Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001

This Act is the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001.

This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

The objects of this Act are as follows—

to encourage the most efficient use of resources and to reduce environmental harm in accordance with the principles of ecologically sustainable development,

to ensure resource management options are considered against a hierarchy in the following order—

avoidance and reduction of waste,

re-use of waste,

recycling, processing or reprocessing waste,

recovery of energy,

disposal,

to provide for the continual reduction in waste generation,

to minimise the consumption of natural resources and the final disposal of waste by encouraging the avoidance of waste and the reuse and recycling of waste,

to ensure that industry shares with the community the responsibility for reducing and dealing with waste,

to ensure the efficient funding of waste and resource management planning, programs and service delivery,

to achieve integrated waste and resource management planning, programs and service delivery on a State-wide basis,

to assist in the achievement of the objectives of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

In this Act—

EPA means the Environment Protection Authority constituted by the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991.

exercise a function includes perform a duty.

function includes a power, authority or duty.

principles of ecologically sustainable development means the principles of ecologically sustainable development contained in section 6(2) of the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991.

waste has the same meaning as in the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

Note.

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

Notes included in this Act do not form part of this Act.

The EPA has the following functions under this Act—

to develop, implement or co-ordinate the implementation of (and evaluate strategies and programs for State-wide achievement of) government policy objectives in respect of—

resource efficiency and waste reduction and management in relation to regions, industry sectors or material types, and

community education and awareness in relation to resource efficiency and waste reduction and management, and

programs for the prevention of litter and illegal dumping, and

market development for recovered resources and recycled material, and

information dissemination,

to develop, co-ordinate and monitor the implementation of event and public space waste management codes,

to assist local communities to enter into arrangements for regionally-based secondary resource recovery from waste,

to assist in developing co-ordinated waste management services, including system and contract reform (such as contracts for waste and recycling services and system co-ordination),

to research and develop waste reduction and resource efficiency infrastructure, technologies and systems,

to develop and support training and education programs for resource efficiency, waste reduction and waste and litter management,

to monitor, report on and evaluate the regional implementation of State-wide policies and strategies with respect to waste,

to advise the Minister as to the kinds of articles, materials and substances that should be prohibited from being used for landfill or from being used in connection with other treatment processes, and the resource recovery options for those articles, materials and substances,

such other functions as may be conferred or imposed on the EPA by or under this Act.

The EPA may provide advice to the Minister on matters relating to waste policy.

The EPA is, in the exercise of the EPA’s functions under this Act, to have regard to the principles of ecologically sustainable development.

The EPA must develop and approve a waste strategy for the State (the State waste strategy).

The State waste strategy must contain the information prescribed by the regulations.

The EPA must review the State waste strategy at least once every 5 years.

After reviewing the State waste strategy, the EPA must—

approve the continuation of the strategy, with or without variations, or

develop and approve a new strategy in accordance with this section.

The EPA may revoke or vary the State waste strategy at any time.

The NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041—Stage 1: 2021–2027, published by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment in June 2021, is taken to be the State waste strategy for the purposes of subsection (1).

The EPA may request a local council to provide the reasons for any specified non-compliance by the local council with the objectives of the current waste strategy.

Such a request must be in writing and must specify the date by which the local council is requested to provide the reasons to the EPA.

For the purposes of this Part, an extended producer responsibility scheme is a scheme for giving effect to an environmental policy in which the producer’s responsibility for a product (including physical or financial responsibility) is extended to the post-consumer stage of the product’s life-cycle.

Any such scheme includes a scheme for product stewardship (that is, shared responsibility for the life-cycle of products including the environmental impact of the product from the extraction of virgin materials, to manufacturing, to consumption and through to and including ultimate disposal and post-disposal consequences).

In this Part—

producer of a product includes a supplier of the product in this State or person having a proprietary interest in the name under which the product is supplied in this State.

product includes any substance.

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the implementation and operation of extended producer responsibility schemes in connection with a product, group of products or an industry in New South Wales.

The Minister is not to recommend the making of a regulation for or with respect to the implementation of an extended producer responsibility scheme unless the Minister is satisfied that it is necessary to do so having regard to the following matters—

the volume of waste requiring ultimate disposal or the toxicity of the waste generated,

whether there is a national scheme in place that adequately addresses waste issues in New South Wales,

whether there is an effective voluntary scheme in place (nationally or State based) that is able to achieve the desired outcomes and is being actively implemented, monitored and reported on,

whether economic analysis supports the implementation of the scheme,

whether there are any constitutional or other impediments to New South Wales acting unilaterally in implementing the scheme.

A regulation with respect to the implementation or operation of a scheme cannot be challenged or invalidated because of this section.