Environmental Protection (NEPM-UPM) Regulations 2013

The regulations centre on a set of interlocking concepts that structure obligations and measurement.

• Brand owner. The primary regulated actor is the brand owner, as defined in regulation 3. The definition reaches trademark owners or licensees, franchisees, first sellers of imported products, suppliers of in‑store packaging and specified actors in the plastic bag supply chain. The breadth of the definition means obligations attach to a range of commercial positions in the supply chain (reg 3).
• Consumer packaging and consumer packaging material. Consumer packaging is defined to include all packaging products used for containment, protection, marketing or handling of consumer products, including distribution packaging (reg 3). Consumer packaging material is defined for record keeping as the principal components of the container and excludes incidental components such as labels or closures (reg 10(1)-(2)).
• Recovery rate. The regulations define a recovery rate mathematically as R = WR / WS, where WR is the weight of consumer packaging recovered from the post‑consumer waste stream and WS is the weight of the consumer packaging sold as packaging within Australia (reg 3). This formula underpins the targets in regulation 9 and requires brand owners to measure both sales weights and recovered weights.
• Preferred order for secondary use. The action plan must state that recovered consumer packaging will be reused, recycled or used for energy recovery in a specified preferred order: reuse in the brand owner’s own packaging, use within the State as a secondary resource, use within Australia as a secondary resource, export as a secondary resource. If impracticable, the brand owner must state reasons and an alternative order (reg 6(5)).
• Action plan. The action plan is the central compliance document for brand owners. It must set out recovery, reuse/recycling/energy recovery intentions, quantities, recovery rates (at least equivalent to regulation 9 minimums), and how the public will be informed of recovery routes. Brand owners must prepare, maintain and implement the plan and comply with it (reg 6(1)-(6)).
• Record keeping and reporting. Brand owners must retain specific data for five years relating to materials used, units, weights recovered and their end uses, energy recovered, landfill disposal and public advice measures. The CEO may request the information and it must be supplied within 28 days (reg 10).
• CEO and authorised persons. The CEO has power to approve, reject or require particulars for action plans (reg 7), and to review and cancel approved plans (reg 8). An authorised person may issue compliance notices where there are reasonable grounds of contravention of the action plan or record keeping requirements, setting remedial action and at least two months to comply (reg 11).
• Exemptions and equivalence. The regulatory scope excludes brand owners who are signatories to and comply with the Covenant, those the CEO determines meet equivalent environmental outcomes, those who do not contribute significantly to the waste stream, and brand owners with annual sales of not more than $5 million (reg 5). Those exclusions are affirmative pathways to avoid this Part.
• Operator reporting. Operators of materials recovery systems, including local governments and contractors with new or novated contracts, must report annually on system coverage, participation, units covered, fees, and material flows including destination of sorted materials and residuals (regs 12-13).
• Enforcement and appeals. Monetary penalties are specified for contraventions, including $5 000 fines and continuing monthly fines after conviction for failure to submit an action plan (reg 6(2)). Appeals against plan rejections or CEO review decisions must be lodged with the Minister within 21 days and are treated under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 appeal sections referenced in regulation 14.

These concepts create a measurement and administrative compliance regime where numerical recovery targets (tied to a defined recovery rate), action plan content rules and mandatory record keeping interact with CEO oversight and statutory penalties.

The regulations single out particular economic actors and administrative actors, and in doing so allocate compliance costs and decision rights.

• Brand owners. The primary group affected are brand owners as defined in regulation 3. That class includes large manufacturers, importers who first sell in Australia, licensees and franchisees that market products under a brand, suppliers of in‑store packaging, and actors in the plastic bag supply chain. The obligations apply unless one of the exclusions in regulation 5 applies. The obligations that attach include preparing, maintaining and implementing an action plan (reg 6), meeting material‑specific recovery rates (reg 9), keeping specified records for five years (reg 10), and responding to compliance notices and CEO requests (regs 7, 8, 10, 11).
• Small brand owners. Brand owners with annual sales of their brand’s products of not more than $5 million are expressly excluded from Part 2 (reg 5(d)). Therefore that turnover threshold determines which small brands are outside the regime.
• Signatories to the Covenant. Brand owners who are signatories to and comply with the Australian Packaging Covenant are excluded from Part 2 (reg 5(a)). The CEO may also exclude non‑signatories where the CEO is satisfied that environmental outcomes are at least equivalent (reg 5(b)). The regulations thus create parallel compliance pathways: either under the Covenant or under this statutory scheme.
• Brand owners with negligible contribution to waste. The regime excludes brand owners who do not contribute significantly to the waste stream, although the regulations do not set a numerical threshold for what counts as significant in regulation 5(c). That decision is therefore administrative and potentially case‑specific.
• Operators of materials recovery systems. Local governments that operate a materials recovery system in their district must provide annual information to the CEO on coverage, participation, premises covered, fees, weights collected by material type and, if sorted, weights sold/sent for reuse/recycling/energy recovery and residual landfill weights (reg 12). Private operators who take over local government contracts (new or novated) must provide the same information to the CEO unless the contract requires them to provide it to a local government which then supplies it (reg 13).
• The CEO, authorised persons and the Minister. The CEO is the administrative decision‑maker who approves or rejects action plans, may request particulars, and may review and cancel plans (regs 7 and 8). Authorised persons can issue compliance notices (reg 11), and the Minister is the appeal body for rejections or CEO review decisions with appeals treated under specified sections of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (reg 14).
• The public and waste recovery market. The obligations require brand owners to inform the public how packaging may be recovered (reg 6(3)(d) and reg 10(2)(h)), and require reporting from recovery system operators that will inform government oversight of recovery system coverage and material flows (regs 12-13). Those provisions indirectly affect recycling services, downstream processors and markets for secondary resources by producing data and shaping demand for recovered material aligned with the preferred order in reg 6(5).

Who pays and who decides: brand owners bear the direct compliance costs of preparing, implementing and reporting against action plans, meeting recovery rates and keeping records (regs 6, 9, 10). Local governments and private operators bear reporting costs for materials recovery systems (regs 12-13). The CEO makes approval and review decisions (regs 7-8). Authorised persons decide when to issue compliance notices (reg 11). The Minister hears appeals (reg 14). The regulations therefore distribute compliance obligations to firms and reporting obligations to public system operators, with administrative oversight and enforcement vested in the CEO and authorised officers.

This section enumerates the principal legal duties imposed by the regulations and the legal entitlements and administrative powers that structure compliance.

Duties imposed on brand owners

• Prepare and submit action plans. An affected brand owner must prepare and submit an action plan to the CEO within six months of commencement or within six months of becoming an affected brand owner, or within two months where required under reg 8(2) (reg 6(1)). Failure attracts a penalty of $5 000 and continuing monthly penalties after conviction (reg 6(2)).
• Contain specified action plan content. The action plan must state how owner’s packaging will be recovered, and how it will be reused, recycled or used for energy recovery, the quantities to be recovered and to be reused/recycled/used for energy recovery, the recovery rate for each type of packaging, and how the brand owner will inform the public about recovery options (reg 6(3)). The recovery rate in the plan must be at least equivalent to the rates listed in regulation 9(1) and (2) (reg 6(4)). The plan must specify the preferred order for reuse/recycling/energy recovery or, if impracticable, explain why and state the alternative order (reg 6(5)). Brand owners must prepare, maintain, implement and comply with the plan (reg 6(6)).
• Meet recovery rate targets. Each financial year the recovery rate for each type of consumer packaging listed in the Table to regulation 9(1) must not be less than the table percentages (reg 9(1)). Additionally, by the start of the 2015 financial year the recovery rate for all consumer packaging must not be less than 70 per cent (reg 9(2)). Breach attracts a penalty of $5 000 (reg 9).
• Keep records. Brand owners must retain, for at least five years, detailed information for each financial year about weights and numbers of consumer packaging material used by material type, weights recovered, weights reused and recycled domestically and via export, kilojoules of embedded energy recovered, weights disposed to landfill, and how consumers were advised regarding recovery (reg 10(2)). Failure to keep the information or failure to supply it within 28 days of a CEO request attracts a $5 000 penalty (reg 10(3)).
• Comply with compliance notices. If an authorised person issues a compliance notice claiming contravention of reg 6 or reg 10, the brand owner must comply with the notice by the stated day unless the brand owner has a reasonable excuse (reg 11(1)-(4)). The stated day must be at least two months after notice (reg 11(3)). Prosecution for contraventions of regs 6 or 10 cannot proceed unless a notice has been given and not complied with (reg 11(5)).

Duties imposed on operators of materials recovery systems

• Local governments operating a materials recovery system must, within two months after the end of each financial year, give specified information to the CEO about district coverage, participation, premises covered by type, fees, total weight of recyclable material by material type, and if sorted, weights sold/sent for reuse/recycling/energy recovery and residual landfill fractions (reg 12(2)). Private contractors with new or novated contracts have the same obligation unless the contract makes them report to the local government which then reports to the CEO (reg 13(1)-(3)). Failure by such contractors to provide the information attracts a $5 000 penalty (reg 13(3)).

Administrative powers and rights

• CEO powers over action plans. The CEO may require further particulars relating to an action plan submitted under reg 6(1), approve the plan, or reject it. If the CEO rejects the plan, the CEO must notify the submitter in writing and give reasons (reg 7).
• CEO review and cancellation. The CEO may review an approved action plan and cancel it. If cancelled the CEO is to give written notice and may require the brand owner to prepare and submit a new action plan within a specified timeframe (reg 8).
• Compliance notice power. An authorised person may give a brand owner a written notice where the authorised person believes on reasonable grounds that the brand owner has contravened reg 6 or reg 10. The notice must state the contravening act or omission, the action required to rectify it, and a date (at least two months ahead) by which the action must be taken (reg 11(1)-(3)).
• Appeal rights. A brand owner aggrieved by rejection of an action plan under reg 7(1)(c) or by a decision of the CEO under reg 8(1) may within 21 days lodge an appeal with the Minister. The appeal is treated as if it were an appeal under section 102 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and for that purpose sections 102, 106, 107 and 110 of that Act apply (reg 14).

Penalties

• Monetary penalties. The regulations set out a standard financial penalty of $5 000 for a range of contraventions including failure to submit an action plan, failure to comply with plan obligations, breaches of recovery targets, record keeping failures and reporting failures by contractors (regs 6, 9, 10, 13). There is a specific continuing offence mechanism for failure to prepare and submit an action plan after conviction that attracts $5 000 per month in separate offences (reg 6(2)).

Rights of affected persons include the right to appeal certain administrative decisions to the Minister within prescribed timeframes and the right to contest a compliance notice on the basis of a reasonable excuse (reg 11(4)-(5), reg 14).

The regulations combine financial penalties with administrative enforcement pathways and a compliance notice precondition for some prosecutions. Below are the mechanisms by which compliance is enforced and penalties applied.

Monetary penalties and continuing offences

• Standard penalty quantum. Multiple contraventions attract a fine of $5 000. The text attaches this penalty to failure to prepare/submit an action plan (reg 6(1)), failure to include required information in the action plan (reg 6(3)), failure to prepare, maintain, implement or comply with an action plan (reg 6(6)), breaches of recovery rate obligations under regulation 9 (reg 9), record keeping failures under regulation 10 (reg 10(2)), failure to supply information to the CEO when requested under regulation 10(3) (reg 10(3)), failure to comply with a compliance notice under regulation 11 (reg 11(4)), and failure of certain contractors to give required information under regulation 13 (reg 13(3)).
• Continued non‑compliance after conviction for failing to prepare and submit an action plan attracts further separate offences for each month after the day of conviction during which the failure continues. Each such separate offence carries a penalty of $5 000 (reg 6(2)). That mechanism creates a continuing financial exposure until the obligation is met after a conviction.

Administrative enforcement and notice regimes

• Compliance notices. An authorised person may issue a written compliance notice if they believe on reasonable grounds that there has been a contravention of regulation 6 (action plans) or regulation 10 (record keeping) (reg 11(1)). The notice must identify the act or omission, the action to rectify it and a compliance date at least two months ahead (reg 11(2)-(3)). The brand owner must comply unless they have a reasonable excuse (reg 11(4)). Critically, prosecution for alleged contraventions of regs 6 or 10 cannot proceed unless a brand owner has been given such a notice and has not complied with it (reg 11(5)). That creates a procedural precondition to prosecution.
• CEO powers on plans. The CEO may require further particulars for a submitted action plan, approve or reject it. If rejected, the CEO must notify the submitter and give reasons (reg 7). The CEO may also review an approved plan and cancel it, and if cancelled may require the brand owner to submit a replacement plan within a specified time (reg 8). Those provisions enable administrative correction and withdrawal of approvals rather than immediate criminal or civil sanction.
• Appeals. Affected brand owners have a statutory right to appeal the rejection of a plan or a CEO decision under reg 8(1) to the Minister within 21 days, and the appeal is to be processed under specified sections of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (reg 14). That provides an administrative review channel before final enforcement escalates.

Reporting obligations with penalty backstops

• Local government reporting. Local governments must give annual information within two months of the financial year end where they operate materials recovery systems (reg 12(1)-(2)). While regulation 12 does not itself state a penalty it sets out a mandatory reporting obligation. For private contractors with new or novated contracts there is an explicit $5 000 penalty for failure to provide the same information (reg 13(3)).
• Timing and supply to CEO. Brand owners must supply record keeping information requested by the CEO within 28 days. Failure to supply attracts a $5 000 penalty (reg 10(3)).

Enforcement design features and implications

• Procedural precondition for prosecution. The requirement in regulation 11(5) that a compliance notice be given and not complied with before criminal prosecution for regs 6 or 10 can proceed inserts an administrative remediation phase intended to provide an opportunity to rectify breaches before penal enforcement. The CEO and authorised persons therefore play gatekeeper roles for these prosecutions.
• Discretion and administrative action. The CEO’s discretion to require particulars, approve, reject and cancel plans means enforcement can operate through iterative administrative oversight rather than immediate financial penalties. That discretion creates a path for correction but also concentrates decision power with the CEO (regs 7-8).
• Flat penalty scale. The monetary penalty is a fixed $5 000 for multiple contraventions. The regulations do not provide a sliding scale based on enterprise size or the gravity of a breach, other than the monthly continuing offence in reg 6(2). The significance of that quantum depends on the size of the brand owner; for some small business actors it may be material, while for large brand owners it may be modest relative to compliance costs or sales revenue.

The enforcement regime therefore combines an administrative correction model (CEO approvals, compliance notices and appeals) with a fixed financial penalty framework and a continuing monthly penalty for persistent failure to prepare and submit an action plan after conviction (regs 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14).

The regulations are explicitly designed to operate in tandem with national and State regulatory instruments and other administrative structures. The text sets out several cross‑references and dependencies.

Relationship to the National Environment Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure 2011

• Purpose. The regulations state their purpose is to require acts for the purpose of implementing the NEPM cited as the National Environment Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure 2011 (reg 4). The regulations therefore function as a State instrument to operationalise a national measure.
• Termination on NEPM change. The regulations cease to have effect if the NEPM is revoked or varied under the National Environmental Protection Council (Western Australia) Act 1990 section 20(1), or is replaced by a national environmental protection measure made under section 14(1) of that Act (reg 15). That means the life and content of the statutory obligations here are contingent on the ongoing status of the NEPM and any national changes by the National Environmental Protection Council (reg 15).

Interaction with the Australian Packaging Covenant

• Exemption for Covenant signatories. Regulation 5(a) excludes brand owners who are signatories to and comply with the Covenant from the application of Part 2. The regulations therefore create an explicit pathway for brand owners to meet packaging recovery policy objectives by complying with the Covenant instead of complying with these regulations.
• CEO equivalence determination. Regulation 5(b) allows the CEO to exclude non‑signatory brand owners where the CEO is satisfied that the brand owner uses consumer packaging in a way that achieves environmental outcomes at least equivalent to outcomes under the Covenant. This provides an administrative equivalence route that links State regulatory scope to national voluntary instruments.

Links to the Environmental Protection Act 1986

• Appeals treated under the Act. An appeal against rejection of an action plan or a CEO decision under regulation 8 is to be lodged with the Minister and treated as if it were an appeal under section 102 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986. For that purpose the Act sections 102, 106, 107 and 110 apply as if the appeal were under section 102 (reg 14). The regulations therefore borrow the Act’s appeal architecture and procedures.
• Landfill definitions and licensing. The definition of landfill in regulation 3 cross‑references the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1911 section 119 and Part V of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 where licensing is required, as well as the Environmental Protection (Rural Landfill) Regulations 2002 (reg 3). That ties the definition of landfill for reporting and record‑keeping into existing State waste and environmental licensing frameworks.

Local government law

• Local government obligations. Regulation 12 applies to local governments operating materials recovery systems in their district under the Local Government Act 1995 (reg 12(1)). The obligation to report annual information to the CEO interfaces with local government responsibilities and their operational contracts under the Local Government Act and related procurement/legal frameworks.

Contractual and commercial interfaces

• Contractors performing municipal services. Regulation 13 imposes reporting obligations on persons under new or novated contracts with local governments to operate materials recovery systems unless contract clauses already require reporting to the local government which then reports to the CEO. That creates a contractual compliance point where procurement documents may need to include explicit reporting obligations to avoid parallel regulatory exposure (reg 13(1)-(3)).

Measurement and data standards

• Recovery rate calculation. The formula for the recovery rate is set out in regulation 3 and requires brand owners to measure WS (weight sold in Australia) and WR (weight recovered from the post‑consumer waste stream). The regulations do not itself set out detailed measurement standards, audit regimes or accounting rules beyond the formula, so measurement conventions and auditability interact with broader reporting and administrative practices.

In sum, the regulations are designed to sit within a multi‑layered legal structure where national measures, voluntary covenants and State environmental and local government law intersect. The instrument creates statutory obligations that reference and defer in part to existing national and State frameworks, while leaving certain administrative judgments and equivalence decisions to the CEO and the National Environmental Protection Council.

The compilation table supplied in the instrument records the legislative history and a single amendment entry.

• Original making and commencement. The Environmental Protection (NEPM‑UPM) Regulations 2013 were published in the Western Australian Government Gazette on 24 September 2013 with regulations 1 and 2 (citation and commencement) commencing on that date and the remainder of the regulations commencing on 25 September 2013 (reg 2; compilation table).
• Amendment 2016 (Public Health). The Environment Regulations Amendment (Public Health) Regulations 2016, Part 5, amended regulation 3 and came into effect on 24 January 2017 (see the compilation table and the marginal note to regulation 3 indicating an amendment by Gazette 10 Jan 2017 p. 195 and the compilation table entry showing Pt. 5 of the 2016 amendment). The printed marginal note attached to regulation 3 confirms an amendment date and the compilation table records the Gazettal and commencement details for that amending instrument (compilation table entries).
• Nature of amendment. The text notes that regulation 3 was amended and that the definition list includes defined terms with cross references, but the compilation table does not provide the full original text to compare. The presence of the amendment entry indicates that certain defined terms in regulation 3 were updated by the 2016 amendment measures (see marginal note accompanying regulation 3).
• No other amendments recorded in the provided compilation table. The table lists only the 2013 making and the 2016 amendment. The regulations include a notes section with the compilation table but no further historical amendments are recorded in the supplied material.

Because the compilation table is the instrument’s own record of its amendments the practitioner should treat the 2016 amendment as the only recorded change in this compilation. For any further changes or consolidated versions beyond those listed in the compilation table the practitioner must check State statutes or Gazette notices post‑dating the entries in the compilation table.

The text supplied contains no judicial decisions, case citations or litigation outcomes. The regulations themselves reference appeals procedures that route disputes to administrative appeal machinery under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (regulation 14), specifically treating certain appeals as if they were appeals under section 102 of the Act and applying sections 102, 106, 107 and 110 of the Act for that purpose.

Because no court or tribunal decisions are cited in the instrument and no case law is included in the supplied material, there is no litigation history to report from the instrument itself. Any judicial interpretation of the regulations, assessment of the CEO’s exercise of discretion, the sufficiency of action plans, the meaning of “does not contribute significantly to the waste stream”, the methodology for calculating recovery rates or disputes over compliance notices would be matters for external case law, which is not provided in this document.

Practically, the only procedural route provided in these regulations for challenge is an appeal to the Minister, to be processed under specified sections of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (reg 14). Further litigation or administrative review outcomes will depend on how those appeal provisions and the Act’s sections are applied in practice.

This section flags traps, timing constraints and areas where the regulations prescribe procedural preconditions that can catch practitioners who rely on intuitive assumptions rather than strict compliance.

• Exemption decision is administrative and not self‑executing. A brand owner who is not a signatory to the Covenant can nonetheless be excluded if the CEO is satisfied that the brand owner’s packaging use achieves environmental outcomes at least equivalent to the Covenant (reg 5(b)). The regulation does not provide a prescribed test or metrics for that satisfaction, so a brand owner cannot unilaterally assume exclusion; the CEO’s satisfaction is required.
• Sales threshold exclusion limited to brand-level sales. The $5 million turnover exclusion applies to the value of annual sales of the brand owner’s products (reg 5(d)). Entities near that threshold need to verify the basis for the calculation and document it, because small changes in sales can switch a brand owner into the regulated cohort.
• Action plan time limits. A brand owner must submit an action plan within six months of the regulations’ commencement or within six months of becoming an affected brand owner, whichever is later (reg 6(1)(a)), or within two months if the CEO requires one under reg 8(2) (reg 6(1)(b)). Missing these windows attracts an immediate $5 000 penalty and, on conviction, continuing monthly penalties (reg 6(1)-(2)). The continuing monthly penalty component can rapidly multiply exposure once a conviction occurs.
• Recovery rate calculation requires two specific measurements. The recovery rate formula R = WR / WS requires the brand owner to measure WR (weight recovered from the post‑consumer waste stream) and WS (weight sold as packaging within Australia) (reg 3). The regulations do not specify measurement protocols, sample design, or audit standards. Without documented measurement methodology and traceability, a brand owner may be vulnerable to CEO queries and possible challenge in enforcement actions (reg 7, reg 10(3)).
• 70 per cent by 2015 requirement remains in the law. Regulation 9(2) requires that by the start of the 2015 financial year the recovery rate for all consumer packaging must not be less than 70 per cent. Although the date is in the past, the requirement remains a standing legal obligation unless and until the NEPM is changed and the regulations cease in operation (reg 9(2), reg 15). Practitioners should not assume time‑barred or obsolete obligations are unenforceable without verifying current law and NEPM status (reg 15).
• Procedural precondition to prosecution for regs 6 and 10. A brand owner cannot be prosecuted for contraventions of the action plan and record keeping provisions unless an authorised person has first given a written compliance notice and the brand owner has not complied (reg 11(5)). This condition is an important procedural protection for brand owners, but it also means the compliance notice step is a prelude to enforcement and will typically set the remediation timetable that a prosecution will later rely on (reg 11(1)-(4)).
• Two‑month minimum compliance period after notice. Compliance notices must give at least two months for the brand owner to remedy the stated contravention (reg 11(3)). That timing can delay final enforcement but also means brand owners must act promptly once a notice is served, and should not assume longer informal periods.
• CEO review and cancellation of approved plans. The CEO can review and cancel an approved action plan and require submission of a replacement within a timeframe specified in the cancellation notice (reg 8). An approved plan is therefore not irrevocable; brand owners should be prepared for modification requirements and retain documentation to support the plan’s metrics and assumptions.
• Reporting timelines for recovery system operators. Local governments and contractors must report to the CEO within two months after the end of each financial year on coverage, participation and weights collected and disposed (regs 12-13). Failure by contractors to do so attracts a $5 000 penalty (reg 13(3)). Parties involved in municipal contracts should ensure contracts allocate reporting duties clearly to avoid parallel liability.
• No detailed verification or audit provisions in the text. The regulations require data and targets but do not set out an audit regime, independent verification standards or penalties keyed to deliberate misreporting. That creates a potential for disputes over methodology and data quality when the CEO requires particulars or rejects plans (reg 7, reg 10(3)).
• Interaction with the Covenant can be transactional. Because signatory status and the CEO’s equivalence determination remove a brand owner from Part 2 (reg 5(a)-(b)), firms may seek Covenant signatory status or administrative equivalence as a compliance strategy. The regulations do not mandate how equivalence is demonstrated, so the timing and content of any equivalence submission to the CEO must be managed carefully.

These gotchas highlight the importance of timing, record keeping, transparency of measurement methodology, and the administrative nature of key decisions that are not self‑executing. The combination of fixed monetary penalties, continuing monthly exposure after conviction and CEO discretion makes early documentation and proactive engagement with the CEO and authorised persons a central practical consideration.

This section sets out concrete steps that a brand owner or an operator of a materials recovery system, based solely on the statutory text, should take to meet the regulations’ requirements. Each step cites the relevant regulation.

For brand owners

1. Confirm whether Part 2 applies to you. Determine whether you fall within the definition of brand owner (reg 3) and whether any exclusion applies: are you a signatory to and compliant with the Covenant (reg 5(a)); can you secure CEO satisfaction of equivalent outcomes (reg 5(b)); do you not contribute significantly to the waste stream (reg 5(c)); or are your annual sales of the brand owner’s products not more than $5 million (reg 5(d))? Do not assume exclusion; where CEO satisfaction is required, engage with the CEO early.

2. Prepare and submit an action plan within the statutory timeframe. If Part 2 applies, prepare an action plan and submit it to the CEO within six months of either the regulations’ commencement or becoming an affected brand owner, or within two months if required under reg 8(2) (reg 6(1)). Ensure the plan contains all mandatory elements listed in regulation 6(3): how packaging will be recovered, how it will be reused/recycled/used for energy recovery, quantities to be recovered and to be reused/recycled/used for energy recovery, recovery rates, and public information measures.

3. Ensure recovery rates meet the statutory minima. Set recovery rates in the action plan that are at least equivalent to those in regulation 9 for each material type (reg 6(4) and reg 9). Note the cross‑material 70 per cent recovery target by the start of the 2015 financial year remains a formal requirement (reg 9(2)).

4. Incorporate the preferred order for end uses or justify alternatives. In the action plan include the required statement that recovered packaging will be reused/recycled/used for energy recovery in the preferred order (reuse in own packaging, use within the State as a secondary resource, use within Australia, export) or set out reasons why this order is impracticable and an alternative order (reg 6(5)).

5. Establish measurement protocols and document methodology. The recovery rate depends on measured WR and WS (reg 3). Develop and document consistent measurement protocols for WS (weight sold in Australia) and WR (weight recovered from the post‑consumer waste stream). Since the regulations do not prescribe measurement standards, keep records demonstrating methodology, assumptions and data sources to support any CEO queries under reg 7 or reg 10(3).

6. Maintain required records for five years. Keep the specified information for each financial year for at least five years: weights used by material type, number of units by material and unit type, weights recovered, weights reused/recycled in Australia, weights reused/recycled via export, kilojoules of embedded energy recovered, weights disposed of at landfill, and how consumers were advised regarding recovery (reg 10(2)). Ensure these records are retrievable and auditable.

7. Prepare to respond to CEO requests. If the CEO requests the information, provide it within 28 days (reg 10(3)). If the CEO requires further particulars on the action plan, supply them promptly to avoid rejection or further administrative action (reg 7).

8. Be ready to comply with a compliance notice. If an authorised person issues a compliance notice alleging contravention of reg 6 or reg 10, the notice will specify remediation steps and a compliance date at least two months ahead (reg 11(1)-(3)). Take remedial action within the stated period or prepare documented reasons constituting a reasonable excuse, because prosecution for those contraventions cannot proceed unless a notice has been given and not complied with (reg 11(5)).

9. Monitor plan approval and review risk. After submission, be aware the CEO can require further particulars, approve or reject the plan (reg 7), and later review and cancel an approved plan (reg 8). Retain supporting data that demonstrates compliance with the plan and the recovery rate calculations to facilitate responses to CEO review or cancellation.

For local governments and contractors operating materials recovery systems

1. Identify applicability. If a local government operates a materials recovery system in its district it must provide annual information to the CEO (reg 12(1)-(2)). If a local government or group of local governments has a new or novated contract with a person to operate a materials recovery system, that person must provide the same information to the CEO unless the contract already requires them to supply the information to a local government which will report to the CEO (reg 13(1)-(3)).

2. Collect the specified annual data. For each financial year prepare the following data and provide it to the CEO within two months after the end of the financial year: percentage of premises covered, number and proportion of participating premises, number of premises covered with residential/non‑residential classification, fee charged per premises if any, total weight of recyclable material collected by material type, and if the material collected is sorted, total weight of each material type sold or sent for reuse/recycling/energy recovery and total weight of residual fraction disposed of at landfill (reg 12(2)(a)-(f) and reg 12(2)(f)(i)-(ii)).

3. Ensure contract terms allocate reporting duties. When contracting or novating contracts, ensure the contract allocates responsibility for the regulatorily required reporting either to the contractor or to the local government, because duplication or omission can expose contractors to statutory penalties (reg 13(2)-(3)).

Cross‑cutting compliance steps

1. Document and archive evidence. Maintain clear documentary evidence supporting every element of the action plan, the recovery rate calculations, record keeping returns, and reporting data for materials recovery systems. Given the CEO’s power to request particulars and to review and cancel plans, contemporaneous documentation is essential (regs 7-8, 10).

2. Avoid reliance on informal assurances. The CEO’s satisfaction is an explicitly required state of mind for non‑signatory equivalence and for approvals and reviews. Informal or undocumented compliance claims are vulnerable to rejection (reg 5(b), reg 7).

3. Plan communications to consumers. The action plan must explain how the brand owner will inform the public about recovery options (reg 6(3)(d) and reg 10(2)(h)). Operationalise this by documenting consumer labelling or public education channels and retaining evidence of dissemination.

4. Use the appeal pathway if needed. If an action plan is rejected or cancelled by the CEO, lodge an appeal with the Minister within 21 days and follow the procedures referenced to the Environmental Protection Act 1986 sections applied to such appeals (reg 14).

5. Consider Covenant signatory status. Because signatory status and compliance with the Covenant excludes a brand owner from Part 2, evaluate whether Covenant signatory status or demonstrating equivalence to the CEO is a practicable compliance route (reg 5(a)-(b)).

Following these steps, and retaining auditable records of calculations and communications, maps directly onto the statutory requirements in regulations 3, 5-13 and the administrative pathways in regs 7-8, 10-11 and 14.