Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001

A Scheme Coordinator agreement may require the Scheme Coordinator to pay to material recovery facility operators refund amounts (processing refunds) for containers that are collected during the course of waste management services and that are processed by the operators for reuse or recycling.

The EPA may, by order published in the Gazette, issue a protocol (a processing refund protocol) to be applied in determining the amounts payable to material recovery facility operators as processing refunds under a Scheme Coordinator agreement.

Without limiting subsection (2), a processing refund protocol may set out the means for determining the estimated number of containers received, processed or dispatched by a material recovery facility operator, including by the use of audit or monitoring programs.

A processing refund protocol may—

apply generally or be limited in its application by reference to specified exceptions or factors, or

apply differently according to different factors of a specified kind, or

authorise any matter to be from time to time determined, applied or regulated by any specified person or body.

A processing refund protocol must comply with any requirements of the regulations.

A processing refund is not payable to a material recovery facility operator unless a processing refund protocol has been issued under this section.

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to processing refunds and claims for processing refunds, including for or with respect to the following matters—

the manner in which a claim for a processing refund is required to be made by a material recovery facility operator,

the assessment of claims for processing refunds,

prohibiting the landfill disposal of containers in respect of which claims for the payment of processing refunds have been made by material recovery facility operators,

prohibiting the making of claims for the payment of processing refunds in respect of containers that have been disposed of to landfill.

Without limiting subsection (1), (2) or (7), a Scheme Coordinator agreement or the regulations (or both) may make provision for limiting—

the material recovery facility operators or classes of material recovery facility operators who are entitled to claim processing refund amounts, or

the classes of containers for which processing refunds are payable, or

any other circumstances in which processing refunds are payable.