E-products Stewardship – Beyond TVs, Computers and Mobiles

Electrical and electronic products (e-products) contribute significantly to our lives and across many sectors, industries, and applications.

As we become more dependent on their production and consumption, the benefits of e-products also come with the challenge of managing e-waste.

There is a role for everybody in helping to meet this challenge as it will take innovative approaches to reduce and avoid creating e-waste, across both the demand and supply sides of the problem.

While recycling has a valuable place, recycling alone does not provide a sustainable and waste-free solution. Additional measures and interventions are required that delay and prevent e-waste from entering the resource recovery chain.

In response to these issues, the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment has commenced a process of policy reform to consider how to better manage e-products in Australia.

Preliminary discussions with stakeholders took place in the second half of 2021, where stakeholders shared their views in a series of roundtables and one-on-one discussions with the department.

A key outcome from these discussions is the Stewardship for Consumer and Other Electrical and Electronic Products discussion paper. It contains a series of questions and submissions which are being sought to inform future decision-making.

Feedback from interested stakeholders has been invited and encouraged over the last two months and submissions close 5pm (AEDT), Friday, 25 February 2022.

The discussion paper represents a significant contribution to policy development and a fresh new starting point related to stewardship and circularity for e-products. You can read more about the process and download the paper here.

More information

Waste Reform and Integration Taskforce
Email:  writ@environment.gov.au