3 Definitions
(1) In this Act—
adverse publicity order means an order made under section 136;
advisory committee means a committee established under section 37;
S. 3(1) def. of Alpine Resort Management Board repealed by No. 9/2022 s. 24(1)(a).
S. 3(1) def. of Alpine Resorts Victoria inserted by No. 9/2022 s. 24(1)(b).
Alpine Resorts Victoria has the same meaning as in the Alpine Resorts (Management) Act 1997;
auditor means a person appointed as an auditor under section 172;
S. 3(1) def. of Auditor-General inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
Auditor-General has the same meaning as in the Audit Act 1994;
authorised officer means a person appointed as an authorised officer under section 149;
beverage means a liquid intended for human consumption other than a medicine or a liquid prescribed to be exempt;
body corporate has the same meaning as corporation has in section 57A of the Corporations Act;
centralised data and information system means the system established by the Head, Recycling Victoria under section 51;
S. 3(1) def. of CERCC Plan inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
CERCC Plan means a Circular Economy Risk, Consequence and Contingency Plan approved by the Minister under section 74B;
S. 3(1) def. of circular economy market inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
circular economy market means the market for waste, recycling or resource recovery services within the circular economy;
civil penalty order means an order made under section 138;
civil penalty provision means a provision of this Act that is specified by this Act as a civil penalty provision;
commercially-sensitive information means information that relates to matters of a business, commercial or financial nature, the disclosure of which would be likely to unreasonably expose a person to disadvantage;
container approval means an approval granted under section 99;
container deposit scheme means the container deposit scheme established by Part 6;
council has the same meaning as Council has in section 3(1) of the Local Government Act 2020;
declared region means a region declared by the Head, Recycling Victoria under Division 4 of Part 2;
de-identified information, in relation to personal, commercially-sensitive or confidential information, means personal information that no longer relates to an identifiable individual or an individual who can be reasonably identified;
S. 3(1) def. of Department amended by No. 41/2025 s. 4(Sch. 2 item 4).
Department means the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action;
S. 3(1) def. of diverted material repealed by No. 36/2022 s. 4(3)(a).
eligible container means a container designed to contain a beverage that is produced for the sale of the beverage to a consumer while the container is sealed, other than a container that is prescribed not to be an eligible container;
enforceable undertaking means an undertaking accepted by the Head, Recycling Victoria under section 130;
environment means—
(a) the physical factors of the surroundings of human beings including the land, waters, atmosphere, climate, sound, odours and tastes; and
(b) the biological factors of animals and plants; and
(c) the social factors of aesthetics;
Environment Protection Authority has the same meaning as Authority has in section 3(1) of the Environment Protection Act 2017;
essential waste, recycling or resource recovery service means a waste, recycling or resource recovery service that is prescribed as an essential waste, recycling or resource recovery service;
financial year has the same meaning as in the Financial Management Act 1994;
S. 3(1) def. of first supplier amended by No. 35/2023 s. 4(1).
first supplier, in relation to an eligible container, means a person determined under section 98 to be a first supplier of any beverage in the eligible container in Victoria;
S. 3(1) def. of government agency amended by No. 9/2022 s. 24(2)(a).
government agency means—
(a) the Environment Protection Authority; or
(b) Sustainability Victoria; or
(c) a council; or
(d) the Municipal Association of Victoria within the meaning of the Municipal Association Act 1907; or
(e) Alpine Resorts Victoria; or
(f) a public sector body prescribed to be a government agency; or
(g) a public sector body of another State, a Territory or the Commonwealth prescribed to be a government agency;
Head, Recycling Victoria means the person employed as the Head, Recycling Victoria under section 15;
human health includes psychological health;
IBAC has the same meaning as in the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission Act 2011;
improvement notice means a notice issued under section 125;
industrial waste means—
(a) waste arising from commercial, industrial or trade activities or from laboratories; or
(b) waste prescribed to be industrial waste;
information gathering notice means a notice served under section 117;
S. 3(1) def. of market strategy inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
market strategy means a market strategy approved under section 32A;
S. 3(1) def. of material recovery facility amended by Nos 36/2022 s. 4(2)(a), 35/2023 s. 4(2).
material recovery facility means—
(a) a mixed-stream material recovery facility that sorts—
(i) mixed recycling from municipal recycling material into separate paper, plastic, metal and glass streams or other prescribed material; or
(ii) industrial waste; or
(b) a single-stream material recovery facility that—
(i) sorts material that has been sorted at a mixed-stream material recovery facility; or
(ii) takes single streams of waste and separates the component grades of the material; or
(c) a facility prescribed to be a material recovery facility;
S. 3(1) def. of monetary benefit inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
monetary benefit means monetary, financial or economic benefit and includes any monetary, financial or economic benefit the person acquires or accrues by avoiding or delaying the person's compliance with a provision, condition or duty to which the person's offence or breach relates;
S. 3(1) def. of monetary benefit order inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
monetary benefit order means an order made under section 147A;
S. 3(1) def. of municipal food organics and garden organics service amended by Nos 9/2022 s. 24(2)(b), 36/2022 s. 4(2)(b).
municipal food organics and garden organics service means a service provided by or on behalf of a council or Alpine Resorts Victoria—
(a) that collects, manages, transports, and processes food organics and garden organics; or
(b) that is prescribed to be a municipal food organics and garden organics service—
but does not include any service prescribed not to be a municipal food organics and garden organics service;
municipal district has the same meaning as in the Local Government Act 2020;
municipal recycling material means the following arising from municipal or residential activities—
(a) recycling (other than glass);
(b) glass;
S. 3(1) def. of municipal recycling service amended by Nos 9/2022 s. 24(2)(c), 36/2022 s. 4(2)(c).
municipal recycling service means a service provided by or on behalf of a council or Alpine Resorts Victoria—
(a) that collects, manages, transports, and processes or sorts, municipal recycling material; or
(b) that is prescribed to be a municipal recycling service—
but does not include any service prescribed not to be a municipal recycling service;
S. 3(1) def. of municipal residual waste service amended by No. 9/2022 s. 24(2)(d).
municipal residual waste service means a service provided by or on behalf of a council or Alpine Resorts Victoria—
(a) that collects, manages, transports, and disposes or processes, municipal residual waste; or
(b) that is prescribed to be a municipal residual waste service—
but does not include any service prescribed not to be a municipal residual waste service;
municipal residual waste means residual waste arising from municipal or residential activities;
network operator means a person appointed as a network operator under section 91;
network operator agreement means an agreement entered into by a network operator and the Minister under section 89;
occasional reporting entity means a prescribed entity—
(a) required to collect and retain prescribed information in accordance with section 40; and
(b) that may be directed to give information in accordance with section 41;
officer, in relation to a body corporate, means—
(a) a person who is an officer (as defined by section 9 of the Corporations Act) of the body corporate; or
(b) a person (other than a person referred to in paragraph (a)), by whatever name called, who is concerned in, or takes part in, the management of the body corporate;
S. 3(1) def. of Ombudsman inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
Ombudsman means the person appointed as the Ombudsman under section 3 of the Ombudsman Act 1973;
personal information has the same meaning as in the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014;
place includes land, waters, a location, an area or a region;
premises includes a structure, building or vehicle;
prohibition notice means a notice issued under section 127;
public sector body has the same meaning as in the Public Administration Act 2004;
S. 3(1) def. of recycling substituted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(2)(d).
recycling includes—
(a) recycling or reprocessing waste resources to make the same or different products; and
(b) recycling or reprocessing food organics and garden organics;
S. 3(1) def. of refund amount amended by No. 35/2023 s. 4(3).
refund amount, in relation to a suitable eligible container or to a material recovery facility operator, means—
(a) the amount prescribed to be the refund amount in relation to that suitable eligible container or material recovery facility operator; or
(b) if no amount is prescribed in relation to a suitable eligible container or to a material recovery facility operator, the amount determined in accordance with any material recovery facilities protocol issued under section 103 that applies to that suitable eligible container or material recovery facility operator;
refund marking, in relation to a suitable eligible container, means a prescribed marking or label;
S. 3(1) def. of regular reporting entity amended by No. 9/2022 s. 24(2)(e).
regular reporting entity means an entity that is required to regularly provide information to the Head, Recycling Victoria in accordance with sections 38 and 39 and includes—
(a) a council; and
(b) Alpine Resorts Victoria; and
(c) a waste storage facility; and
(d) a material recovery facility; and
(e) any class of person or entity prescribed to be a regular reporting entity;
reporting entity means any of the following—
(a) a regular reporting entity;
(b) an occasional reporting entity;
S. 3(1) def. of RERCC Plan inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
RERCC Plan means a Responsible Entity Risk, Consequence and Contingency Plan prepared by a responsible entity under section 74F;
resource recovery, in relation to waste, means—
(a) reprocessing the waste; or
(b) extracting or recovering resources, material or energy from products or from waste or waste material; or
(c) any thing prescribed to be resource recovery in relation to waste—
but does not include any thing prescribed not to be resource recovery in relation to waste;
S. 3(1) def. of reuse substituted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(3)(b).
reuse, in relation to waste, means the preparation and use of the waste for a purpose that is the same or similar to the purpose for which it was used before it became waste;
Scheme Coordinator means the person appointed under section 82;
Scheme Coordinator agreement means an agreement entered into by the Scheme Coordinator and the Minister under section 80;
S. 3(1) def. of Secretary amended by No. 41/2025 s. 4(Sch. 2 item 4).
Secretary means the Secretary to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action;
show cause notice means a notice issued under section 121;
service standard means a standard approved under section 63 and includes a standard that has been amended under section 67;
suitable eligible container means an eligible container approved to be a suitable eligible container under section 99(3);
Sustainability Victoria has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Sustainability Victoria Act 2005;
traditional owners means—
(a) the members of a registered Aboriginal party under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006; and
(b) the members of a traditional owner group within the meaning of section 3 of the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010;
Victoria Police has the same meaning as in the Victoria Police Act 2013;
S. 3(1) def. of Victorian Inspectorate inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
Victorian Inspectorate has the same meaning as in the Victorian Inspectorate Act 2011;
Victorian WorkCover Authority has the same meaning as Authority has in section 3 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013;
S. 3(1) def. of VRIP inserted by No. 36/2022 s. 4(1).
VRIP means a Victorian Recycling Infrastructure Plan prepared under Part 2A;
S. 3(1) def. of waste amended by No. 36/2022 s. 4(3)(c).
waste includes any of the following—
(a) matter, including solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive matter, that is deposited, discharged, emitted or disposed of into the environment in a manner that alters the environment;
(b) matter that is discarded, rejected, abandoned, unwanted or surplus, irrespective of any potential use or value;
(d) matter prescribed to be waste;
(e) matter referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) that is intended for, or is undergoing, resource recovery—
but does not include any matter prescribed not to be waste;
S. 3(1) def. of waste minimisation amended by No. 36/2022 s. 4(3)(d).
waste minimisation means—
(a) the reduction of waste; or
(b) the reuse, recycling or recovery of waste;
waste, recycling or resource recovery service—see section 4;
waste storage facility means a facility, the primary purpose of which is to store waste.
(2) In this Act, a reference to the disposal of waste includes a reference to an activity carried out in connection with the disposal of waste, but does not include resource recovery.