Sood says the infrastructure needs to be put in place.
"We need to make this happen soon. As we know, China has created a bit of a crisis... Let's get on with it."
Sood says work needs to be done on building the right facilities in the right places.
Newshub.
