- Although Kiwis are among the highest consumers of e-products globally, these trends are not unique to Aotearoa and there are a range of product stewardship schemes and extended producer responsibility programmes that we can learn from.
- Europe has established an extended producer responsibility framework through the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which covers all e-products; excluding batteries which have their own Directive.
- The WEEE Directive was introduced in 2003, has undergone multiple reviews and updates and provides a good benchmark as a starting point for New Zealand’s regulated e-product stewardship investigations.
- TechCollect NZ is a member of a global e-product PSO (Product Stewardship Organisation) network (through the WEEE Forum – represented in the CEN) and has held a series of workshops with international e-product PSOs to understand what has worked well in other jurisdictions, what hasn’t, what we should avoid in Aotearoa, and what scheme design elements are essential to spur more circular stewardship of e-products across their lifecycle; for all stakeholder groups.
- TechCollect NZ has also undertaken research to assess international e-product stewardship approaches and will produce a research paper that will be published and made publicly available.
