Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Act 2021

This Act is the Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Act 2021.

This Act commences on the date of assent to this Act, except as provided by subsections (2) and (3).

Schedule 1, section 2 commences on the first day of the first month occurring 6 whole months after the commencement of section 3.

Schedule 1, sections 3–5 commence on 1 November 2022.

The objects of this Act are as follows—

to protect the environment and human health,

to promote and support the principles of a circular economy,

to support material circularity through design, production, use, re-use, collection, recycling, reprocessing and end-of-life management,

to ensure responsibility for products across their life cycle,

to reduce the impact, or potential impact, of items, waste from items and waste material on the environment and human health.

In this section—

principles of a circular economy include the following principles—

valuing resources and minimising the use of virgin materials by ensuring materials continue to circulate in the economy in a way that—

minimises the risk of harm to human health and the environment, and

considers the waste hierarchy,

keeping resources in use and designing out waste, pollution and resource inefficiency, including through innovative systems, technologies and business models,

ecologically sustainable and regenerative management of resources and systems.

waste hierarchy is a reference to the hierarchy set out in the Waste Avoidance Resource and Recovery Act 2001, section 3(b).

The Dictionary in Schedule 4 defines words and expressions used in this Act.

Note—

The Interpretation Act 1987 contains definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Act.

A person supplies an item whether or not—

a fee is charged for the supply of the item, or

the supply of the item is incidental to, or forms part of, the supply of another thing.

In this Act, the precautionary principle is the principle that, if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation.

In applying the precautionary principle, decisions should be guided by—

careful evaluation to avoid, wherever practicable, serious or irreversible damage to the environment, and

an assessment of the risk-weighted consequences of various options.

If there is an extraterritorial impact, this Act and the regulations apply to—

a person, whether or not the person is outside the State, and

premises, whether or not the premises are outside the State, and

a supplier, whether or not—

the supplier is carrying on a business outside the State, or

the supplier is a party to a contract made outside the State.

In this section—

extraterritorial impact means a matter or thing, whether it occurs or is located outside the State, that—

affects, or is likely to affect, the environment of the State, or

relates to the supply, or the likely supply, into or within the State of a regulated item, or

relates to a non-compliance matter.

non-compliance matter means a matter or thing that is, or is likely to be, an offence under this Act or the regulations.

In this Act—

prohibited plastic item means a plastic item that is—

specified in Schedule 1, Part 1, or

prescribed by the regulations.

The Minister must not recommend the making of a regulation to prescribe a prohibited plastic item unless the Minister forms an opinion that the item is—

unnecessary, or

for environmental, human health or economic reasons, including reasons relating to waste management or resource management—problematic.

Without limiting subsection (2), in forming an opinion that a plastic item is unnecessary or problematic, the Minister may consider the following—

the precautionary principle,

whether the plastic item—

can be eliminated or replaced by an item that is not a plastic item or by a reusable plastic item without causing harm or significant disruption to consumers, or

is difficult to collect or recover through kerbside or similar publicly accessible collection and recovery systems and services, or

is made from material that is difficult or costly to recycle through commercially available recycling technologies, or

hinders, disrupts or obstructs opportunities for other materials or resources to be recovered, collected or recycled, or

contributes significantly to litter, or

is made from material that may cause harm to human health or the environment, or

contains additives that accelerate the breakdown of the item into particles.

The Minister must, as soon as practicable after forming an opinion, publish notice of the opinion in the NSW Government Gazette.

A failure to publish a notice does not affect the making or validity of a regulation that prescribes a prohibited plastic item.

The regulations may prescribe design standards for an item for environmental, human health or economic reasons, including the following—

promoting waste avoidance and reducing the likely end-of-life impact of the item on the environment,

increasing the potential for, or reducing barriers to, the re-use, recovery, recycling, processing or reprocessing of an item,

increasing the use of recycled material in the manufacturing or production of an item,

reducing the impact of the production, use, processing or reprocessing of an item on the environment,

reducing the unnecessary or inefficient use of materials in an item,

increasing the energy or resource efficiency of an item,

prohibiting, preventing or reducing the use of an item that may result in a risk to human health or the environment, including by applying the precautionary principle,

waste management or resource management,

increasing post-consumer collection,

increasing consumer awareness of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a)–(h).

Without limiting subsection (1), a design standard may contain requirements for the following—

the composition of an item, including the type or amount of materials or substances that must or must not be included in the item,

the way in which an item must be packaged or labelled,

the way in which an item must be designed, constructed or manufactured,

independent testing and verification to determine compliance with a design standard,

independent testing to determine whether a representation made in relation to an item is accurate.

Schedule 1, Part 2 specifies a design standard.

A person who, while carrying on a business, supplies a prohibited item to another person is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty—

for a corporation—500 penalty units, or

for an individual—100 penalty units.

This section does not apply to the supply of a prohibited item to a location outside of the State.

In this Part—

financial year means the period of 12 months commencing on 1 July in a year.

product stewardship target means a target—

specified in accordance with section 13, or

set by the Minister under section 14.

In this Act, the brand owner of a product—

is the owner of the product name under which the product is supplied in the State, and

includes a person prescribed by the regulations.

The regulations may prescribe the circumstances in which the following persons are taken to be brand owners in relation to the supply of a particular product—

a person who is a licensee of a product name under which the product is supplied in the State,

a person who is a franchisee under a business arrangement that allows the person to supply the product in the State,

a person who first supplies the product in Australia.

Unless otherwise specified by the regulations, the brand owner of a product is taken to be the brand owner of the packaging material of the product.

The regulations may make provision for or about the following—

whether the brand owner of a product is or is not the brand owner of the packaging material of the product, including in specified circumstances,

the circumstances in which a person is or is not taken to be the brand owner of a product,

the granting of exemptions from this Part—

with or without conditions, and

generally, in specified circumstances or for a specified product.

In this section—

product name includes a trade mark, brand name or trade name, whether or not registered in this or another jurisdiction.

In this Part and section 6—

supply also includes the following for a scheme or service—

make the scheme or service available or provide the scheme or service to a person,

an offer to provide the scheme or service, including advertising the scheme or service or making other representations with the intention of providing the scheme or service.