18/03/2025
Harwood Wilson
[email address] [FYI request #30101 email]
Tēnā koe Harwood
OIA: Ka Ora, Ka Ako and Compass Group
Thank you for your emails of 15 February 2025 to the Minister of Education, Hon Erica Stanford,
and Associate Minister of Education, Hon David Seymour, which were transferred to the Ministry of
Education (the Ministry) on 18 and 19 February 2025, requesting the following information, which
have been numbered for reference:
1. What materials are used for packaging of school lunches? i.e. PP plastic, PET plastic,
Aluminium foil, Paper, Cardboard?
2. Are these materials recycled, composed or sent to landfill?
3. If they are recycled or composed, please give general information on where these are sent
for processing? considering most councils do not accept aluminium for recycling.
4. If they are sent to landfill, how much volume is sent to landfill per month?
5. What other alternates have you considered for packaging that doesn't include plastic or
aluminium?
6. Does the government consider it has delivered healthy lunches that benefit students?
7. Does the government consider it has used sustainable packing to deliver the lunches? i.e.
recyclable or fully composable products (i.e. no plastic lined materials)?
8. Does the government have standards or requirements that have to be met for the school
lunch programme? if so what? and if they haven't been met, for what reason?
9. Please provide the sources of this information, i.e. packaging materials, is this information
from a supplier?
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). We have
interpreted your questions to be regarding the current Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme with the School
Lunch Collective.
8 Gilmer Terrace, Levels Ground floor, 1, 2, and 6-14, Wellington
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140 Phone: +64 4 463 8000
I am refusing
parts one, two, three, four and nine of your request under section 18(d) of the Act,
as the information is publicly available on the School Lunch Collective website at the following link:
https://www.schoollunchcollective.co.nz/faqs
You can find more information that may be of interest to you on the School Lunch Collective
website at the following li
nk: https://www.schoollunchcollective.co.nz/sustainability
Additionally, pages 32 and 33 of the Services Agreement include information regarding
sustainability, waste and surplus management that may be of interest to you, and responds to
part
seven of your request. Per section 18(d) of the Act this can be found at the following link:
https://web-assets.education.govt.nz/s3fs-public/2025-02/Service%20Agreement%20MoE%20-
%20Compass%20Group%20New%20Zealand%20Limited_0.pdf?VersionId=Mj74VgA6e5npqrpdh
YatfroqtyA0_jGH
I am also refusing
part eight of your request under section 18(d) of the Act, as the information is
publicly available in the Services Agreement. Section 6 and Schedule 2 contain information
regarding standards and requirements that the School Lunch Collective must meet.
Please note that some of the information has been withheld under the following sections of the Act:
• 9(2)(a), to protect the privacy of natural persons.
• 9(2)(b)(ii), to protect information where the making available of the information would be
likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who
is the subject of the information.
As required under section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered the public interest in releasing the
information withheld. I do not consider the public interest considerations favouring the release of
this information are sufficient to outweigh the need to withhold it at this time.
The Ministry needs to extend the timeframe for responding to
parts five and six of your request,
pursuant to section 15A(1)(b) of the Act, as consultations necessary to make a decision on the
request are such that a proper response cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit.
You can now expect to receive a response to these parts of your request on or before 15 April
2025, which is an extension of 20 working days.
You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to investigate our decision to extend the timeframe for
responding to this request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Cindy McDonald
Principal Advisor
Government, Executive and Ministerial Services
