Communiqués
Environment Protection and Heritage Council
2 July 2004, Canberra
Waste from consumer packaging targeted
The Environment Protection and Heritage Council, which consists of Australia's environment ministers, today discussed the future of consumer packaging in Australia.
Since 1999, consumer packaging and paper waste have been managed through the National Packaging Covenant and the National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) for Used Packaging Materials.
Both the Covenant and the NEPM have been reviewed and ministers today agreed to extend the NEPM on an interim basis until July 2005 in accordance with the National Environment Protection Council Act 1994. This will provide regulatory support to the Covenant whilst governments consider future options for managing consumer packaging waste.
In this context, ministers expect to receive a proposal from the National Packaging Covenant Council for a strengthened National Packaging Covenant at their next meeting, expected in October 2004.
