Environment Protection (Beverage Containers and Plastic Bags) Act 2011

The object of this Act is to minimise environmental pollution by:

(i) reduce beverage container waste by providing communities throughout the whole of the Territory, as far as practicable, with access to facilities for the collection of empty containers and the payment of refund amounts; and

(b) regulating the supply of single use, non-biodegradable plastic bags.

In this Act:

accepted container means:

(a) in relation to a CDS coordinator – a container that has been accepted by the coordinator from the operator of an approved collection depot as required under section 20; or

(b) in relation to the operator of an approved collection depot – a container that has been accepted by the operator as required under section 18.

acting in an official capacity, in relation to an authorised officer, means the officer is exercising powers or performing functions under, or otherwise related to the administration of, this Act.

administration, of this Act, includes enforcement.

approved collection depot, means a collection depot for which a collection approval is in force.

approved form means a form approved under section 85.

approved refund marking, for a regulated container, means a marking or labelling about the refund amount prescribed by regulation for the container.

Australian Standard means a standard published by Standards Australia Limited ABN 85 087 326 690.

authorised officer, see section 87(1).

beverage, see section 7.

beverage retailer, see section 8.

biodegradable bag, see section 52.

CDS, see section 10.

CDS approval means a collection approval or coordinator approval.

CDS coordinator means:

(ii) collects, handles and delivers for reuse, recycling or other appropriate disposal, regulated containers received from collection depots; or

(b) a person who carries on activities of a kind prescribed by regulation.

CDS participant means each of the following:

(b) a manufacturer, distributor or beverage retailer of regulated containers;

(c) others carrying out activities relating to the collection, reuse, recycling or other appropriate disposal of regulated containers.

CDS supplier means a person who is registered as a CDS supplier under Part 2, Division 6A.

CEO means the Chief Executive Officer.

collection approval means an approval under Part 2, Division 6 to operate a collection depot.

collection depot means a facility or premises for the collection and handling of regulated containers delivered to the facility or premises in consideration of the payment of refund amounts for containers, and includes:

Commonwealth CCA means the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).

condition, for Part 2, Division 6, Subdivision 2, see section 29.

connected, for Part 4, see section 61.

container, see section 6.

container identification document, see section 41D(1)(c)(i).

contaminated, in relation to a container, means the container:

(b) is affected by a contaminant, including, for example, oil, paint, sand and stones.

coordinator approval means an approval under Part 2, Division 6 to carry on business as a CDS coordinator.

coordinator arrangement means a waste management arrangement made between CDS coordinators.

corresponding jurisdiction means a jurisdiction in which a corresponding law is in force.

corresponding law means a law of a State or another Territory that:

(ii) providing for the payment of refunds on the return of empty beverage containers to collection depots; and

manufacturer includes a person who fills containers, or imports containers, for sale in the Territory.

material type, of a permitted container, see section 8A.

occupier, for Part 4, see section 60.

on, for Part 4, see section 60.

operator, of a collection depot, means the entity carrying out the functions of the depot.

operator arrangement means a waste management arrangement made between an operator of an approved collection depot and a CDS coordinator.

permitted container means a regulated container that:

phase out period, see section 53(1).

place, for Part 4, see section 60.

premises, for Part 4, see section 60.

prohibited plastic bag, see section 51.

prohibition day, see section 53(2).

quarter means each 3 month period during a financial year.

refund amount, for a permitted container, means the amount prescribed by regulation for the container.

registration means registration as a CDS supplier under Part 2, Division 6A.

regulated container means a container to which the CDS applies.

Note for definition regulated container

Under section 9, containers may be exempted by regulation from the application of the CDS. Under section 42 of the Interpretation Act, a regulation may exempt a class of containers, including, for example, containers made of certain materials and containers used for certain beverages.

reverse vending machine means a device that:

(a) accepts empty permitted containers by scanning the barcode on the containers or in another way recognises containers as permitted containers; and

(b) dispenses the refund amount for the containers placed in the device.

review notice, for a decision, means a written notice stating:

(c) the fact that an application may be made to NTCAT for review of the decision.

sell includes:

(a) supply on a gratuitous basis for commercial promotional purposes; and

start, of the CDS, means the date on which Part 2 commences.

supplier arrangement means a waste management arrangement made between a person who is, or intends to apply to become, a CDS supplier and a CDS coordinator.

supplier sales document, see section 41D(1)(c)(ii).

variation, for Part 2, Division 6, Subdivision 2, see section 29.

waste management arrangement, see section 11.

Note for section 4

The Interpretation Act 1978 contains definitions and other provisions that may be relevant to this Act.

(ii) when filled with the beverage, is sealed for storage, transport and handling before its sale or delivery for the use or consumption of its contents; or

(2) However, a container does not include a thing prescribed by regulation.

(1) A beverage retailer is a person whose business is, or includes, selling a beverage for the use or consumption of the beverage.

(a) a person who is the owner of a vending machine used to sell a beverage unless the owner has let out (whether by lease, hire or other agreement) the machine to another person (the hirer); and

(1) The material type, of a permitted container, is the type of material from which the container is manufactured, including, for example, plastic, aluminium, glass and liquid paper board.

(2) A reference in this Act to the material type of a permitted container includes a reference to a category of the material type, including, for example:

(2) The matters covered by the CDS to achieve the object of minimising environmental pollution in the ways mentioned in section 3(a)(i) and (ii) include the following:

(a) the prohibition of the supply in the Territory of regulated containers unless they are supplied by a CDS supplier and meet the following requirements:

(i) the material types of the containers (including the labels) are suitable for recycling or reuse;

(iii) the way the refund marking is applied to the containers is not likely to render the containers unsuitable for recycling or reuse;

(iv) the containers are the subject of a supplier arrangement to which the supplier is a party;

(b) the sorting, by operators of approved collection depots, of empty permitted containers of any beverage products:

(c) the making of waste management arrangements between CDS participants that are appropriate for the CDS;

(d) the granting of CDS approvals and the imposition of conditions on those approvals;

(da) the registration of persons as CDS suppliers and the imposition of conditions on registration;

(e) the delivery, by any members of the community, of empty permitted containers to approved collection depots throughout the Territory for a refund of the refund amount for the containers;

(f) the acceptance by operators of approved collection depots of empty permitted containers delivered to the depots and the method of payment of refund amounts for the containers;

(g) the acceptance by CDS coordinators of empty permitted containers of any beverage products:

(i) delivered to the coordinators by operators of approved collection depots; and

(ii) sorted by the operators before delivery by material type, regardless of the product name displayed on the containers;

(h) the payments to be made by CDS coordinators to operators of approved collection depots in relation to empty permitted containers accepted by the coordinators.

Note for subsection (3)

A beverage retailer may, however, obtain a collection approval to operate a collection depot, for example, a reverse vending machine at the retailer's premises for the payment of refund amounts for containers.

(1) A waste management arrangement is a written arrangement that:

(b) relates to permitted containers or regulated containers, or both, as appropriate to the particular participants.

(2) A waste management arrangement must include provisions dealing with the following matters, as relevant to the particular CDS participants:

(a) the collection, sorting, aggregation and transportation of the containers when empty;

(b) the reuse, recycling or other appropriate disposal of the containers when empty;

(c) the minimisation of the handling and sorting of the containers when empty;

(d) payments of the refund amount and other amounts to be made by a CDS coordinator to an operator of a collection depot in relation to the containers accepted by the coordinator;

(e) payments to be made by a CDS supplier to a CDS coordinator in relation to dealing with the containers accepted by the coordinator;

(f) a dispute resolution process for settling disputes between the parties to the arrangement;

(3) A waste management arrangement may include provisions, not inconsistent with this Act, dealing with other matters.

(4) All the provisions of a waste management arrangement must be appropriate for the CDS.