After a run of embarrassing back-downs, compromises and half-measures, the Rudd Government and Environment Minister Peter Garrett are in desperate need for a good news story on the environment. This November’s Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) meeting might just deliver them such a story: the national recycling scheme for televisions and computers.
Jane Castle
Environmental Managment News
28 September 2009
After a decade of talking the scheme is now only a step away. The Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) on Televisions and Computers has provided important new data and a solid foundation for state and federal environment ministers to fulfill their promise by announcing the scheme on November 5.
The ducks are lining up. Net benefits for the scheme are $517 million to $742 million; consumers are willing to pay $30 to $50 per item for a 90% recovery rate; actual costs will be a fraction of this according to industry; and recyclers, manufacturers, environment groups and local government agree the customs import model is the best option.
Now it’s about the politics. A recent trip to Canberra by Total Environment Centre and Environment Victoria revealed overwhelming support for the scheme, with every MP asking how they could help move it forward. There are three final hurdles.
One, can Garrett muster the support of his cabinet colleagues to ensure a Federal Government administered scheme? Can he be confident of this support ahead of the EPHC meeting so that he can commit on the day?
Two, will state environment ministers, in particular Gavin Jennings (Vic) and John Robertson (NSW), have the guts to come out and publicly support the scheme prior to the EPHC meeting? The alternative is they sit on the fence in silence leaving Garrett to hang out to dry on the day.
And three, will federal and NSW bureaucrats, the engine room of the scheme, have the common sense to recommend the customs import model favoured by the RIS and the majority of stakeholders? Will Brendan O’Connor (Minister for Home Affairs) show support ahead of the EPHC meeting to allay their fears of having to deal with Customs?
Then there is the x-factor. This is the space in which all and any spooks are dragged out of the cupboard by the anti-recycling lobby. In public forums, this dwindling bunch is sounding increasingly shrill in the wake of manufacturers, recyclers, community and government who want to move forward with a sensible, economically beneficial win-win scheme.
It is likely that ‘cost’ will be dragged around again to try to scare environment ministers into backing down. However the public has spoken: in the face of booming demand for bigger and brighter televisions, consumers are happy to pay a little to be part of the cleaner, smarter recycling society.
Jane Castle is a senior campaigner with TEC
