News & Events

GlobalPSC News – August 2017

Product Stewardship for Sharps and Unwanted Medicines – Background and Issues Paper Now Available

The GlobalPSC was asked by representatives of the US healthcare industry to assist in developing product stewardship for sharps in the US through independent research on product stewardship and extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs. The resulting Background and Issues Paper is available on the GlobalPSC members-only Knowledge Base.

Under this initial work, the GlobalPSC conducted background research of existing global EPR programs for sharps and unwanted (or out-of-date) medicines and drafted the Background and Issues Paper to frame key issues and raise options for consideration by primary stakeholders (mainly sharps manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies with products using sharps).

Following discussions with primary stakeholders, their feedback was incorporated back into the Background and Issues Paper to provide one comprehensive report suitable for broader circulation and stakeholder engagement. The intention was to canvass possible approaches that could lead to program elements the industry could potentially support and to solicit broader stakeholder input. Funding for the Background and Issues Paper was provided by GlobalPSC Corporate Member Eli Lilly and Company.

GlobalPSC CEO Russ Martin presented an overview of the report and assisted stakeholder outreach during the Patient-Centered Safe Needle Disposal Forum 13 June 2017 in Washington, DC. The Forum was funded and led by Sharps Working Group members Abbvie, AstraZeneca, Becton Dickinson, Biogen, Dexcom, Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk, Perrigo, Roche and Sanofi.

 

Review of Australia’s National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme – White Paper

Australia’s Product Stewardship Act requires a five-year review that has been announced but has yet to be initiated. Part of the announced review is an assessment of the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme.

Tim Wilson MP, Federal Member for Goldstein, joined ANZRP CEO Carmel Dollisson on behalf of the Minister for the Environment and Energy, to officially launch ANZRP’s White Paper.

The White Paper includes several recommendations for the Government to consider, including:

• Redefining the volume of available e-waste
• Educating the public on the benefits of product stewardship
• Expanding the products collected
• A greater level of shared responsibility by all stakeholders in the product lifecycle
• Greater transparency within the Scheme itself

Dollisson adds: “The core principle of good product stewardship is that everyone involved in producing, selling, using and disposing of products has a shared responsibility to ensure those products are responsibly recycled.

“That principle has been behind our development of the White Paper. We’re very hopeful that the Review will facilitate greater collaboration and ensure confidence in the e-waste recycling industry.”

 

PET Recycling Growth in South Africa

PETCO, the organization responsible for fulfilling the South African PET plastic industry’s role of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), has announced their annual PET recycling rate had increased from 52% of post-consumer bottle PET in 2015 to 55% in 2016, exceeding their expected target for the second consecutive year.

PETCO recycled an additional 22% of post-consumer bottles in comparison to the previous year, with the total PET market growing by 14.8% to 241,269 tonnes.

“PETCO is delighted with the latest figures,” says PETCO’s CEO Cheri Scholtz. “Through the remarkable network of people, companies and organisations we work with, 2 billion PET bottles were collected for recycling across South Africa during the course of 2016, creating some 62,000 income opportunities for small and micro-collectors, and changing their lives and those of their families in immeasurable ways.”

The voluntary recycling fee paid annually by PETCO members on every tonne of raw material purchased has enabled the payment of a total of R1.9 billion (~ €130 million or ~US$142 million) by contracted recyclers to collectors for baled bottles since the inception of PETCO in 2004, ensuring the collection of PET bottles for recycling is sustained, and resulting in almost 800,000 tonnes of carbon and over 3 million m³ of landfill space saved to date.

PETCO reports that South Africa’s 55% post-consumer PET recycling rate compares well with international PET recycling rates of ~ 30% in the US and European average rates of ~ 59%. However, PETCO also notes that considerable work is being done globally to understand these statistics, as the bases differ substantially and a direct comparison cannot be assumed.

Information and graphic supplied by PETCO.

 

GlobalPSC Government Member – Department of the Environment and Energy

The Department of the Environment and Energy administers Australia’s Product Stewardship Act 2011 which provides a framework to effectively manage the environmental, health and safety impacts of products, and in particular those impacts associated with the disposal of products. The framework allows for voluntary industry led schemes, co-regulatory and mandatory product stewardship. More information on the legislation and product stewardship in general can be found here.

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