What an incredible day brimming with insight and enthusiasm for product stewardship, producer responsibility and a sustainable future. A small snapshot of some of the things we’ve heard:
- Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek shared that the federal government is embedding circularity into its procurement processes and the $15b National Reconstruction Fund. She also mentioned the tools she is using to drive industry change – regulation, the threat of regulation, and investment.
- The Design and Production panel talked about the challenge for individual actors, and the importance of adopting sustainable design from a system-wide perspective including the new ecodesign for sustainable products regulations being implemented in Europe. Greater collaboration both horizontally and vertically through the supply chain is necessary for better system-wide design solutions. It’s an area that needs to be a much bigger focus in the coming years.
- The Consumption panel talked about the complex intersection between consumer behaviour, the importance of producers driving positive behaviour changes and the lack of a repair economy in Australia. Most consumers want to do the right thing, but don’t have straightforward access to repair and re-use options in Australia, and that these activities are not incentivised or supported enough by producers or governments.
- Finally, the Post-Consumption panel shared the opportunities and challenges for managing products and materials once they reach end-of-use. The relative costs of recycling and disposal to landfill. The need for ongoing investment by producers and recyclers in better tech, more processing facilities and market development locally. What we can learn from the successes of our strong container deposit schemes, for which Australia is a world-leader, when government regulation and investment by producers positively change consumer behaviour, recover and reuse resources and clean up our environment.
Much has been achieved to date, AND much more needs to be done in a timely manner.
Thank you to the Minister for opening the Forum, and to all our exceptional speakers, energised guests and generous partners and sponsors, including the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) . It was a great day of learning and sharing!
The Centre will be releasing a more detailed communique from the Forum over the coming days.
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