Waste Reduction Schemes: Have Your Say
A recently released discussion paper outlines the government's options for encouraging businesses and consumers to accept responsibility for the environmental effects of products.
Waste is a key environmental issue for NZ. The 2002 NZ Waste Strategy sets out a long-term vision for reducing waste, effective resource use and better management of residual waste. Among the different waste streams discussed in the strategy are those that present particular management or disposal problems. These wastes are often products that have reached the end of their useful life, such as used oil, batteries, tyres and cars.
Reducing harm from these wastes requires additional measures throughout a product's life cycle, from manufacture and use through to disposal. These measures include product design, making resource recovery from waste easier, improving resource recovery systems, and providing for the costs of wastes in prices. Product stewardship is one way to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place.
What is Product Stewardship?
Product stewardship involves producers, importers, brand owners, retailers and other parties involved in the life cycle of products accepting responsibility for the environmental impacts of the products throughout their life cycle. At the manufacturing stage this includes having waste issues considered when decisions are made on the choice of material, the design of the product, the manufacturing process and efficiency of resource use. It may also include mechanisms such as resource recovery from waste and improved disposal of products. Product stewardship schemes have been implemented in many other countries and regions, including Europe, the US, Canada, Japan and Australia.
There are already several examples in NZ of industry operating voluntary schemes based on product stewardship principles. For example, importers of refrigerants operate a programme to fund the destruction of CFCs recovered from end-of-life refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. Other examples include:
- schemes for the collection of old mobile phones and batteries, initiated by Vodafone, Telecom and the mobile phone companies;
- used oil recovery schemes run by several oil companies; and
- recovery of whiteware initiated by Fisher and Paykel Ltd.
All these schemes are industry-led and have been organised voluntarily. Current legislation does not provide for regulation for product stewardship.
Options and the Proposed Approach
This document states the policy objectives of the government and addresses options to achieve them. The options discussed include:
- the status quo - what we have now;
- industry-led schemes, with the regulation of "free-riders" (non-participants who seek to benefit while not complying with the mechanisms established or contributing to the costs); and
- a mandatory approach to the establishment of product stewardship schemes.
Using the strengths of each of them, the paper then outlines a preferred approach. This uses voluntary mechanisms, with regulation as a safety net to fill the gaps. This discussion paper seeks comment on these and any other options, and on issues affecting their implementation.
Once comment on this discussion document is received, the government will consider the policy options. This may entail new legislation, which will then be open to further public scrutiny and comment through parliamentary processes, including select committee consideration.
Submissions close 31 August 2005. You can email your submission to product.stewardship@mfe.govt.nz or post it to: Product Stewardship Submissions, Ministry for the Environment, PO Box 10 362, Wellington |
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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