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 threshold 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 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

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 A 0 units Company D 0 units Company B 4000 computers Company C 0 units Company E 2000 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

Timeline for the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme Department write to liable parties with 2011-12 import data Regulations in effect 8 Nov 2011 Reporting deadline 1 March 2012 Membership deadline 1 April 2012 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 July 2012 – June 2013 First Target Period Estimated date for approval of co-regulatory arrangements

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 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. 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 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

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

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