Agrichemicals are ‘priority products’
PRIORITY PRODUCTS
In July 2020, the Government declared farm plastics and agrichemicals as priority products under the Waste Minimisation Act – requiring them to be part of a product stewardship scheme.
WHAT IS PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP?
Product stewardship is a ‘cradle to grave’ approach to minimising the environmental impacts of products and their packaging.
It involves all the people in the supply chain – from manufacture through to final use – to ensure sustainable disposal of products at the end of their useful life.
What does priority product status mean for farm plastics and agrichemicals?
The industry (including manufacturers, importers, retailers and users) needs to ‘co-design’ product stewardship schemes that meet certain requirements. This process is defined in the General Guidelines for Product Stewardship Schemes for Priority Products Notice 2020. It includes identifying ways to improve access to recycling services and optimising packaging and product design for re-use or recyclability. It also involves identifying what regulation is required to enforce participation.
Scope
All agrichemicals and their containers, up to and including 1000 litres in size, or equivalent packaging for dry goods that are used for:
- any horticulture, agricultural and livestock production, including veterinary medicines
- industrial, utility, infrastructure and recreational pest and weed control
- forestry
- household pest and weed control operations
- similar activities conducted or contracted by local and central government authorities.
This includes but is not limited to all substances that require registration under the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997, whether current or expired, and their containers (packaging), which are considered hazardous until they have been triple-rinsed.