Sandy Botterill, Foodstuffs New Zealand's Head of Environmental Social Governance (ESG), has been appointed to the board of New Zealand's most significant waste, resource recovery and contaminated land industry association, WasteMINZ.
Sandy Botterill, Head of Environmental Social Governance, Foodstuffs New Zealand
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.
Botterill became Foodstuffs New Zealand's Head of Environmental Social Governance in 2022, leading the organisations 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 Botterill's extensive expertise and passion for sustainability and circular systems. It enables both organisations to have a more joined-up approach to resource recovery nationwide. Botterill will also champion WasteMINZ's Recycling and Resource Recovery Sector Group.
Botterill brings a wealth of experience to the role, having started her career as an environmental lawyer and becoming a Circular Economy Lead for Plastics NZ, helping Aotearoa adopt more circular practices concerning plastic before moving to Foodstuffs New Zealand.
With a deep understanding of environmental issues, social responsibility, and governance frameworks, Botterill has helped Foodstuffs make significant progress towards achieving its ESG goals around food affordability, climate change and waste - including food and packaging waste.
Botterill said that all stores are locally owned and operated at Foodies, and owners and team members are committed to being Here for NZ and making a positive difference in their communities.
"We're fortunate to have hundreds of store owners who want to do the right thing," said Botterill.
With the government's recently launched national standardisation of kerbside recycling, Botterill says she's interested in looking into ways to capture valuable materials not able to be collected at kerbside as part of the programme.
Botterill continued that New Zealand has struggled for a long time in the resource recovery field because of the need for more infrastructure.
"We need more investment in systems that effectively capture materials with an end market value. For example, things like lids and caps made from valuable materials such as aluminium and steel and plastics that are type #2 and #5."
Botterill is excited about the potential for reducing waste and looks forward to working alongside the talented team at WasteMINZ to help lead New Zealand toward a low-emissions circular economy.
