Container Refund Scheme Regulations 2023

Container Refund Scheme Regulations 2023

19 December 2023

I, the Governor in and over the State of Tasmania and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, make the following regulations under the Container Refund Scheme Act 2022.

These regulations may be cited as the Container Refund Scheme Regulations 2023.

These regulations take effect on the day on which section 10 of the Container Refund Scheme Act 2022 commences.

In these regulations –

Act means the Container Refund Scheme Act 2022.

For the purposes of the definition of exempt container in section 3 of the Act, each of the following classes of containers is prescribed as a class of containers to which the Act does not apply:

containers that – are made of glass; and are marketed as being able to be refilled, with a beverage or substance, by the person who first supplied the container, the beverage or the substance;

containers designed to hold less than 150 millilitres of liquid;

containers designed to hold more than 3 litres of liquid;

containers that have held one or more of the following beverages:animal milks that are unflavoured; plant-based milk substitutes that are unflavoured; concentrated juice, whether fruit juice or vegetable juice or a combination of both, that is intended to be diluted before consumption; concentrated cordial, or similar concentrate, that is intended to be diluted before consumption;

containers that have held a beverage that – is included, as a tonic or supplement, on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods within the meaning of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 of the Commonwealth; and is supplied with a label, or accompanying document, that specifies – a recommended maximum dose for the beverage; and a statement that the beverage is for medicinal or therapeutic purposes;

containers that have held one litre or more of – flavoured milk; or flavoured plant-based milk substitutes; or a beverage that is comprised of at least 90% fruit juice or vegetable juice, or a combination of both;

containers that – are made of cardboard; and have an interior lined with plastic or foil, or both; and have held one litre or more of – wine; or a beverage that contains wine and has an alcohol by volume content of less than 10%; or water, including mineral water and spring water;

containers that – are made of plastic or foil, or both; and have held 250 millilitres or more of wine;

containers that – are made of glass; and are sold while containing only the following beverages:wine; an alcoholic beverage produced by distillation.

In this regulation – GS1 Standard means the GS1 General Specifications standard published, from time to time, by the not-for-profit international organization known as GS1 AISBL, registered in Belgium on 13 July 2012 with the Enterprise Number 419.640.608;GTIN barcode means a product barcode that – contains a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) encoding; and complies with the GS1 Standard.

For the purposes of the definition of prescribed marks in section 3 of the Act, an approved container is required to display at least one of the following barcodes on the exterior of the container:a GTIN barcode that is unique to the class of approved containers, being a class of approved containers that contain a specific volume of a specific beverage, of which the approved container is a member; a product barcode that – is unique to the class of approved containers of which the approved container is a member; and complies with the EAN/UPC symbology specifications for EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A or UPC-E barcodes, as set out in the GS1 Standard; and complies with the dimensional specifications and symbol placement guidelines that apply to the class of data carriers to which the barcode belongs, as set out in the GS1 Standard; and does not duplicate a GTIN barcode or another product barcode; and is not less than 8, but not more than 14, numbers in length.

In addition to a barcode prescribed under subregulation (2), for the purposes of the definition of prescribed marks in section 3 of the Act, an approved container is required to display the following information, on the exterior of the container, in a manner that is clear and legible:

For the purposes of section 7 of the Act, the refund amount prescribed for a single approved container is 10 cents.

For the purposes of section 12(1) of the Act, an application is made in the prescribed manner if –

the application is made to the Secretary in an approved form; and the application contains information on each of the following:details of the unique barcode for the container; the physical external dimensions of the container; the type of beverage for which the container is, or is to be, used; details of each material used in the container and each colour of those materials, if relevant; the lid and opening mechanism of the container; any other information specified on the application as being required.

If a person who holds the approval of an eligible container, under section 12 of the Act, ceases to be the first responsible supplier for the container, the person may apply to the Secretary for the approval, of the container, to be transferred to a person specified in the application.

An application under subregulation (1) must be – in an approved form; and signed by – the person who holds the approval to be transferred; and the person who will hold the approval if the transfer is granted.

After receiving an application under subregulation (1), the Secretary may request further information from the applicant before making a decision on the application.

After receiving an application under subregulation (1) in respect of the transfer of the approval of a container, the Secretary may – grant the transfer of the approval; or refuse to grant the transfer of the approval.

If the Secretary grants the transfer of the approval of a container under subregulation (4) – the Secretary must notify the applicant for the transfer and the person to whom the approval is to be transferred – that the transfer has been granted; and the date on which the transfer takes effect; and the conditions that apply to the approval to which the transfer relates; and if necessary, the Secretary must ensure that the list of approved containers, kept under section 12(3) of the Act, is updated to correctly reflect the information relating to the container.

If the Secretary refuses to grant the transfer of the approval of a container under subregulation (4), the Secretary must notify, in writing, the applicant for the transfer and the person to whom the approval was proposed to be transferred – that the Secretary has refused to grant the transfer; and the reasons for the refusal; and that section 40 of the Act applies to the refusal to grant the transfer.

If the Secretary refuses to grant the transfer of the approval of a container, the approval for that container is revoked unless otherwise specified by the Secretary in the written notification given under subregulation (6) in respect of the refusal.

For the purposes of section 30(1)(b)(i) of the Act, the prescribed maximum amount of containers, to be deposited by one person at a single time, is 1 500 containers.

For the purposes of section 31(1)(f) of the Act, a refund amount is not payable in respect of an approved container if – the container has held, or is or has been wholly or partially covered in, a substance that has the potential to cause harm to persons, property or the environment because of one or more of the following:the chemical properties of the substance; the physical properties of the substance; the biological properties of the substance; or the container is broken; or the container is missing a part of the container that is not intended, by its manufacturer, to be removed from the container.

For the purposes of section 31(1)(f) of the Act, a refund amount is not payable in respect of an approved container at a container refund point if the person depositing the container – is depositing a number of approved containers, that includes the container, in an amount that exceeds the maximum amount of containers prescribed under regulation 9; and intends to claim an amount, in substitution of the refund amount, that is not calculated on the specific number of approved containers deposited.

For the purposes of section 5(1)(b) of the Act, persons specified in agreements as the first responsible supplier for a container are a class of persons prescribed as the first responsible suppliers in respect of the containers if – the agreement complies with this regulation; and the agreement has been approved, in writing, by the scheme coordinator before the agreement comes into force.

An agreement referred to in subregulation (1) complies with this regulation in respect of an eligible container if – the agreement is only between – the person who first supplies, or is intending to first supply, the container in the State; and the person specified in the agreement as the first responsible supplier for the container; and the person specified in the agreement as the first responsible supplier for the container is also employed, or engaged, in relation to the manufacturing, bottling or distribution of the container; and the agreement specifies – the date on which the agreement is to come into force, being a date that is after the approval of the agreement by the scheme coordinator as required under subregulation (1)(b); and each eligible container to which the agreement relates; and the date on which the agreement ceases to have effect, if the agreement is not sooner terminated; and the agreement complies with any relevant guidelines published by the Minister under regulation 15 in respect of the form and content of such an agreement; and the agreement includes a statement that the person specified in the agreement as the first responsible supplier for an eligible container understands and agrees that, on the date on which the agreement comes into force, the person – is the first responsible supplier under the Act for the container while the agreement is in force; and must have in place a supply agreement, with the scheme coordinator, in respect of the container.

The scheme coordinator may refuse to approve an agreement referred to in subregulation (1) if the scheme coordinator is satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that – the agreement does not meet the requirements of subregulation (2); or the person specified in the agreement as the first responsible supplier is unlikely to meet the financial obligations required as first responsible supplier.

As soon as is practicable after an agreement that meets the requirements of this regulation has come into force, the person specified in the agreement as the first responsible supplier for an eligible container is to provide a copy of the agreement, that is signed by all the parties to the agreement, to the scheme coordinator.

For the avoidance of doubt, the person specified in the agreement under this regulation as the first responsible supplier for an eligible container is taken, on the date on which the agreement comes into force, to be the first responsible supplier under the Act for the container.

For the avoidance of doubt, a person who first supplies an eligible container in the State is prescribed, under section 5(2)(c) of the Act, as not the first responsible supplier for the container while an agreement under this regulation is in force in respect of the container.