Product Stewardship (Televisions and Computers) Regulations Liable Party Information Session

The e-waste problem

Electronic waste is a significant and growing part of the

waste stream

Televisions and computers contain hazardous substances

such as lead, bromine, mercury and zinc

Waste volumes are increasing and expected to grow to

44 million units (181,000 tonnes) by 2027-28

Developing a solution: initial phase

Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (July 2009) Broad range of options considered

Decision Regulation Impact Statement (Nov 2009) Best option is a co-regulatory scheme

Obligations on importers/domestic manufacturers to participate

Computers, televisions, printers, and computer products

Government decision (Nov 2009) Endorsed by all state and territory governments

Developing a solution: detailed design

Meetings of Industry Working Group

Studies undertaken

Consultation paper on the Regulations (March 2011)

Exposure draft of the Regulations (September 2011)

Regulations made and in effect (8 November 2011)

The Regulations: An Overview

Operate under the Product Stewardship Act 2011

Co-regulatory: government sets the outcomes, industry works

out how to achieve those outcomes

Primary objective: minimise waste (particularly hazardous

waste) and maximise resource recovery, in a safe and

environmentally sound way

Industry run and funded collection and recycling of televisions,

computers and computer products (products identified in

Schedule 1 of regulations)

Key obligations

Under the Act and Regulations there are two key obligations: Liable parties must be members of ‘an approved co-regulatory

arrangement’

Administrators of approved co-regulatory arrangements must take all

reasonable steps to ensure that collection and recycling outcomes are

achieved

Membership of an approved arrangement

Primary obligation of a liable party is to be a member of an

approved co-regulatory arrangement

Expected that co-regulatory arrangements approved by

February 2012

Administrators of approved arrangements will report their

membership as at 1 April 2012

The Department will identify liable parties that are not

members as at that date

When is an importer a liable party?

An importer will be a liable party in 2011-12 if it: Is a constitutional corporation

Imported relevant products in 2010-11

39 ‘Television’ Product Codes

11 ‘Computer and Monitor’ Product Codes

10 ‘Printer’ Product Codes

15 ‘Computer Product’ Product Codes

Imported above the threshold in 2010-11 Televisions class: 5,000 televisions

Computers, printers and computer products class: 5,000 computers or

printers, or 15,000 computer products

Example

Import figures are obtained under data sharing

arrangements with Customs and Border Protection

In this example, the company would be a liable party in

2011-12 because it exceeded the 5,000 unit thresholdProduct code

Applicable threshold

Units imported (2010-11)

Conversion factor (kg/unit)

Converted weight (kg)

8471.49.00.92 Computers or printers

4,000 13.5 54,000

8471.41.00.91 Computers or printers

4,000 10 40,000

8471.70.00.74 Computer products

10,000 0.6 6,000

Total for computers and printers

8,000 94,000

Total for computer products

10,000 6,000

When is an importer a liable party?

To deter import-splitting, imports of related companies are

counted together for assessing whether a company is a liable

party e.g. Where Company A imports 2,000 televisions and related

Company B imports 4,000 televisions, both are liable parties

This applies to televisions, computers and printers – not computer

products (e.g. keyboards, mice)

Only applies to companies that have imported >1,000 units

Imports of related companies are only relevant for whether a

company is a liable party, not for calculating import share

Related bodies corporate

XYZ Holdings

Company A0 units

Company D0 units

Company B4000 computers

Company C0 units

Company E2000 computers

Liable party reporting obligations: related bodies A liable party must report on related bodies corporate (if

any) that imported or manufactured products in the same

class

Example: A company imported 10,000 televisions in 2010-11, and had a

subsidiary that imported 4,000 televisions in that year. The company

must report details of the subsidiary to the Department

Purpose of this requirement is to help the Department

identify liable parties.

Reports are due 1 March 2012, and 1 September in following

years

No need to submit a nil report

Liable party reporting obligations: manufacturing

Liable parties must report on number of products in the

relevant class manufactured in Australia (if any)

Example: A company imported 10,000 televisions in 2010-11. If it

manufactured 1000 televisions in that year it must report this to the

Department.

This reporting requirement does not apply to computers

Purpose of the requirement is to provide information on

relevant manufacturing activity

Reports are due 1 March 2012, and 1 September in following

years

No need to submit a nil report

July 2012 – June 2013 First Target Period

Regulations in effect

8 Nov 2011

Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

Timeline for the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme

Estimated date for approval of co-regulatory arrangements

Reporting deadline

1 March 2012

Membership deadline

1 April 2012

Department write to liable parties with

2011-12 import data

Key obligations

As mentioned previously, there are two key obligations: Liable parties must be members of ‘an approved co-regulatory

arrangement’

Administrators of approved co-regulatory arrangements must take all

reasonable steps to ensure that collection, recycling, and material

recovery outcomes are achieved

What is a co-regulatory arrangement?

A co-regulatory arrangement is set of measures designed to

meet the outcomes in the Regulations

It is administered by a body corporate responsible for

ensuring that these outcomes are achieved This may be a liable party that is also a member of that arrangement

It deals with matters specified in the Regulations, including

governance, membership and funding to achieve the

outcomes in the Regulations

Outcome: Reasonable access to collection services Approved arrangements must provide reasonable access to collection

services across Australia

Reasonable access requirements ensure availability of services to

households and small business in regional and remote, not just metro

areas, by 31 December 2013

Reasonable access defined in the regulations using a set of metrics –

these establish an objective basis to assess compliance

Administrators have flexibility in the type of collection services they

offer – allowing tailoring to suit different situations

Households and small business must not be charged to drop off

products at a designated collection service

Outcome: Recycling Target

Outcome: Recycling Targets

Recycling means the initial processing of a product, including

disassembly or shredding, for the purpose of recovering

useable materials

Scheme targets are set as a percentage of the waste

estimated to be generated in the year

Percentage targets start at 30% waste recycled by June 2013

and rise every year to 80% by 2021

Recycling target for a co-regulatory arrangement will be

allocated based on import/manufacture share of members

Recycling targets: calculating import share

Product code

Applicable threshold

Units imported (2010-11)

Conversion factor (kg/unit)

Converted weight (kg)

8471.49.00.92 Computers or printers

4,000 13.5 54,000

8471.41.00.91 Computers or printers

4,000 10 40,000

8471.70.00.74 Computer products

10,000 0.6 6,000

Total for computers and printers

8,000 94,000

Total for computer products

10,000 6,000

An arrangement’s share of the Scheme target will depend its

members’ share of all liable parties’ imports in the relevant

product class.

This is measured using “converted weight”, not actual weight

- in this example, 100,000kg or 100 tonnes.

Recycling targets: taking exports into account

Exports can be taken into account to reduce an

arrangement’s target, where an audited report is provided

with this information

Example: An arrangement’s members’ imported 5,000 tonnes of televisions in 2011-12 but 1,000 tonnes of those televisions were exported in the same year. For calculating the arrangement’s share of the Scheme target, the relevant figure is 4,000 tonnes.

Note: Again, “converted weight” rather than actual weight is used

Outcome: Material Recovery Target from 2014-15

Material recovery means the proportion of materials (by

weight) that is sent after recycling for processing into

useable materials Complements the recycling target

A measure of the quality of recycling

Material recovery target of 90% applies from the financial

year 2014-15 2014-15 start allows time to develop consistent measurement and

reporting methods

Membership requirements

The Act and Regulations set the outcomes to be achieved –

they do not set membership requirements

However, it is likely that members will be required to

contribute financially in proportion to their

import/manufacture share

Membership requirements will be set out in applications for

approval of co-regulatory arrangements, and considered by

the Department as part of its assessment

Summary: implications for importers/manufacturers

Work out whether your company is a liable party: Did it import/manufacture relevant products in 2010-11?

Is it over the 5,000 or 15,000 threshold?

If not, is it over the 1,000 threshold and liable because of

imports/manufacture by related companies?

If a liable party: Consider whether a related body corporate/manufacture report must be

submitted (due 1 March 2012)

Ensure that the company is a member of an approved arrangement

(by 1 April 2012)

Ensure that products have their proper tariff classification

Questions