Packaging stewardship

Brand owners have obligations to manage the environmental impacts of packaging waste.

Obligations

Who do the obligations apply to?

You have obligations if your business has a gross annual income in Australia of $5 million or more, and you are a:

  • brand owner of consumer products, or a
  • retailer who provides plastic bags to consumers for transporting consumer products.

Brand owner

A brand owner is the owner of the product name under which the product is sold or otherwise distributed in Australia. A product name includes a trade mark, brand name or trade name whether or not registered in Australia.

If the owner of the product name is not in Australia, then this obligation can fall to a licensee, franchisee or first seller of a product, depending on the circumstances. 

A self-assessment tool, to help you understand if you are a brand owner, is available at https://apco.org.au/evaluate-your-options

Packaging materials

Brand owners are responsible for all packaging materials used for containing, protecting, transporting, marketing and handling consumer products.

Packaging includes:

  • all packaging made of any material (or any combination of materials) for containing, protecting, marketing, and handling consumer products,
  • packaging materials used to transport consumer products to a retailer (also known as distribution or business-to-business packaging), and
  • plastic bags provided to consumers by retailers at point-of-sale.

Mandatory obligations

Brand owners have mandatory obligations under Part 8 of the POEO Waste Regulation, to:

  • recover 90% of all packaging materials used to contain, protect, market, handle and transport consumer products
  • ensure that recovered packaging materials have been reused or recycled 
  • provide consumers with adequate information about packaging disposal - including information on where to take the materials and how to re-use or recycle them 
  • review 100% of all new and existing packaging material using the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines
  • keep annual records as specified in legislation, retain those records for 5 years and make those records available for inspection and copying by an EPA authorised officer on request
  • at the discretion of the EPA, you can also be required to prepare a draft waste action plan that sets out your current performance, how you will ensure compliance and how you will ensure a continuous reduction in packaging litter

These obligations do not apply, if your business is a compliant signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant.

What you need to do if you are a brand owner

  • Understand the obligations – review the regulatory requirements, to ensure you understand what you must do
  • Consider your options - These obligations do not apply to Brand Owners that are a compliant signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant.
  • Prepare early – once the EPA requests your records, you must produce these within the time that the EPA specifies.
  • Ensure your packaging records are up to date – ensure your annual records are being made and can be made available for inspection. Records can be in any form but must contain the information required by Part 8 of the POEO Waste Regulation. 

Regulatory pathways

There are 2 pathways available:

  1. meeting the obligations set out in the POEO Waste Regulation, OR
  2. becoming a signatory to, and complying with, the Australian Packaging Covenant.

Requirement to recover, reuse and recycle packaging materials

Brand owners have mandatory obligations under Clause 87 of the Waste Regulation to ensure that materials used in packaging are recovered and that after being recovered, those materials are reuse or recycled. Brand owners also need to ensure that consumers are given adequate information on where to take the materials and how to re-use or recycle them.

The exact means by which brand owners ensure the recovery, reuse and recycling of packaging materials is an individual operational decision.

As a general guide, the requirements can be met by recovering materials from consumers, or through a recovery arrangement with a third party that satisfies the obligations under the Waste Regulation.

The recovered materials can be the packaging materials that brand owners have put into the market, or an equivalent amount of the same material, that is substantially similar to the packaging material that brand owners have put into the market.

Requirement to meet NSW packaging targets

The following packaging targets apply individually to brand owners:

  • 90% recovery of all materials used in packaging products up to and including 30 June 2024
  • 100% of new and existing packaging must be reviewed using the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines.

Requirement to keep records

Brand owners are required to keep records for each financial year that demonstrate how their compliance obligations are being met. Clause 89 of the Waste Regulation sets out detailed requirements for annual record keeping. These requirements include:

  • the total weight and number of units of packaging material used, by material type
  • the arrangements you have in place to ensure that packaging material is recovered, including details of any third-party agreements  
  • the total weight of packaging material recovered, re-used, recycled or disposed to landfill, by material type and by destination (in Australia or outside of Australia)
  • the total amount of embedded energy recovered
  • how recovered packaging material is used
  • how consumers have been informed about how to recover packaging
  • the percentages of existing and new packaging that is reviewed using the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines, and any improvements made to the design of that packaging
  • any measures taken to ensure a continuous reduction in littered packaging.

Records can be in any form but must contain the information required by Part 8 of the POEO Waste Regulation. A record keeping template is available from the EPA.

Records must be retained for at least 5 years. Records must be made available for inspection and copying by an authorised EPA officer on request. It is important that your records are kept up-to-date, as the EPA may request to inspect records at any time.

Requirement to prepare a waste action plan

At the discretion of the EPA, You can be required to prepare a draft waste action plan. Clause 88 of the Waste Regulation sets out the detailed requirements for preparing your draft waste action plan. These requirements include:

  • baseline data, detailing your current performance regarding the use, recovery, re-use, and recycling of packaging materials that you are responsible for
  • details of how you will meet your compliance obligations, including the targets set by the EPA
  • time frames, proposed actions, and performance indicators for achieving the targets set by the EPA
  • how you will ensure a continuous reduction in the number of packaging items in the litter stream.

Draft waste action plans will be reviewed by the EPA. If the EPA believes your draft waste action plan is not sufficient, the EPA can direct you to amend and resubmit the plan to ensure it meets the regulatory requirements.

Cost

There are no fees payable directly to the EPA.

Penalties for non-compliance

There are various penalties in place for non-compliance with Part 8 of the Waste Regulation. These include:

  • failure to meet the requirements to recover, re-use and recycle materials, review packaging design and/or provide consumers with adequate information about disposal of packaging in accordance with targets
  • failure to meet the requirement to prepare a waste action plan or comply with a direction of the EPA to amend your waste action plan
  • failure to meet record keeping requirements.

Failure to meet the above requirements attracts a maximum penalty of 200 penalty units in the case of a corporation ($22,000), or 100 penalty units in the case of an individual ($11,000), for each separate offence.

Who to contact

Email the EPA at packaging@epa.nsw.gov.au with questions, or call us on 131 555 for further assistance.

Businesses can meet their obligations by choosing to become a signatory to, and complying with, the Australian Packaging Covenant. Becoming a signatory involves membership of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO). APCO is a not-for-profit organisation, accredited by the Commonwealth Government, whose role is to administer the Australian Packaging Covenant.

There are several incentives available for brand owners that become Covenant signatories, including dedicated resources and member support that the EPA does not provide. These incentives include:

Failure to meet obligations as an APCO member can result in a referral to the EPA.

Requirement to meet packaging targets

APCO members must collectively work towards the 2025 National Packaging Targets. The targets are:

  • 100% of packaging being reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025
  • 70% of plastic packaging being recycled or composted by 2025
  • 50% of average recycled content included in packaging by 2025
  • the phase out of problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging by 2025.

The NSW Government is working closely with the Commonwealth Government and APCO to ensure national packaging targets are met or exceeded.

Reporting and record keeping obligations

As a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, brand owner obligations include preparing and implementing an action plan and submitting annual reports to APCO.

Contact APCO for more information about meeting the reporting and record keeping obligations under the Covenant.

Cost

Covenant signatories pay annual membership fees to APCO. Fees are determined by business size.

Contact APCO for more information about their membership options.

Who to contact

To become a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, contact APCO at connect@apco.org.au or on 02 8381 3700.

Further information about the Australian Packaging Covenant can be found at the APCO website.

Frequently asked questions

The National Environmental Protection Measure (Used Packaging Materials) 2011 (NEPM UPM) establishes a national co-regulatory product stewardship arrangement for used packaging materials. It also sets a goal to reduce environmental degradation arising from the disposal of used packaging and conserve virgin materials through the encouragement of waste avoidance and the re-use and recycling of used packaging materials.

Decisions about the way in which the NEPM UPM is implemented are made by each jurisdiction individually. In NSW, Part 8 of the POEO Waste Regulation gives effect to the arrangement.

The EPA is the primary environmental regulator for New South Wales and is responsible for administering and enforcing Part 8 of the POEO Waste Regulation, which applies to brand owners.

The jurisdiction (state or territory) where you have obligations is where your principle place of business or registered office is located. 

Yes, brand owners of consumer products have mandatory obligations under Part 8 of the POEO Waste Regulation.

You are excluded from meeting the obligations if:

  • you are not a brand owner, OR
  • you are a brand owner, but are signatory to (and complying with) the Australian Packaging Covenant, OR
  • you are a brand owner, but you have a gross annual income in Australia of less than $5 million.

Yes, brand owners are responsible for the packaging that they are releasing into the Australian market.

No, the Container Deposit Scheme (Return and Earn) is a litter reduction scheme for eligible beverage containers only.

Part 8 of the waste regulation applies is broader in scope, with additional requirements.

You will need to meet the requirements of both arrangements. 

Participating in an on-site waste avoidance or reduction program, such as the NSW EPA Bin Trim or NSW DPE Sustainability Advantage programs may help you to get started with gathering information about waste and recycling, but it is not a replacement for the requirements of the Waste Regulation.

Using the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines is strongly encouraged, as the Guidelines have been developed to assist in the sustainable design, procurement and manufacture of packaging used in Australia. The Guidelines are regularly reviewed in consultation with government and industry.

Businesses can apply to the EPA to use an alternative set of guidelines, such as an international equivalent. Approval will only be given if the EPA is satisfied that using the alternative set of guidelines will achieve equivalent outcomes to the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines.

As part of its obligations under the Covenant (the industry self-regulation agreement), APCO is responsible for conducting national audits to identify businesses that are not signatories.

APCO undertakes research based on public business listings. This includes comparing whether the ANZIC code for your business matches the ANZIC codes of its current member base.

Based on this research, APCO may have attempted to contact you, to inform you about the obligations that Brand Owners have to reduce the environmental impact of packaging, and the options for meeting these obligations.

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