End-of-life tyres, mattresses and plastics in health care are being added to the list. No products are being removed from the list.
First listed
2016–17
Reasons for inclusion
This listing relates to photovoltaic (PV) systems including solar panels, inverter equipment and system accessories, for domestic, commercial, and industrial applications.
As of 2020, Australia had 20.8 gigawatts of installed solar capacity and led the world in per person solar capacity. PV systems comprise Australia’s fastest growing electronic waste stream. In 2019, PV and battery storage system waste was estimated at around 3,500 tonnes. By 2030 this is expected to increase 18-fold to around 62,000 tonnes.
Industry uptake of product stewardship will divert PV systems from landfill. This will:
- Prevent hazardous substances from leaching into the environment
- Increase recovery of valuable materials, including critical minerals.
Recommended actions
- As per the 2021–22 list—The PV sector must demonstrate that it will manage PV waste through an industry-led product stewardship arrangement. Expected action includes:
- An industry agreed, nationwide scheme design By June 2022 (Limited progress achieved to date)
- An operational scheme including an approach to deal with legacy panels By June 2023 (Limited progress achieved to date)
First listed
2016–17
Reasons for Inclusion
Electrical and electronic products relate to equipment that depends on an electric current or electromagnetic field to function (including small and large appliances and equipment, temperature exchange equipment, lighting, solar photovoltaics and storage devices and mobile phones).
In 2018–2019, about 539,000 tonnes of e waste was generated in Australia, an increase of about 3.7 per cent on the previous year. Fifty per cent of this is recycled and the other half disposed of in landfill.
Under the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS), the television and computer industry funds collection and recycling programs. Products covered by the scheme include end-of-life televisions, printers, computers, computer parts and peripherals. MobileMuster provides collection and recycling for mobile phones and their batteries.
There is an opportunity to strengthen and expand product stewardship for electrical and electronic products in Australia. This will:
- Contribute to a circular economy
- Reduce environmental and human health impacts
- Increase recovery of valuable materials, including critical minerals.
Since listing, Mobile Muster has launched an industry led scheme for communications products such as modems and routers. This was launched in July 2022.
Actions
- Manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers must demonstrate measurable product design improvements to increase the durability, reparability, re-usability and/or recyclability of electronic and electrical products. By June 2025 (Ongoing)
First listed
2016–17
Reasons for Inclusion
This listing relates to containers used to store oil, including lubricating and residual oils (i.e. non-edible oils). This includes containers made from plastic, metal and other materials.
Oil containers can harm the environment and human health due to the residual oil they contain. There is potential to increase the recovery of resources and reduce the impacts on the environment and human health through collection and recycling of these containers.
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is leading the development of this scheme.
Actions
- Industry must implement a product stewardship scheme for plastic oil containers. The scheme should be designed and in operation by end-2023. By December 2023 (Progressing)
First listed
2020–21
Reasons for Inclusion
This listing relates to all child car seats produced and used in Australia.
Reusing child car seats beyond their design life presents a serious safety risk to babies and young children. It is important that end-of-life seats are taken out of circulation.
In addition, approximately 200,000 child car safety seats end up in landfill each year. More than 80 per cent of the material in each seat can be recycled – including clean plastics and metal.
A national product stewardship scheme will:
- Improve child safety
- Divert child car seats from landfill and improve resource recovery.
Equilibrium is leading development of the SeatCare scheme in collaboration with industry members and have run a scheme pilot.
Actions
- Child car safety seat manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers must establish and implement a voluntary product stewardship scheme by end-2023. The national scheme must ensure arrangements are in place to safely and efficiently manage the disposal, collection and recycling of unwanted and potentially unsafe child car safety seats. By December 2023 (Progressing)
- Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers must demonstrate measurable product design improvements to increase the durability, re-usability and recyclability of child car seats consistent with circular economy principles. By June 2025 (Ongoing)
First listed
2021-22
Reasons for Inclusion
Textiles include clothing, carpets, furniture coverings, rags, bags and tarpaulins. For the purposes of this list, the scope of textiles is limited to clothing.
In 2018–19, Australia generated 780,000 tonnes of textile waste, with clothing comprising roughly 32 per cent by weight. Only 3 per cent was recycled with the remaining going to landfill. In 2019–20, Australia exported 93,058 tonnes of worn clothing.
There are no formal collection services for reused textiles. Collection is borne mainly by charities.
Commonly used clothing textiles often contain a complex mixture of fibre types and chemicals that are difficult to separate and recycle. Breaking down textiles into their virgin elements, to recycle them, is technically challenging, and labour intensive.
Improvements in fibre recycling technologies are facilitating higher levels of material yield, however, these technologies are still in their infancy and are not widely used in Australia.
Clothing can pollute the environment through the release of hazardous chemicals, from the microfibres from laundering and the placing of synthetic clothing in landfill.
The Australian Fashion Council is leading a consortium designing and developing a product stewardship scheme for clothing textiles. This group has released a global scan report and clothing data report.
Actions
- Industry must take action to reduce the volume of clothing being sent to landfill. A focus should be the design and production of goods that facilitate longevity, reuse, and to increase recycling options. By 2025 (Progressing)
- Industry must design a national product stewardship scheme for end-of-life clothing that could include uniforms and workwear. The scheme should consider action across the whole supply chain—from design to use, reuse, collection and recycling. By June 2023 (Progressing)
- The majority of manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers reduce the environmental and social impacts of clothing across the lifecycle including through product design improvements related to durability, reparability, re-usability and/or recyclability of clothing. By 2025 (Ongoing)
First listed
2021-22
Reasons for Inclusion
This listing relates to problematic plastics as informed by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation's (APCO) priority list and existing commitments by the Australian Government.
Problematic and unnecessary single use plastics are difficult to recycle and cause disproportionate harm to the environment.
In 2018–19 Australians used 3.4 million tonnes of plastics. Of this 40 per cent was designed for short-term single use—yet lasts for centuries. Approximately 130,000 tonnes of plastics leak into the marine environment each year.
Consistent with target 5 of the National Waste Policy Action Plan, the Australian Government is taking steps to phase out priority problematic and unnecessary plastic packaging. This does not preclude states and territories from taking their own regulatory action on these plastics.
Actions are consistent with Australia meeting its domestic waste commitments and obligations under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) for managing POPs and chemicals with POPs-like characteristics.
Actions
- Industry should agree nationally coordinated and harmonised plans to phase out the problematic and unnecessary single use plastics listed below. Industry should develop roadmaps that outline how the listed products will be phased out, including through staged timeframes for elimination, redesign, innovation and replacement with products that do not have known worse environmental outcomes:
- Expanded polystyrene (EPS) loose packaging fill and moulded single-use EPS packaging for consumer products. By June 2022 (Progressing)
- Non compostable plastic packaging products containing additive fragmentable technology that do not meet relevant compostable standards (AS4736-2006 and AS5810-2010) (including oxo-degradable, landfill-degradable or other claimed degradable plastics). By June 2022 (Progressing)
- Moulded EPS, EPS loose fill and EPS consumer food and beverage containers. By December 2022 (Progressing)
- Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) packaging labels, films and rigid packaging. By December 2022 (Progressing)
- Polymer labelling and sleeves for plastic products to be compatible with the plastic polymers to enable recycling. By December 2023 (Progressing)
- Develop product stewardship options (including disposal/collection and recycling) where relevant to support the phase outs at Action 1, taking into consideration the environmental and health impacts where products cannot be phased out. By December 2023 (Progressing)
First listed
2022-23
Reasons for Inclusion
Mattresses contain a range of materials such as natural and synthetic fibres, metal springs, latex rubber polyurethane and memory foam.
According to the Australian Bedding Stewardship Council (ABSC), approximately 1.8 million mattresses are disposed of each year with around 740,000 ending up in landfill. This equates to approximately 22,000 tonnes of mattresses with an additional 15,000 tonnes of material recovered during recycling that currently has no market being landfilled annually.
Landfilling end-of-life mattresses has negative impacts on the environment and human health. Mattresses are bulky, present fire hazards, contain chemicals of concern including flame retardants (e.g. PFAS), cause subsidence, can get caught in landfill machines and shredded particles can become airborne.
Low or no material value of materials used within mattresses hampers the viability of recovery and recycling.
The ABSC currently administers the limited Recycle My Mattress program designed to increase resource recovery and divert waste from landfill for mattresses and bedding products. Expanding existing product stewardship activities would help to keep material in the economy for longer, improve design and materials to enhance end-of-life management and promote the phasing out of chemicals of concern.
Actions
- Increase participation in the existing industry-led product stewardship scheme for mattresses and bedding and expand it to include additional products such as bases, pillows and toppers. Expansion should consider increasing:
- Action across the whole supply chain – from design to use, reuse, collection and recycling
- Design for recycling and resource recovery, including research and development of new technologies for recycling mattresses
- Treatment of chemicals of concern consistent with international obligations
- Recovery of additional materials for recycling (including low or no value materials)
- Participation in the scheme by most of the sector, including importers
- The geographic reach and capacity for recycling to improve regional and remote access.
By December 2023
First listed
2022-23
Reasons for Inclusion
Health-care waste is increasing. According to the World Health Organisation tens of thousands of tonnes of extra medical waste from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic are putting strain on health care waste management systems around the world. Health-care waste comes from hospitals and other health facilities, laboratories and research centres, mortuaries and autopsy centres, blood banks and collection services and nursing homes for the elderly.
Almost 85 per cent of health-care waste is non-hazardous and is comparable to domestic waste. Plastics in this waste stream have demonstratable sustainable end-of-life pathways. More complex end-of-life solutions are needed for hazardous plastic waste to ensure recycled content is decontaminated and non toxic.
A product stewardship scheme for plastics in health-care waste will require industry to take a coordinated national approach. The scheme should consider design to optimise recyclability (such as easy separation from hazardous waste, consideration of materials and chemicals used), recovery, collection, recycling and repurposing. It should also identify technologies to remove toxins and contamination, and sustainably manage and recycle contaminated, toxic and radioactive waste.
Actions
- Identify data required for collection to derive suitable measures and baselines that can be used to demonstrate product stewardship benefits under the scheme. By December 2023
- Develop a robust, and self-sustaining industry-led nationwide product stewardship scheme for plastics in health-care waste. The scheme should consider action across the whole supply chain – from design to use, reuse, collection and recycling.
Where possible, the scheme should leverage existing and emerging innovation and infrastructure that supports product stewardship and circular outcomes. By December 2023 - Expand the product stewardship scheme for plastics in health-care waste to include solutions for removing toxins and contaminants from health-care plastics. This will require innovation and research to identify scalable approaches to recycle these hazardous wastes and to remove contaminated components from more easily recycled components. By December 2025
- Consider other areas where the scheme can be broadened to include additional health-care waste, such as personal protection equipment and face masks. By December 2025
First listed
2022-23
Reasons for Inclusion
This listing relates to end-of-life tyres, including passenger, bus, truck and off-the-road (OTR) tyres.
Each year 563,000 tonnes of tyres are purchased in Australia, or the equivalent of 58 million passenger tyres, generating around 450,000 tonnes of waste. Sending tyres to landfill impacts the environment through long degradation timeframes, contributing to the release of harmful chemicals and plastics into the environment.
Tyre stockpiling, onsite burial and illegal dumping have been known risks for many years. These issues are compounded by international shipping constraints, domestic market pricing, transport costs and storage pressures, and low domestic demand for waste tyre derived products.
The Australian Government has accredited the industry-led Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme (TPSS), implemented by Tyre Stewardship Australia. The aim of the TPSS is to manage the environmental and human health impacts of end-of-life tyres.
The purpose of this listing is to drive industry participation in the TPSS and will include consideration of regulatory approaches.
Actions
- Strengthen industry-led product stewardship action for tyres by:
- Increasing the onshore consumption and recovery rate of all end-of-life tyres
- Increasing contribution by tyre importers and automotive manufacturers to stewardship activities
- Increasing tyre retailer participation in stewardship activities.
By October 2023