What is Product stewardship in Australia?

This is a sponsored article from SustainabilityTracker.com member Australian Bedding Stewardship Council.

Approximately 1.8 million mattresses are disposed of in Australia each year. Placed end-to-end they would stretch from Darwin to the tip of Tasmania, with many of them ending up in landfill and some even on our streets.

With this growing problem it is no surprise that mattresses have made the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) Minister’s Priority List for the second year in a row. This list identifies the Minister’s current priorities for product stewardship action. The Priority List is made under the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 (RAWR Act).

Product Stewardship in Australia applies to everyone who imports, designs, produces, sells, uses and disposes of products having a shared responsibility to reduce the environmental and human health and safety impacts of those products.

Product stewardship schemes support the environmentally sound management of products and materials over their life. This includes at the end of their useful life. These arrangements may be voluntary, mandatory or shared with industry.

Product stewardship actions may include:

• establishing an industry-led product stewardship scheme
• increasing participation in an existing scheme
• delivering measurable improvements across the product life cycle
• increasing collection, reuse, and repair of products
• increase recycling rates for products that are no longer reusable
• research and development of improved design, manufacture, and end-of-life management

The Australian Bedding Stewardship Council (ABSC) is a not-for-profit, industry partnership established to tackle the bedding problem, in particular end-of-life mattresses.

Mattresses contain a range of materials such as natural and synthetic fibres, metal springs, latex rubber polyurethane and memory foam.​ Landfilling end-of-life mattresses has negative impacts on the environment and human health. They are bulky, present fire hazards, may contain chemicals of concern including flame retardants (e.g. PFAS), cause subsidence, can get caught in landfill machines and shredded particles can become airborne.

Low or no material value of materials used within mattresses hampers the viability of recovery and recycling.​ There is also a consistent problem of illegal dumping by the community because mattresses are a bulky, heavy item that is difficult to dispose of. All this leads to unsafe landfills, unsightly kerbsides and loss of resources.

By working with Government of all levels, along with – supply chain, manufacturers, retailers and recyclers, the ABSC seeks to move towards a circular economy for mattresses and bedding products. 

The ABSC has plans. Big plans. Small plans.

Advocacy for industry​

• Ensuring ABSC members have a seat at the table for future regulation.
• Creating a scheme that works for industry to share with the government for regulation​
• Country of Origin, Labelling, Testing etc​
• Ensuring policy levers around driving investment for circular economy and sustainability measures ​

Research and Development​

• Addressing emerging issues impacting recycling such as, pocket springs, memory foam and textiles.​
• Discover the best recycling methods that will reduce cost and drive higher recovery. ​
• Work with Universities and global entities to create best practice.​
• Be at the forefront of innovation and design that will make Australian mattresses the most sustainable.​

Support for ​Regional Areas​

• Developing a national network of ethical and responsible recyclers.​
• Develop programs with retailers, logistics providers and recyclers to make recycling available outside the major cities. ​
• Collaborate with other entities to maximise logistics (e.g. Reverse logistics, backhaul loads).​
• Encourage and support councils to explore local onsite options for dismantling.​

Social Reuse ​

• Social reuse is better than recycling
• Ensuring Comfort returns are meaningfully re-used​
• Creating policies and processes for refurbishment in line with occupational health and safety considerations.

To find out more about the ABSC visit https://www.beddingstewardship.org.au/

Click here for information about the Minister’s Priority List visit

This is an article from a SustainabilityTracker.com Member. The views and opinions we express here don’t necessarily reflect our organisation.