New Zealand is widely regarded as pristine and uncluttered. But the country has waste management challenges just like everywhere else. A large volume of these wastes arise from its prolific agricultural, forestry and horticultural sectors. Innovative research programmes aimed at turning these organic wastes into high-value bioplastic products are being run by Scion, a Crown Research Institute based in Rotorua, at the heart of New Zealand’s green hinterland. At Scion, teams working on wastewater and environmental (bio)technologies have come together with those working on biopolymers, and materials formulation and processing technologies to create a suite of technology options for converting wastes into bioplastic related products. The programmes include turning wastes into bioplastics, or into functional additives for use in bioplastics, or directly into processed bioplastics products.