The Federal Government has commenced a review of the Product Stewardship Act 2011 to reduce the environmental and health impacts of products.
The Act does this by encouraging industries to improve the design and manufacture of their products, and to collect valuable or harmful materials for reuse or responsible disposal.
It is the first review of the Act since it was introduced in 2011 and it is scheduled to conclude in the first half of 2018.
The Act currently supports the successful National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NCTRS) which has recycled approximately 184,500 tonnes of electronic waste since 2012.
The Act also provides accreditation for industry-led voluntary arrangements such as MobileMuster which is the only industry-led mobile phone recycling program in the world that has collected and recycled more than 10 million handsets since 1998.
Products under consideration for this financial year, include batteries, photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, used oil bottles and plastic microbeads.
In response to the review, the Australia and New Zealand Recycling Platform (ANZRP), released a White Paper examining ways to improve recycling practices in Australia.
ANZRP CEO, Carmel Dollisson, said the White Paper outlines changes to the current legislation.
“With the changing e-waste landscape, we strongly believe the Review of the Act is key to improving product stewardship in Australia," she said.
“The core principle of good product stewardship is that everyone involved in producing, selling, using and disposing of products has a shared responsibility to ensure those products are responsibly recycled."
ANZRP was established by industry in response to the Product Stewardship Act.