Costs are under wraps but the decision is expected to add about $30 to the average price of PCs sold in New Zealand from late next year.
Garth Wyllie, executive director of the Consumer Electronics Association, says a draft model for a "product stewardship scheme" for computers was agreed by all the major international brands and some local assemblers at a meeting in Auckland. This follows agreement on a similar scheme for television sets.
Though some local computer assemblers have yet to back the scheme, others are now warming to it, Mr Wyllie says.
"The crucial thing now is that if there is anyone in the information technology sector that hasn't seen the proposal, that they start asking their suppliers or come to us to get that information. There are a few that have been conspicuous by their absence."
Details of the scheme, which has changed little from a proposal outlined before the meeting, will be circulated within the industry for comment before they are finalised and made public next month.
Companies would need to register to sell computers and would choose whether to pay a bond or a levy on sales to a scheme manager, which would pay for computers to be collected at council dumps and recycled or disposed of properly.
Mr Wyllie says there will be a "per kilo" charge for e-waste, which should equate to less than $50 for each computer.
The scheme could be up and running late next year, assuming MPs pass the Waste Minimisation Bill. It received its second reading last month and would let the Environment Ministry force companies to take part in industry-run product stewardship schemes or impose schemes of its own.
"There would have to be mandatory requirements, and there are issues around the Commerce Act which we need to clarify with the Commerce Commission.
"Legal opinions are being sought at the moment to make sure we are not going to be in breach of any laws," Mr Wyllie says.
Television importers have already agreed to back a separate product stewardship scheme, under which Customs would collect an average levy of $30 to $35 on all television sets when they were shipped to New Zealand.
Mr Wyllie had hoped the levy might be in place by the end of this year, but he says it could not now come into effect till early 2009 because of the need to consult the Environment Ministry on the scheme's operation.
A Customs spokesman says Customs would need to be directed to collect the levy. It is understood this would require it to be endorsed by the ministry, which – under the terms of the Waste Minimisation Bill – would in turn require industry and public consultations.
This is to ensure industry-run product stewardship schemes meet the objectives set out under the legislation.
"The scheme won't progress until there is legislation to impose that levy," Mr Wyllie says. "There is no way the industry itself will impose it voluntarily. There will need to be compulsion to make sure there are no 'free riders'.
"We are guessing that it will be early next year before we see schemes up and running. That hinges on the Environment Ministry and how quickly they move through their processes."
Hon Trevor Mallard Minister of Environment
15 April 2008 Speech Notes
Environment Minster Trevor Mallard's speech to the New Zealand Packaging Accord One Day Seminar, The Conference Centre, AUT Tech Park.
Manufacturing companies are increasing differentiating themselves by using Life Cycle Management as a point of competitive advantage in international markets. By learning how to manage the life cycle of products more effectively, companies can realise market opportunities and simultaneously improve environmental performance.
To read more about Life Cycle Management please click here
The Life Cycle Management project is a five year programe that aims to build LCM capability among New Zealand manufacturing companies
Read more about the project, who is involved and what its aims are. lcm_leaflet_2 1.12 Mb
New Zealanders strongly support a levy on solid waste but they are divided on who should receive the money, according to survey results released by the Product Stewardship Foundation today.
The Product Stewardship Foundation (PSF) with New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development undertook a ShapeNZ survey of New Zealanders last week on Waste Levies and Product Stewardship. The survey had 2791 respondents with a margin of error of +/- 1.9%.
Media Release 27th May 2008
The Ministry for the Environment has released the Waste Minimisation in New Zealand Discussion paper
Click here to read the document
Click here to visit the MFE website
Demand for recycled goods is down, causing a billion dollar industry to lose much of its steam. But another byproduct of the recycling industry's downturn is the creation of new opportunities.
A proposed bill in the California State Assembly would require producers of certain products and packaging to change the materials they use and develop better ways to deal with the products when they're disposed of.
Business leaders, community groups and local government step up to the Government’s challenge to develop a new packaging product stewardship scheme for New Zealand
New Zealand Herald
MP claims full support for levy on landfill waste
5:00AM Tuesday April 08, 2008
Green MP Nandor Tanczos says he has been given unanimous support from a select committee for his Waste Minimisation Bill that includes a $10-a-tonne levy on waste going to landfills.
A national approach for dealing with Australia's e-waste is closer to being realised, with the public invited to comment on proposed strategies.
A provincial agency is recommending Ontario scrap the $5 per tire "disposal" fee charged to drivers when they get rid of their old tires, and replace it with a levy charged to manufacturers and importers that they could pass on to consumers.
The Ministry for the Environment have released the criteria for the Waste Minimisation Fund
The purpose of the Waste Minimisation Fund is to boost New Zealand’s performance in waste minimisation. There is considerable scope to reduce waste and increase the recovery of useful resources from waste. Lifting our performance in recovering economic value from waste also provides environmental, social and cultural benefits and reduces the risks of harm from waste.
This will require investment in infrastructure and systems for waste minimisation and developing educational and promotional capacity. The purpose of the fund is to provide some of the funding to ensure that this occurs.
A US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on opportunities to cut greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions through improved management of materials and land notes that 37% of the country's total ghg emissions come from the provision and use of goods within the USA.
Efforts to establish a recycling scheme for unwanted computer equipment have hit a stumbling block, with "two or three" multinational computer manufacturers refusing to support a system under which they would pay a levy on imported computers.
Television manufacturers have proposed a levy of about $30 on imported televisions sets to pay for the cost of recycling, and an industry agreement on how to pay for the environmentally-safe disposal of unwanted computers looks within reach.
The challenge for business Organisations that understand that consumers are regarding them through a new green lens and respond to that shift will gain competitive advantage.
Read this interesting article from June 09 Managment magazine.
PANASONIC BACKS PSA'S PLEA FOR TV RECYCLING
By Matthew Henry
SYDNEY: Panasonic today ramped up pressure on the Rudd government to implement a national recycling scheme for old TVs, calling for an industry-funded scheme to be operational within three to four years.
Panasonic’s pledge to lobby for the scheme follows a recent letter by Product Stewardship Australia on behalf of leading TV brands expressing frustration and disappointment at environment minister Peter Garrett’s inaction on the proposed scheme.
The truck has been developed to collect some of the estimated 10 million plastic agrichemical containers disposed every year in New Zealand.
Businesses need to focus on how to make the most of new opportunities driven by the growing shortage of local and world natural resources. The newly elected chair of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, Bob Field, also chair of Toyota NZ Limited, says the planet’s resources are being stretched as never before by a growing population and higher standards of living.
A new advisory board has been appointed to provide advice to the Environment Minister on issues relating to waste minimisation, Environment Minister Trevor Mallard said today.
In September 2007, the government released a cabinet paper of proposed legislation for a national waste levy, product stewardship, reporting requirements on waste data and a consolidation of waste legislation in a new bill.
Thursday, 19 June 2008, Press Release: New Zealand Government
New waste legislation will offer economic incentives and rewards to businesses and councils who do their bit for waste reduction
The Ministry for the Environment as released its new Guide to Product Stewardship for Non-priority Products in the Waste Minimisation Act 2008
The purpose of this document is to provide:
The intended audiences for this document are:
Guide to Product Stewardship for Non Priority Products
OTTAWA — The federal government is contemplating a $35-million recycling program to keep its obsolete and unwanted computers and other gear out of the country's landfills, say newly released documents.
A draft analysis by the Public Works Department says a federal scheme is needed because some provinces lack programs to allow Ottawa to safely dispose of its used computers, fax machines and cellular phones.
"A federal program is still necessary over the next five years to ensure the end of life management of federal government IT equipment as . . . there is no guarantee as to when all provinces and the territories will have take-back programs in place," says the analysis, drafted last September.
New Zealanders are almost evenly split over paying 10c an item extra at shops to recycle packaging.
New waste minimisation law allows for compulsory recycling schemes. Implementing one for containers is estimated to cost at least 10 cents per item, according to packaging industry research.
A new nationwide ShapeNZ survey of nearly 2,397 people shows the country is split 36% for to 34% against any new per-item tax. Some 23% are neutral and 8% are not sure.
