Australian paint manufacturers seek authorisation for the waste paint scheme

The Australian paint manufacturing industry has lodged an application with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to authorise the funding of a national waste paint collection programme.
The founding members of the programme are DuluxGroup, Henry Haymes, PPG Industries Australia, Resene Paints (Australia) and Valspar Paint (Australia), which represent approximately 90% of architectural and decorative paint manufactured in Australia.
The industry seeks to apply a waste paint fee of AU$0.15 (plus GST)/lit to architectural and decorative paint in containers greater than 1lit up to 20lit. This will fund the expansion of the current collection programmes run by State and Territory Governments to a single nationally co-ordinated scheme, which is anticipated to reach 85% of the Australian population within five years.
It will also enable, for the first time, the inclusion of waste paint from the trade sector, which is generally excluded from domestic household chemical collections (subject to State Governments amending waste regulations to enable the collection of trade waste paint).
"The fee is a relatively small cost compared to the environmental and safety benefits that can be achieved by the industry’s initiative for the community,” said Richard Phillips, Executive Director of the Australian Paint Manufacturers’ Federation.
The industry’s application will undergo a six month assessment period, including public consultation with interested parties. Authorisation is sought to June 2021. Pending a favourable outcome from the regulator, the scheme is expected to start in May 2016.