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This Act is the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020.
Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Commencement information | ||
|---|---|---|
Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
Provisions | Commencement | Date/Details |
1. The whole of this Act | The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent. | 16 December 2020 |
This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.
Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.
The objects of this Act are as follows:
to reduce the impact on human and environmental health of products, waste from products and waste material, including by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted, energy and resources used and water consumed in connection with products, waste from products and waste material;
to realise the community and economic benefits of taking responsibility for products, waste from products and waste material;
to develop a circular economy that maximises the continued use of products and waste material over their life cycle and accounts for their environmental impacts;
to contribute to Australia meeting its international obligations concerning the impact referred to in paragraph (a).
These objects are to be achieved by:
regulating the export of waste material to promote its management in an environmentally sound way; and
encouraging and regulating the reuse, remanufacture, recycling and recovery of products, waste from products and waste material in an environmentally sound way; and
encouraging and regulating manufacturers, importers, distributors, designers and other persons to take responsibility for products, including by taking action that relates to:
reducing or avoiding generating waste through improvements in product design; and
improving the durability, reparability and reusability of products; and
managing products throughout their life cycle.
In performing functions and exercising powers under this Act, the Minister and CEO must take a precautionary approach in relation to protecting human and environmental health.
This Act creates a framework for reducing the impact on human and environmental health of waste material.
Waste material includes any thing that is discarded, rejected or left over from an industrial, commercial, domestic or other activity, and any thing that is surplus to or a by‑product of those activities.
The Minister may, in rules made under this Act, prescribe kinds of waste material. If the Minister does so, the waste material is called regulated waste material and its export may be prohibited by the rules unless certain conditions prescribed by the rules (called prescribed export conditions) are complied with.
Conditions may include a requirement to hold an export licence to export the regulated waste material and to provide the CEO with an export declaration before the regulated waste material is exported.
The Minister may, on application, grant an exemption to people who wish to export regulated waste material from complying with certain requirements imposed by this Act. An exemption remains in force for up to 12 months, and may be granted subject to conditions. An exemption can be revoked.
This Act also creates a framework for reducing the impact on human and environmental health of products and waste from products.
A product can include any thing that is manufactured.
This Act provides for 3 regimes relating to product stewardship, each of which is designed to encourage or require manufacturers, importers, distributors and other persons to take responsibility for products including, for example, through improved product design.
The first regime, called voluntary product stewardship, involves accrediting voluntary arrangements designed to further the objects of this Act in relation to products, and authorising the use of product stewardship logos in accordance with such arrangements.
The second regime, called co‑regulatory product stewardship, involves requiring some manufacturers, importers, distributors and users of products (called liable parties), who have been specified in the rules, to be members of co‑regulatory arrangements approved by the CEO. These arrangements must have outcomes, specified in the rules, that are designed to further the objects of this Act.
The third regime, called mandatory product stewardship, enables rules to be made that require specified persons to take, or not to take, specified action in relation to products.
Authorised officers have powers to ensure people are complying with this Act, to investigate non‑compliance and to enforce this Act. Enforcement mechanisms include infringement notices, enforceable undertakings and injunctions.
Auditors can conduct audits in relation to export operations, product stewardship arrangements and the performance of functions and the exercise of powers under this Act.
The rules may require persons who have obligations under this Act to make and retain specified kinds of records.
The Minister and CEO have various powers to gather information relating to regulated waste material, product stewardship, the objects of this Act and other matters. The use and disclosure of certain kinds of information is regulated.
Certain decisions under this Act may be reviewed by the Minister or CEO, and by the Administrative Review Tribunal.
Fees may be charged relating to activities carried out by, or on behalf of, the Commonwealth in the performance of functions or the exercise of powers under this Act.
The rules may also make provision in relation to the payment of waste material export charge (which is a tax imposed under related legislation).
This Act binds the Crown in each of its capacities.
However, this Act does not make the Crown liable to a pecuniary penalty or to be prosecuted for an offence.
The protection in subsection (2) does not apply to an authority of the Crown.
This Act extends to every external Territory.
This Act extends to acts, omissions, matters and things outside Australia.
This Act is not intended to exclude or limit the operation of a law of a State or Territory that is capable of operating concurrently with this Act.
In this Act:
accredited voluntary arrangement: see subsection 70(1).
accrediting authority: see paragraph 70(3)(c).
administrator:
of a voluntary arrangement: see paragraph 71(c); and
of a co‑regulatory arrangement: see paragraph 85(3)(e).
affected: for when a person is affected by a reviewable decision, see section 151.
approved auditor means a person approved under subsection 116(1) to conduct audits.
approved co‑regulatory arrangement: see section 78.
artistic work has the same meaning as in the Copyright Act 1968.
associate: see section 11.
auditor means:
an approved auditor; or
a Commonwealth authorised officer; or
a State or Territory authorised officer.
Australia, when used in a geographical sense, includes the external Territories.
Australian law means a law of the Commonwealth, or of a State or Territory.
authorised government enforcement officer means a Commonwealth authorised officer, or a State or Territory authorised officer, who satisfies the requirements determined under section 129.
authorised officer means a person who is authorised under section 125 to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act.
CEO has the same meaning as in the National Environmental Protection Agency Act 2025.
This is a reference to the CEO of NEPA.
child has a meaning affected by subsection 11(2).
civil penalty order has the same meaning as in the Regulatory Powers Act.
civil penalty provision has the same meaning as in the Regulatory Powers Act.
Commonwealth authorised officer means an authorised officer who is an officer or employee of the Commonwealth, or an authority of the Commonwealth.
constitutional corporation means a corporation to which paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution applies.
constitutional trade or commerce means trade or commerce:
between Australia and a place outside Australia; or
among the States; or
between a State and a Territory; or
between 2 Territories.
conveyance means:
an aircraft; or
a vessel.
de facto partner of a person has the meaning given by the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
distribute includes sell and supply, whether for consideration or not.
engage in conduct means:
do an act; or
omit to perform an act.
entered for export: see section 12.
expiry date, for an export licence: see subsection 37(4).
export means export from Australia.
export business means a business that carries out export operations in relation to a kind of waste material.
export declaration means a written declaration of an intention to export regulated waste material that complies with section 19.
export licence means an export licence granted under Part 4 of Chapter 2.
export operations: see section 13.
Finance Minister means the Minister administering the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
improvement notice means a notice given under section 88.
intellectual property rights: see section 74.
liable party in relation to a product: see section 77.
life cycle of a product includes:
the time when the product begins to be manufactured; and
the time when the product is waste.
Minister’s priority list: see section 67.
NEPA has the same meaning as in the National Environmental Protection Agency Act 2025.
NEPA is short for the National Environmental Protection Agency.
parent has a meaning affected by subsection 11(4).
prescribed export conditions means conditions prescribed by rules made for the purposes of section 18.
prescribed law means:
a law (other than this Act) that is administered by the Minister; or
an Australian law that is prescribed by the rules.
product means a thing (including a substance or mixture of substances) that is:
manufactured; or
prescribed by the rules;
and includes a class of such things.
product return payment: see subsection 92(8).
product stewardship criteria: see section 14.
product stewardship logo: see section 73.
prospective liable party: see subsection 89(1).
protected information: see subsection 148(3).
recover includes recover resources, material or energy from products, waste from products or waste material.
regulated waste material: see section 17.
Regulatory Powers Act means the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014.
related body corporate has same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001.
relevant Commonwealth liability means:
any of the following that are due and payable:
a fee payable under this Act;
a charge imposed by the Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (Customs) Act 2020;
a charge imposed by the Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (Excise) Act 2020;
a charge imposed by the Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (General) Act 2020; or
penalties for late payment of a fee or charge described in subparagraphs (a)(i) to (iv); or
a pecuniary penalty, or other liability for an amount, imposed by or under a prescribed law.
A relevant Commonwealth liability of a person is taken to have been paid for the purposes of a provision of this Act in certain circumstances (see section 181).
relevant court means:
the Federal Court of Australia; or
the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2); or
a Supreme Court of a State or Territory.
relevant person, for an audit under Division 4 of Part 2 of Chapter 4, has the meaning given by section 114.
reviewable decision: see section 151.
reviewer: see subsection 153(1).
rules means the rules made under section 188.
scheme: see subsection 89(6).
State or Territory authorised officer means an authorised officer who is an officer or employee:
of a State or Territory; or
of an authority of a State or Territory.
stepchild has a meaning affected by subsection 11(3).
third party authorised officer means a person who is authorised under subsection 125(5) to be a third party authorised officer.
this Act includes:
the rules; and
the Regulatory Powers Act as it applies in relation to this Act.
trade mark has the same meaning as in the Trade Marks Act 1995.
waste, in relation to a product, means waste associated with the product over the life cycle of the product.
waste material: see section 15.
waste material export charge means a charge imposed under:
section 7 of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (Customs) Act 2020; or
section 7 of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (Excise) Act 2020; or
section 7 of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (General) Act 2020.
Associate of a person (the first person) includes each of the following:
a spouse, de facto partner, child (who is at least 18 years old) or parent of the first person;
a person not mentioned in paragraph (a) who is or was:
directly or indirectly concerned in; or
in a position to control or influence the conduct of;
a business or undertaking of:
the first person; or
a corporation of which the first person is an officer or employee, or in which the first person holds shares;
a corporation of which the first person, or any of the other persons mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b), is an officer or employee;
if the first person is a body corporate—another body corporate that is a related body corporate of the first person.
Without limiting who is a child of another person for the purposes of this Act, a person is the child of another person if the person is:
a stepchild or adopted child of the other person; or
a child of the other person within the meaning of the Family Law Act 1975.
Without limiting who is a stepchild of another person for the purposes of this Act, a child of a de facto partner of the other person is the stepchild of the other person if the child would be the other person’s stepchild except that the other person is not legally married to the partner.
Without limiting who is a parent of another person for the purposes of this Act, a person is the parent of another person if the other person is a child of the person because of the definition of child in subsection (2).
Waste material is entered for export if, in the course of export operations, the waste material is presented to, or information or a document about the waste material is given to:
the CEO; or
an authorised officer; or
another person who is authorised to exercise powers or perform functions under this Act in relation to the waste material;
for the purpose of the CEO, authorised officer or other person exercising powers or performing functions under this Act in relation to the waste material.