Senator the Hon Don Farrell
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water
Thank you for your email concerning a national container deposit scheme.
I understand that there is a high level of community support for addressing the environmental impacts of waste from a range of products.
That is why today I introduced into the Australian Parliament the groundbreaking Product Stewardship Bill – a framework that will provide business communities and government with a consistent national approach to managing the impacts of certain products.
Product stewardship is about everyone involved in the production supply and use of products sharing responsibility for the environmental impacts throughout a product’s life – from production through to disposal. It aims to reduce hazardous substances avoid and reduce waste and increase recycling and resource recovery.
Televisions and computers will be the first products to be covered under the legislation. The planned National Television and Computer Product Stewardship Scheme aims to increase the recycling rate for TVs and computers to 80 per cent by 2020-21.
The proposed scheme will require importers and manufacturers of TVs computers and computer peripherals to fund and implement national collection and recycling of these products. Recyclable materials that can be recovered from TVs and computers include glass and plastics iron steel aluminium and copper and precious metals such as gold platinum and silver.
The Gillard Government is committed to sustainability and responsible environmental management. The Product Stewardship Bill brings to life a key component of our landmark National Waste Policy: Less waste more resources which heralds a new efficient and environmentally responsible approach to waste management in Australia.
Currently the Government is working with the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) to assess a range of national options for further action on packaging waste and litter including a national container deposit scheme. Proposals for future schemes need to be evidence based taking into account both the costs and benefits.
A public consultation stage is expected to begin this year. There will be further opportunities for broader stakeholder engagement and I encourage you to participate in this process.
Thank you again for writing on this matter. For more information about the National Waste Policy go to: www.environment.gov.au/wastepolicy
Yours sincerely
Senator Don Farrell
P.S. I will keep you updated as the Product Stewardship Bill progresses and we continue our National Waste Policy agenda. If you would prefer not to receive updates on this issue please email senator.farrell @ aph.gov.au with ‘UNSUBSCRIBE’ in the subject field.