Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020.

The objects of this Act are as follows: (a) to reduce the impact on human and environmental health of products, waste from products and waste material, including by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted, energy and resources used and water consumed in connection with products, waste from products and waste material; (b) to realise the community and economic benefits of taking responsibility for products, waste from products and waste material; (c) to develop a circular economy that maximises the continued use of products and waste material over their life cycle and accounts for their environmental impacts; (d) to contribute to Australia meeting its international obligations concerning the impact referred to in paragraph (a). Waste material under the Act includes any thing that is discarded, rejected or left over from an industrial, commercial, domestic or other activity, and any thing that is surplus to or a by‑product of those activities. Waste material can be a gas, liquid, solid or energy, or a combination of any of them. This Act extends to acts, omissions, matters and things outside Australia.
The Act is organised in 5 Chapters. Chapter 1 Introduction. Chapter 2 provides for the export of waste material; rules may prescribe waste material for the purposes of this Act and may prohibit export of regulated waste material subject to conditions; the Chapter contains provisions on granting of export license, renewal, variation, suspension, revocation and obligations of holders of export license.
Chapter 3 regulates product stewardship. There are 3 regimes relating to product stewardship under this Act. Under voluntary product stewardship voluntary arrangements in relation to products may be accredited by an accrediting authority (Part 3) Under co-regulatory product stewardship, certain kinds of corporations are required to be members of co‑regulatory arrangements approved by the Minister; these arrangements must have outcomes, specified in the rules (Part 4). Under mandatory product stewardship rules may be made that require specified persons to take, or not to take, specified action in relation to products; these requirements might include restricting the manufacture or import of products, prohibiting products from containing particular substances, labelling and packaging requirements and other requirements relating to the design of products or to the reusing, recycling, recovering, treating or disposing of products.
Chapter 4 contains administration provisions including compliance and enforcement, record-keeping. information management Part 5—Information management, fees and charges, etc. Chapter 5 other matters.