'Go national' says recycling body.

The recent announcement of new Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery (WARR) regulation in Western Australia has reignited debate about the need for national extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulation.

The WA Government will establish a statutory state Waste Authority and increase landfill levies, which will fund the authority's activities.

WA Environment Minister, David Templeman, said the higher landfill levies will reduce the financial burden on councils and provide some incentive for manufacturers to take more responsibility for the lifecycle and disposal of their goods.

John Lawson from the Australian Council of Recyclers (ACOR) said that while ACOR applauds state-based EPR initiatives, opposition from manufacturers and retailers to state schemes has stalled progress.

'Australia has a successful national stewardship scheme for recycling lubricant oils. We could do the same for other products like lead acid batteries that contaminate landfill.

'Manufacturers and retailers obviously don't want seven or eight different systems. However, if most states follow NSW and WA, resistance to national EPR schemes is likely to fall away.'

Currently, around 1 million lead acid batteries a year end up in landfill in Australia.

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