Call for Nominations: Minister’s Priority List for Product Stewardship

A first! Have your say on ‘The List’

Each year, the Minister for the Environment announces the product stewardship priority list that identifies products most in need of product stewardship action.  In a first, the next list will be informed following a call for public nominations. Industry, government and consumers are encouraged to contribute their suggestions.

Product stewardship schemes are industry-led activities that design out waste, help keep valuable resources out of landfill and provide environmental and health benefits. It’s all about shared responsibility for a product’s whole lifecycle, from design and manufacture to its packaging and what happens at the end of its life.  Valuable materials can be used again and again in a circular economy.

Textiles and problematic and unnecessary single use plastics were added to last year’s list, now plans for future product stewardship actions and schemes are unfolding. And batteries were removed from the list, as Australia’s first national battery recycling scheme will be launched in early 2022.

Anyone who imports, designs, produces, sells, uses and disposes of products has an interest in contributing to what is placed on the list. It plots the course for industry-led product stewardship action; what needs to be done, how it will be done and when. You can find examples of past lists on the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment’s website.

To contribute to the next list, nominate a product today.