Each year, the Minister for the Environment announces the product stewardship priority list that identifies products most in need of product stewardship action. This year for the first time, the upcoming list will be informed following a call for public nominations. We encourage all GECA stakeholders from industry and government to nonprofits and consumers to contribute their suggestions.
Each year, the Minister for the Environment announces the product stewardship priority list that identifies products most in need of product stewardship action. This year for the first time, the upcoming list will be informed following a call for public nominations. We encourage all GECA stakeholders from industry and government to nonprofits and consumers to contribute their suggestions.
Product stewardship schemes are industry-led activities that design out waste, help keep valuable resources out of landfill and provide environmental and health benefits. It’s all about shared responsibility for a product’s whole lifecycle, from design and manufacture to its packaging and what happens at the end of its life. Product stewardship is a key aspect of embracing a circular economy, creating systems that prioritise regenerating, maintaining, repairing, reusing, refurbishing, and recycling.
Last year textiles and unnecessary single-use plastics were added to the list. And batteries were removed from the list, as Australia’s first national battery recycling scheme will be launched in early 2022. Now plans for future product stewardship actions and schemes are unfolding.
All of GECA’s robust ecolabelling standards include product stewardship criteria, emphasising the value of decreasing contribution to landfill and increasing the reuse and recycling rate of the product at the end of its life. Earlier this year, in collaboration with Edge Environment and the Global Product Stewardship Council, GECA was also awarded a grant by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to tackle the issue of commercial office furniture going to landfill. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement in implementing best practice product stewardship here in Australia. So this is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future!
Anyone who imports, designs, produces, sells, uses and disposes of products has a stake in contributing to the list. The list will plot the course for industry-led product stewardship action, what needs to be done, how, and when. You can find examples of past lists on the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment’s website.
To contribute to the next list, nominate a product by 5pm, Friday 17 December 2021.
