Policy trends

Policy trends - Product Stewardship

Currently, the Product Stewardship Program (PSP) is voluntary and self-administered by the industry. Government support is provided by consultation and access to research.

Government regulation underpins some areas of the PVC life cycle e.g. emission levels, Occupational, Health and Safety, but there is no framework – co-regulation – linking PSP Commitments to law.

Co-regulation may be the future to reducing the impact of manufacturing on health and the environment. According to a 2005 paper released by the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC), Co-Regulatory Frameworks for Product Stewardship there is broad support, from all levels of government, for an integrated co-regulated approach to product stewardship. In co-regulated stewardship, industry takes responsibility for managing the products they manufacture. Government’s role is to provide regulatory support to the Commitments in industry programs.

Before co-regulation can be effective, some issues need clarifying. Will the regulations be national? Are manufacturers who choose not to join a stewardship program penalised? Is industry bound when a regulation becomes outdated? For instance, the NSW Department of Environment launched its regulatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Strategy in 2004.

The EPR lists PVC as a ‘waste of concern’ because of the use of cadmium and lead. Cadmium in PVC was phased out in 2004 and Signatories are on track to phase out the use of lead stabilisers across all applications by 2010.

Not surprisingly, local government, with their huge waste management load, is supportive of a co-regulated approach. They realise the influence councils can assert on industry by encouraging product stewardship. Stewardship programs result in networking among government, business and industry. When businesses take responsibility for the end-of-life stage of their products, waste management becomes a shared responsibility. Friends of the Earth UK report that voluntary agreements on business standards fail to deliver sustainability – co-regulation, they say, is needed for schemes to be successful.