Product stewardship

Topics on this page

• Overview
• The National Packaging Covenant
• Container Deposit Legislation (CDL)
• Plastic Bags

Overview

Product stewardship is an approach that recognizes that participants in the various stages of a product's life cycle share some responsibility for the environmental impacts of that product.  It is one of the guiding principles contained in section 1H of the Environment Protectection Act 1970 and is defined as follows:

Producers and users of goods and services have a shared responsibility with Government to manage the environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of the goods and services, including the ultimate disposal of any wastes.

Victoria works closely with the Commonwealth and other states to implement nationally consistent product stewardship approaches for priority waste streams. To assist in this work, Victoria recently led the development of a Product Stewardship Framework ( Adobe PDF,486 KB). It offers a four-step process to help determine whether product stewardship is likely to be appropriate for managing a priority product, and provides guidance around the elements required for an effective and efficient model.

Government and industry are also developing national approaches to manage key waste streams including batteries, tyres, compact fluorescent lights, televisions and computers. Diverting these products from landfill and on to recycling delivers resource efficiency benefits as it reduces the demand for virgin raw materials that come from our environment. It’s also important to recover these materials to enable better management of the organics waste stream, a significant producer of methane which is a potent greenhouse gas

Top

The National Packaging Covenant

Since 1999 the National Packaging Covenant has been an important instrument for managing the environmental impacts of consumer packaging in Australia.  It is an agreement between all levels of government and industries in the packaging supply chain, designed to reduce the environmental effects of packaging. The Covenant is a product stewardship program, as it requires all signatories to share the responsibility of delivering improved environmental outcomes.

Signatories must produce action plans outlining how they will contribute to the Covenant’s objectives against set Key Performance Indicators, and report performance annually. Brand owners must follow guidelines contained in the Environmental Code of Practice for Packaging (Schedule 6 of the Covenant - ( Adobe PDF file, 352KB), while other signatories such as Governments contribute financially, and through various policies and programs. All action plans and annual reports are available on the the National Packaging Covenant including the Victorian Government Action Plan 2007-09 (PDF file, 179KB).

While the Covenant is voluntary, it is underpinned in Victoria by the Waste Management Policy (Used Packaging Materials) which places obligations on non-signatories (or non-compliant signatories) to ensure that signatories are not competitively disadvantaged in the market place. The Policy is based on the National Environment Protection Measure (Used Packaging Materials) which provides a nationally consistent framework for the management of packaging materials.

The Covenant includes a target to increase the packaging recycling rate to 65% by 2010. The Covenant Council reported that the packaging recycling rate increased from 39% in 2003 to 57% in 2008.

A mid term review of the Covenant was conducted in 2008. Results were presented to Environment Ministers in November 2008, and are available from the National Packaging Covenant website. Ministers agreed that the findings of the review provided a firm basis for discussion about extending the Covenant arrangements beyond its expiry in June 2010. Ministers requested that the National Packaging Covenant Council prepare a framework for an extended Covenant beyond June 2010, as well as other options for managing the environmental impacts of packaging, for its consideration at the next Ministers' meeting. These options may involve the use of complementary economic (or other) instruments.

Top

Container Deposit Legislation (CDL)

Container Deposit Legislation (CDL) has been proposed in various states, including Victoria, since the 1970s, however, South Australia remains the only Australian jurisdiction to have introduced such a system.  Victoria has one of the best recycling systems in Australia, with 95% of all households having access to a kerbside recycling system.  The success of Victoria’s kerbside collection system is demonstrated through the increased diversion of a wide range of packaging materials from the waste stream, including those high-value containers that would be recovered in a CDL-type system. Additionally, the Victorian government continues to provide financial assistance to local government to construct and upgrade resource recovery facilities at landfills and transfer stations for those Victorians who do not have access to a kerbside recycling system.

Litter is an issue that is being actively addressed by Government through partnerships between bodies such as the Victorian Litter Action Alliance, EPA Victoria, Sustainability Victoria, Regional Waste Management Groups, local government, and non-government and community organisations. Experience over the years has shown that a range of measures, such as education, enforcement, the provision of infrastructure and the exercising of product stewardship by the manufacturers of products that are littered, need to be implemented successfully to make an impact on litter in the environment.

The National Packaging Covenant (described above) is the preferred mechanism for minimising the environmental impacts of packaging waste in Victoria. However, the Victorian Government looks forward to a national report into other options (including CDL) to reduce litter and increase packaging recycling rates. The report should be available in May 2009 and will play an important role in informing this ongoing debate.

Financial Impacts of CDL - The Victorian Government has considered a number of reports to determine whether CDL would be appropriate for the Victorian community.  In 2002, EPA Victoria commissioned a study to examine the actual cost impacts of introducing a CDL system into three Victorian municipalities (one rural, one regional and one urban).  The study concluded that the introduction of CDL would impose significant costs on communities. 

Download the report - Container Deposit Legislation: Financial Impacts (PDF, 1009KB)

Top

Plastic bags

Victorians use around 1 billion lightweight plastic checkout bags each year.

Plastic bags waste valuable resources and contribute to our litter stream. They are a short-term convenience with long-term impacts.

Many supermarkets, local councils and community groups have already reduced their use of plastic bags, but we can do more.

Victorian Plastic Bags Trial

The Victorian Government in partnership with the Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA), Coles, Woolworths/ Safeway, and IGA is committed to reducing the number of single-use lightweight checkout plastic bags used throughout the state. During August and September 2008, a 10 cent charge was placed on plastic checkout bags from Coles, Bi-Lo, Safeway and IGA in Warrnambool, Wangaratta and around Fountain Gate.

During the trial period, shoppers cut plastic bag use by 79%.

All of the funds raised during the trial were invested into environmental projects in the trial areas, including:

• $8,100 to assist rehabilitation of Russell Creek in Warrnambool - Including tree planting, woody weed removal and improving water quality;
• $22,000 for Landcare and water quality projects in the Fountain Gate area beginning at Grasmere Creek flowing to Cardinia Creek and finishing at Akoonah Park, Berwick; and
• $5,200 to assist rehabilitation near the Ovens River at Garth Park Reserve in Wangaratta - Including removing woody weeds from the Ovens River. 

The Victorian Government would like to thank these communities, and the trial partners, for their commitment to reducing the use of plastic bags. Reports on the trial are available below:

• KPMG Final Report on the trial of a charge on plastic bags - October 2008 (Adobe PDF file, 416KB)
• Report to of the Steering Committee on the trial of a charge on plastic bags - October 2008 (Adobe PDF file, 203KB)
• Victorian Government leads the way on Plastic bags.

Next Steps
On 7 November 2008, Australian Environment Ministers noted that, based on the outcomes of the trial, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and the Northern Territory will develop a proposal to be considered at their next meeting in early 2009.

What can I do ?

Reducing plastic bag use is seen as something simple that everyone can do. Every individual can reduce their use of plastic bags in supermarkets and shops, reuse and recycle the bags they do use, and dispose of bags responsibly so they don’t end up as litter.

For more information, including a Life Cycle Analysis report on plastic bags, visit the Sustainability Victoria website.

Top