According to a new report by NZIER, Kiwi households are wasting thousands worth of food every year.

New Zealanders waste $1500 worth of food annually, and new data shows the country is among one of the highest producers of general waste in the OECD - and that it has some of the lowest material productivity in the world.

WasteMINZ CEO Nic Quilty says Kiwis don't treat waste as a resource - and it's a problem.

"When you buy something, think about how long you're going to use it for, is it good quality and is it going to end up in a landfill? We don't want these things ending up in landfill, we want them to continually remain in our economy for as long as possible."

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