Product Stewardship Commitment

On 25 November 2002, 33 companies in the Australian PVC industry, in conjunction with Environment Australia signed and publicly released a Product Stewardship Commitment. The Commitment documents a series of measures the PVC industry will undertake to address the health and environmental concerns associated with the manufacture, use and disposal of its products.

Product stewardship is about companies taking a collaborative account of the environmental impacts of their businesses beyond their individual boundaries, with the intention of reducing impacts both upstream and downstream of the factory gate. The chain of responsibility stretches from manufacturers, to distributors, retailers and consumers. All those involved must share the responsibility for the careful management of this material to ensure we optimise its value, even when it becomes waste.

This Commitment is highly significant for the industry: although a voluntary initiative, it is the culmination of more than 18 months of consultation between industry and government. The initiative provides an avenue for outcomes that are likely to be achieved more rapidly as a joint effort, with all the key players in the PVC chain committed.

It is a Commitment not entered into lightly, involving specific additional costs to signatories to implement some of the measures required. In some cases, signatories may be at a competitive disadvantage to imports or any local manufacturer that does not join this Commitment.

In addition, through this initiative, the industry has entrusted what would normally be regarded as commercially confidential information to the broader community in the interests of improving the environment and increasing public appreciation of the contribution of the PVC industry to society.

The Commitment is an important, long-term and voluntary initiative that tackles the industry’s major substantive issues and establishes time frames for the delivery of key undertakings in production and storage, the safe use of additives, waste management, research and public reporting. Across the life cycle of PVC and PVC products, the Vinyl Council has identified the following priority product stewardship issues for action:

• Containment, health and safety of handling and transportation of vinyl chloride monomer, the key raw ingredient in PVC production;
• Manufacturing emissions and standards;
• The use of additives and stabilisers, especially phthalate plasticisers and heavy metal stabilisers;
• End-of-life impacts of PVC products such as waste management, dioxins and recycling.

Full details on each commitment are contained in the Product Stewardship Commitment document (see link below). To see a summary table of the commitments click here

In addition to keeping the community informed on the health and environmental impacts of PVC through transparent reporting, the Product Stewardship Commitment provides that any new issues that may arise will be monitored, reported and addressed.

Through this initiative the industry aims to address environmental issues in a way consistent with public expectations by:

• Recognising there are issues with our products, and publicly committing to address these;
• Establishing time frames for action where appropriate;
• Keeping the public, government and all major stakeholders well informed on the issues and progress in addressing them.

A copy of the industry’s Product Stewardship Commitment follows which contains an overview of the initiative, details of each specific commitment, the Vinyl Council’s product stewardship policy (see Product Stewardship Policy) and guidelines for the admission or de-listing of signatories.

A Technical Steering Group will oversee the implementation and development of the Commitment over time. The Technical Steering Group is comprised of signatory representatives, a representative from Environment Australia and an independent scientist.

Future reports about this initiative will be posted on this website as progress is made.

To download a copy of the full document, click here

To order hard copies, email info@vinyl.org.au

To read related media releases click here

To see a list of the current signatories click here

To download a copy of the Product Stewardship Review 2002, click here

To see a list of Product Stewardship Program publications click here