WMRR welcomes continued focus on product stewardship

23 October 2020

The federal government is on a WARR roll in 2020, announcing that it has selected an expert body to establish the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence.

The new Centre of Excellence, led by Australian Industry Group, Cox Inall Communications, and UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures, will provide mentoring and best practice guidance, educate and engage business, and facilitate industry linkages to support national industry-led schemes.

“The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) welcomes the announcement and looks forward to working with the Centre of Excellence to drive existing and new national product stewardship schemes,” WMRR CEO, Ms Gayle Sloan, said.

“WMRR recognises the skills and experience that the partners in the Centre bring to both product stewardship and the circular economy, we congratulate both them and the government for selecting such a talented partner.

“Product stewardship schemes have had proven success in accelerating circular economy principles and managing material streams that have high levels of environmental impact. A dedicated skilled body for product stewardship will play a key role in helping Australia meet its 80% resource recovery rate by 2030 while importantly, placing the onus on generators to ensure they are responsible for the design and management of materials throughout the supply chain, including end-of-life,” Ms Sloan added.

The Centre of Excellence will also be on hand to assist industries and companies move forward as they prepare for impending changes associated with a national plastics plan that will be released later this year, and the Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill that was debated in the Senate yesterday.

“The government is sending a strong signal that it is committed to building a remanufacturing sector in Australia and the recently accepted Export Bill amendments, coupled with the launch of the Centre of Excellence, no doubt place a strong emphasis on building an economy that’s based on circular principles. It is certainly an exciting time for the waste and resource recovery sector,” Ms Sloan said.