SMEs shouldn’t fear new eWaste scheme

SMEs will not be hurt from a new eWaste scheme that will see manufacturers and importers join a Government register in order to cut down the amount of electronic equipment thrown into landfills, an advocate for the legislation has said.

The message comes after environment minister Peter Garrett yesterday announced the new laws, which will see 80% of all computers and televisions recycled by 2021, up from the current rate of 10%.

The legislation will work by requiring manufactures and importers of electronic equipment to join the “Producer Responsibility Organisation”.

Any company which imports tech products in Australia over a certain threshold will need to become a member of the PRO scheme in order for the organisation to monitor the path of electronic waste. Companies that do not comply with the PRO scheme will face fines.

But Josh Millen, Australian Information Industry Association social responsibility manager who took part in Government negotiations, say SMEs will not be hurt by the new laws.

“The legislation is really focusing on the top 350 or 400 companies. For the SMEs that import computers, there’s going to be a threshold on weights, and imports under a certain weight ratio will be exempt from stewardship commitments.”

“For SMEs at the lower end, there are buy-back businesses that will be set up. It’s a win all around for bigger and smaller companies.”

The legislation comes after months of debate on the topic of how to deal with the growing amount of electronic waste. Larger companies including Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, Fujitsu and HP have also taken part in negotiations regarding the new scheme.

Garrett announced the new legislation yesterday at a meeting of environment ministers, saying the scheme will be monitored by industry groups and the Department of Environment.

“Computer and television importers and manufacturers are working with Government to take responsibility for their goods, from cradle to grave,” he said

“This is a major development in one of our fastest growing areas of waste which sees for the first time computer and television manufacturers taking national responsibility for managing e-waste, and it will be done at minimal cost to consumers.”

Ian Birks, chief executive of the AIIA, said the scheme will stop “free-riding”, whereby the cost of take-back waste schemes have been paid by just a handful of companies.

“AIIA views the national eWaste scheme as yet another demonstrable example that our industry takes a highly responsible approach to environment and sustainability issues. The framework supports AIIA’s recommendations and we can now get on with the job of establishing a comprehensive scheme to dispose of end of life computer equipment in a responsible manner,” he said in a statement.