A national approach for dealing with Australia's e-waste is closer to being realised, with the public invited to comment on proposed strategies.
In requesting community input on plans for dealing with computer and television waste, Minister for the Environment and Chair of the Environment, Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC), Peter Garrett, said:
"This is the first step in agreeing a solution, and we would like the public to be a key part of this process. Community response to the consultation package will help pave the way for new product stewardship arrangements.''
A Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement has been released on the EPHC website HERE for response from the public and industry stakeholders. It presents the results of a cost benefit analysis of options for managing end-of-life televisions and computers.
The consultation package also includes a modelling study on the willingness to pay for e-waste recycling and a Draft Code of Practice for Managing End-of-Life Televisions.
A series of public consultation forums will be held in Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne during the public consultation period, although dates for the meetings have yet to be confirmed.
In 2007/08, 17 million televisions, computers and computer products reached their end of life. Only 10 per cent were recycled.
While increasing numbers of products are being sold and ownership of electrical products soars, waste volumes are also increasing due to shorter product life spans. In 20 years the number of end of life products is forecast to have grown to 44 million per year.
E-waste regulation in Australia is currently managed by individual states. For example, the ACT has banned the disposal of computer monitors and television screens in landfill. There are also recycling schemes run by specific manufacturers such as Dell and Apple.
However, this consultation package is the first step towards a uniform national approach to regulation.
While the case for introducing regulation seems clear cut, the Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement considers a number of issues.
For example, while many TV and computer components - such as glass and plastic - can be recycled, there are also components that will need controlled disposal channels in place, such as bromine, mercury and zinc. In landfill these toxic materials can leach out and pose a threat to both humans and the environment.
Unfortunately current costs for extracting materials from old units makes it cheaper for manufacturers to purchase new raw materials rather than use recycled components. However, a recent survey of over 2000 Australians, cited in the Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement, shows that consumers are willing to pay more for units if recycling is implemented.
The same survey shows that there is less recycling of TVs and computers than the community expects, with the report also highlighting problems in past attempts to implement schemes in Australia, in particulaar citing difficulties in getting support from all industry players.
Internationally, e-waste regulations have already been implemented across countries. To decrease e-waste and put the burden of recycling on the manufacturer, the European Union, for example, has issued a series of directives and regulations to increase the recovery, reuse and recycling of electronic materials.
The intention is to decrease e-waste and e-waste exports, and encourage manufacturers to create new, greener products that are safer and easier to upgrade, fix and recycle. Similar efforts are underway in China and Japan.
In Australia, the EPHC has agreed to finalise product stewardship arrangements for end of life televisions and computers at its next meeting in November this year.
The deadline for responses to the consultation package is 13 August 2009.
By Graham Reeks G-Online
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Media Release 27th May 2008
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.
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
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.
The truck has been developed to collect some of the estimated 10 million plastic agrichemical containers disposed every year in New Zealand.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 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
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.
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
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 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%.
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.
