Less waste, more resources
Product stewardship
Voluntary product stewardship arrangements
New legislative instruments for Australian Government accreditation of voluntary product stewardship arrangements under the Product Stewardship Act 2011 came into effect in November 2012.
What is product stewardship?
Product stewardship is an approach to managing the impacts of different products and materials. It acknowledges that those involved in producing, selling, using and disposing of products have a shared responsibility to ensure that those products or materials are managed in a way that reduces their impact, throughout their lifecycle, on the environment and on human health and safety.
National product stewardship legislation
The Product Stewardship Act 2011 provides the framework to effectively manage the environmental, health and safety impacts of products, and in particular those impacts associated with the disposal of products. The framework includes voluntary, co-regulatory and mandatory product stewardship. The passage of the legislation delivers on a key commitment by the Australian Government under the National Waste Policy which was agreed by governments in November 2009 and endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments in August 2010.
Find out more
- Product stewardship for end of life tyres
- Product stewardship for mercury-containing lamps - FluoroCycle
Latest news
Voluntary product stewardship arrangements
New legislative instruments for the accreditation of voluntary product stewardship arrangements under the Product Stewardship Act 2011.
Product Stewardship Advisory Group
The Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water announced the establishment of the Product Stewardship Advisory Group on 6 December 2012.
Product Notice - Packaging
The Product Stewardship Act 2011 requires at least 12 months' notification be given that a class of products is being considered for some form of accreditation or regulation under the Act before regulations may be made in relation to that class of products.
