The Australian Government is delighted to announce the extension of the long standing industry-led product stewardship scheme for the recycling of newspaper and magazines.
The National Environmental Sustainability Agreement for Newspapers and Magazines will be extended for another five years to 2020.
The agreement is one of Australia’s most successful product stewardship recycling schemes.
Product stewardship is the voluntary commitment of everyone involved in the producing, selling, using and disposing of products through their life cycle to ensure that those products are managed in sustainable way.
The Newspaper Group, a not-for-profit industry funded group, runs the Environmental Advisory Group, which is responsible for the implementation and administration of the agreement.
The agreement has achieved a consistent recycling rate of 78 per cent for newsprint in Australia since 2009, an increase from only 28 per cent in 1990. This is an outstanding result and a testament to the industry’s environmental commitment.
The use of old growth eucalypt and regrowth eucalypt fibres was phased out six years ago, with only plantation pine and recycled fibre being used today to make Australian newsprint. The success of household kerbside recycling has helped guarantee a flow of recycled paper.
The agreement is underpinned by five principles:
– to have a national scope so that material can be sourced sustainably and economically
– that newsprint and magazine recycling is market driven
– that industry is voluntarily endorsing and extending the agreement so that legislation is not required
– to have recovery and reuse as the primary motivation
– to optimise source separation so that contamination is minimised and improves the value to local governments and processors.
I congratulate the newspaper and magazine industry on the success of the scheme.
For more information go to www.thenewspaperworks.com.au
(ENDS)