Sandy Botterill, Foodstuffs New Zealand’s Head of Environmental Social Governance has been appointed to the board of New Zealand’s largest waste, resource recovery and contaminated land industry association, WasteMINZ.
WasteMINZ provides leadership, advocacy, resources and guidance for sustainable waste management, resource recovery and contaminated land practices, with a particular focus on aspects like kerbside recycling, food waste reduction and sustainable, ethical and consistent contaminated land management, helping shape Aotearoa toward a lower emissions, circular economy.
Sandy became Foodstuffs New Zealand’s Head of Environmental Social Governance in 2022, leading the organisation’s Here for NZ programme across its PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square supermarket brands. Foodstuffs Here for NZ programme is aimed at supporting every New Zealander to access healthy and affordable food, being leaders in sustainability, creating meaningful and safe work, and supporting local communities to thrive.
The new appointment with WasteMINZ builds on Sandy’s extensive expertise and passion for sustainability and circular systems and enables both organisations to have a more joined up approach to resource recovery nationwide. Sandy will also champion WasteMINZ’s Recycling and Resource Recovery Sector Group.
Sandy brings a wealth of experience to the role, having started her career as an environmental lawyer then becoming a Circular Economy Lead for Plastics NZ, helping Aotearoa adopt more circular practices in respect of plastic, before moving to Foodstuffs New Zealand.
With a deep understanding of environmental issues, social responsibility, and governance frameworks, Sandy has helped Foodstuffs make significant progress towards achieving its ESG goals around food affordability, climate change and waste – including food and packaging waste.
Sandy adds: “At Foodies, all our stores are locally owned and operated, and our owners and team members are committed to being Here for NZ and making a positive difference for their communities.”
“We’re fortunate to have literally hundreds of store owners who want to do the right thing.”
With the government’s recently launched national standardisation of kerbside recycling, Sandy says she’s really interested in looking into ways to capture valuable materials not able to be collected at kerbside as part of the programme.
“New Zealand has struggled for a long time in the resource recovery field because of our lack of infrastructure. I believe we need more investment in systems that allow us to more effectively capture materials that have an end market value. For example, things like lids and caps that are made from valuable materials such as aluminium and steel and plastics that are type #2 and #5.
“I’m genuinely excited about the potential for reducing our waste and I’m looking forward to working alongside the talented team at WasteMINZ to help lead Aotearoa toward a low emissions circular economy,” she says.
For more information about Foodstuffs’ sustainability initiatives, visit www.foodstuffs.co.nz/here-for-nz/sustainability.
