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Publications
Department of the Environment and Heritage, December 2000
The Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) issued the National Strategy for the Management of Unwanted Empty Farm Chemical Containers at its meeting in December 1997.
In November 1998 the National Farmers Federation, Avcare Limited, the Veterinary Manufactures and Distributors Association and the Australian Local Government Association entered into an Industry Waste Reduction Scheme Heads of Agreement (IWRS).
drumMUSTER is the national, industry driven program for the collection and recycling of empty, cleaned, non-returnable crop protection and animal health chemical containers. It is a component of IWRS.
drumMUSTER is funded via a levy on the purchase price of crop protection and animal health chemical products sold in recognised non-returnable, rigid plastic and steel containers over 1kg or 1 litre in size. The levy of 4 cents per litre or kilogram commenced in February 1999 and is paid by manufacturers into a fund administered by Agsafe Limited and then passed on to distributors and retailers who in turn pass the levy on to consumers. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved these arrangements.
The IWRS has two main objectives:
In July 1999, ANZECC requested Environment Australia, in consultation with the States and Territories, to conduct an initial review of the IWRS to establish whether it is achieving the implementation of the ANZECC strategy in a timely and effective manner. The review is to be considered by ANZECC in December 2000.
This review examines progress toward the objectives and goals of the IWRS and how the drumMUSTER program has managed the disposal and recycling of crop protection and animal health containers to date.
The review has been conducted using data from several sources. Avcare has provided information on container usage by the industry from 1991 to 1999 and on changes in formulation technology over the same period. Agsafe Limited (who administer the drumMUSTER program) has provided data on the number and volume of containers processed for recycling and disposal in drumMUSTER funded collection programs. Information obtained in earlier research and surveys on farm chemical container management issues as well as information on overseas container collection programs has also been used.
An invitation to provide comment and input to the review was sent to state government departments of environment and agriculture, signatories to the IWRS, Agsafe, state local government associations and state farmer organisations.
Feedback on the drumMUSTER program has been obtained from farmers, local government councils, crop protection and animal health retailers and drum processors through survey questionnaires forwarded by facsimile.
A copy of the draft review and a further invitation to comment was sent to the same group of interested parties. Discussions or telephone hook-ups were held with representatives of the NFF, ALGA, Agsafe, Avcare and VMDA.
The Review of industry waste reduction scheme for crop protection and animal health product containers and drumMUSTER is available for downloading as a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view it.
If you are unable to access this document, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.