A national survey conducted in December 2017 revealed that 99% of respondents considered the maintenance of New Zealand's 'clean green' image to be of importance.

[12] For animals on land and in the water, the ingestion of plastic reduces their intake of essential nutrients, traffic their digestive tracts, and negatively affect reproductive behaviour.

[11] Because they resemble food and are ubiquitous in the environment due to issues like littering, microplastics are easily ingested by animals.

[15] The prevalence of plastic debris means that marine mammals are at risk of becoming trapped in or wounded by drifting materials.

Māui dolphins are endemic to New Zealand's North Island where they are known to occupy harbours where commercial and amateur fisheries are located.

The disposal of organic waste like banana peels or sandwich crusts is also a form of littering which threatens native birds.

The Department of Conservation states that birds like the kea, a nationally endangered parrot, are known to be curious and playful creatures.

The Department of Conservation has advised that human food products are unhealthy for a kea's digestive system and temporarily decrease their appetite.

To protect New Zealand's environment and the native species that inhabit it, visitors to conservation land are required to take their rubbish with them until they can dispose of it responsibly in an appropriate bin.

It defines litter as including "any refuse, rubbish, animal remains, glass, metal, garbage, debris, dirt, filth, rubble, ballast, stones, earth, or waste matter, or any other thing of a like nature.

[33] Section 11 provides that any local or public authority can make grants to any non-for-profit organisation for the prevention or abatement of litter.

[37] The behavioural litter patterns documented in the report indicate the prevalence of rubbish pollution within New Zealand's most populous regions.

[38] By conducting self-reports and through the collection of observational data, the report also aimed to establish a Disposal Behaviour Index (DBI) for each major region in the country.

[46] National surveys revealed that 75% of respondents considered it extremely important that people do not litter in the area where they were interviewed.

[53] These types of sites were surveyed within the local territorial authority regions of Auckland, Gisborne, Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough.

[54] The main categories of litter materials identified in the audit included cigarette butts, paper and cardboard, metal, glass, plastic and organic waste.

[60][56][61] A 2018 study conducted by the Keep New Zealand Beautiful council recorded that cigarette butts made up 78% of all items littered nationally.

[64][65] In addition, research conducted by the Royal Society of New Zealand has revealed that cigarette butts are amongst the most common plastic items collected in international beach clean-ups.

[68] A study conducted in urban Wellington in 2011 found that smokers littering cigarette butts was conventional behaviour, even when rubbish bins were nearby.

[70] The leachate chemicals in littered cigarettes butts have also been shown to pose acute or chronic ecological harm to marine life.

"A series of behavioural strategies have been suggested by the office of the prime minister's chief science advisor to reduce cigarette butt litter.

Fostering a feeling of pride and ownership was the most effective strategy but creating signage on pathways was considered the simplest and most cost-effective intervention.

[88] According to the Keep New Zealand Beautiful Litter Behaviour Study, bin use was recorded to be at a nationally high rate.

With a secure design and sensor technology, the smart bins would be able detect the amount of rubbish being disposed and therefore be emptied by council staff before they overflowed.

[92] Since removing the bins, the Whangārei District Council has reported a reduction in the amount of litter found on the beaches.

This new system is designed to be sustainable, beneficial to society and help New Zealand eventually achieve a low-carbon circular economy.

[96]: 6  In order to achieve these objectives, the action plan aims to minimise plastic use to a sustainable level through behavioral reform.

To achieve a circular economy, it also aims to put better systems in place for the efficient reuse, repairing and recycling of plastic materials.

Since its foundation in 1967, Keep New Zealand Beautiful has created nationally recognised educational campaigns to promote litter abatement.

Anti-litter campaigns additionally address further issues like climate action, reducing environmental pollution and protecting biodiversity.