Stakeholder Reference Group 12 July 2011
Overview of the Product Stewardship legislation www.environment.gov.au
Product Stewardship legislation The Bill was passed by the Australian Parliament on 22 June 2011. Will come into effect on a date fixed by proclamation (likely early August). Paves the way for a range of products stewardship schemes – voluntary, co-regulatory or mandatory. TVs and computers the first products to be covered under the legislation. Regulations will need to be made to give effect to the scheme 3
Amendments to the Bill Tighten the “product stewardship criteria” which must be satisfied before a class of products can be covered by the Bill Require the publication of an annual list of products being considered for coverage under the Bill Require that generally 12 months must elapse between publishing a notice that a class of products is being considered for regulation, and making regulations Establish an Advisory Group to advise the Minister on products that should be considered for coverage under the Bill Remove the ability of the Commonwealth to designate, by regulations, State and Territory laws as “excluded laws”. 4
Outcome of the consultation process on the proposed regulations www.environment.gov.au
Outcome of the consultation paper process Consultation process - 8 March to 8 April 2011 Public meetings held in 11 locations across Australia, over 300 attendees 62 submissions received Majority from local government (29%), recyclers (16%), state government (15%), TV/computer industry (15%) 98% of all submissions expressed support for development of the scheme – only one individual opposed it 6
Key points raised in submissions Lowering thresholds Collection-for-recycling vs recycling target Resource recovery Local government – implementation and costs Potential impact on small or charitable recyclers Support: 20% target starting point Reporting and assessment/approval requirements Available waste methodology (based on past imports) Point of liability 7
Next steps Analysis of submissions will be published online Matters raised are informing the development of the Regulations and associated guidance material Further consultation on exposure draft of the Regulations 8
Overview of the television and computer regulations www.environment.gov.au
Television and computer Regulations Provide for a national collection and recycling scheme for television and computer waste Will identify: liable parties covered products outcomes to be achieved reporting, record-keeping and other requirements 10
Liable parties (section 18) Companies that import or manufacture covered products Small business protected by an import/manufacture threshold Liable parties must be a member of an approved Product Stewardship Arrangement Failure to meet this obligation could result in substantial civil penalties 11
Approved product stewardship arrangements (section 20) An arrangement is a set of activities or measures designed to achieve the outcomes in the regulations Arrangements can have one member or multiple members Arrangement administrators apply to have Arrangements approved by the Minister/ Department Assessment includes consideration of: Whether arrangement likely to achieve outcomes Whether operational requirements are met 12
Arrangement administrator (section 23) Entity responsible for administering the Arrangement on behalf of member liable parties Must be a body corporate (not an individual) Must ensure all reasonable steps are taken to meet outcomes specified in the Regulations: Recycling target Australia-wide implementation Audited annual reports on performance Directed audits, improvement notices, cancellation 13
Consultation and timelines www.environment.gov.au
Consultation on the television and computer Regulations Exposure draft of the regulations, together with an explanatory document, is expected to be released in late August 2011 A national consultation process on the proposed draft regulations is scheduled for September 2011. 15
Timeline for the National Television and Computer Product Stewardship Scheme Regs Formal notice to in liable parties: effect 6 months to Regs become member Arrangement target approved of an approved Arrangements to commence calculated based on arrangement services (with credit for early membership action by Administrator since CW dept Policy Regs tabled Regulations came into effect) consultation Regs issues in Parliament & and approval finalised resolved Enforcement phase against liable parties commences Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 ExCo Reg Consultation - meeting Application and July 2012 – June 2013 drafting Exposure Draft Closing date for assessment phase First Target Period Regulations applications Bill passed by Implementation Parliament ‘goes live’ 16
Key obligations in the Regulations www.environment.gov.au
Proposed products to be covered Product Description 2009 Decision RIS 2011 Proposed Regulations Television category Televisions Computers Complete PC/Personal Computers Laptops and portable units CPU Computer Display (flat panel, CRT) Printers (ink-jet, laser, dot matrix) MFDs (ink-jet, laser, dot matrix) 18
Product Description 2009 Decision 2011 Proposed RIS Regulations Computer Products / Peripherals Keyboards Mouse Scanners Hard Drives Internal Power Supplies Web Cams Speakers Motherboards Cards (including Network, Sound, Video and other similar cards) Joystick/Gamepads External Power Supplies Power Cords Fans 19
Targets Targets will be set as a percentage of the waste estimated to be generated in the year Waste estimated on the basis of recent net imports Separate targets for TVs and computer products Both targets will rise every year and reach 80% by 2021 Targets will be allocated to approved arrangements based on market share Market share to be based on number of units imported in each tariff code (converted to weight) 20
Determining targets Need to determine a suitable starting point (Year 1 target) and pathway to 2021 Consultation paper floated Year 1 targets of 20%, consistent with Decision RIS modeling: 21
Determining targets Underlying recycling rate is different to Scheme targets 22
Point of Compliance Approved Arrangements will meet their target when they achieve a certain outcome. This outcome could be: 1. Delivery to a recycling facility, under contract to recycle it 2. Actual recycling Under option 1, waste could be delivered, credits claimed but the waste might never get recycled Evidence would be required that recycling actually happened Requirement not to landfill collected waste Under option 2, the Arrangement loses possession and control over goods and timing of recycling 23 Lags may occur beyond Approved Arrangements control
Next steps in determining targets Build set of conversion factors to attribute average weight to tariff statistical codes (Perchards/MS2 consultancy) Resolve point of compliance Settle on starting point and annual increments Map capacity of recycling sector against proposed trajectory Release exposure draft of Regulations for public consultation 24
Australia-wide coverage Key outcome to be achieved by Arrangement Administrators Objective is to ensure that within 5 years, reasonable access to collection services is available in metropolitan, regional and remote areas of Australia Reasonable access will be defined in the Regulations using a set of metrics that must be achieved by each Arrangement Administrator Approach provides Arrangement Administrators with flexibility in the type of collection services they offer, but also establishes an objective basis for the Regulator to assess for compliance Coverage will also be driven by target, but mainly in populace areas 25
Design of metrics for Australia-wide coverage A number of different options are under consideration, building on earlier work of the Implementation Working Group and informed by feedback received during public consultations and from the Scheme SRG Metrics will establish consistent requirements for all Arrangement Administrators Metrics will set the minimum provision of services in metropolitan, regional and remote areas, as defined by the ABS Remoteness Classification Structure 26
ABS Remoteness Classification Structure 3
Recommend
More recommend
