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Accreditation of product stewardship schemes

The Waste Minimisation Act will give the government the ability to recognise and reward businesses that run product stewardship schemes, through accreditation.

Accreditation is a form of endorsement by the government and means that the conformity of a (product stewardship) scheme has been assessed and that specific requirements relating to the life cycle of a product and a reduction in environmental harm have been met.

A process for product stewardship schemes to apply for accreditation from the Minister for the Environment is being developed at the moment. Product stewardship schemes will be assessed against the criteria outlined in part 2 of the Waste Minimisation Act.

Regulations for the accreditation of product stewardship schemes will be developed in due course. Regulations will prescribe the manner in which applications for accreditation must be made, the information that is to be included in the application and the fees for application and charges for monitoring the scheme.

The Ministry will carry out consultation on the proposed regulations for the accreditation process with affected parties. Affected parties will include manufacturers and brand owners who have an existing voluntary product stewardship scheme or are likely to develop a product stewardship scheme in the future

Last updated: 29 September 2008