Close the Loop (CtL) is an Australian-owned resource recovery and sustainability solutions provider. The company first applied its expertise to the printing and imaging sector where it helped major companies become sustainability pace-setters within the industry. Today, Close the Loop translates that success and experience across all industries, in all regions of the world, raising the bar by showing what is possible when companies commit to sustainable product end-of-life strategies that are supported by innovation and a zero waste to landfill guarantee.

Close the Loop strives to be the premier sustainability solutions provider while providing a safe and productive work environment for its employees. Established in Australia in 2001, the company now employs more than 200 people with operations in Asia Pacific, North America and Europe.

TIC Mattress Recycling employs world’s best practice to provide sustainable end-of-life mattress recycling. TIC services local governments and mattress retailers to provide high levels of resource recovery.

The company commenced operations in 2013 and has built Australia’s first automated mattress deconstruction facility based on European technology that it has developed further and is now marketing globally.

TIC’s processes ensure maximum resource recovery and environmental controls while minimizing handling and exposure to safety risks.

The company is working closely with mattress manufacturers, retailers, local government and other stakeholders to develop a mattress product stewardship program for Australia. TIC is committed to working with others to establish a mattress stewardship program that shifts costs from local government, encourages innovation, increases resource recovery and is transparent and accountable.

In an industry that has been dogged by poor practices, low resource recovery and boom and bust cycles, TIC Mattress Recycling heralds a new era of advanced and sustainable mattress recycling.

TIC Mattress Recycling is part of the TIC Group. Further details can be found here.

Equilibrium is a sustainability strategy and consulting company. It provides environmental solutions that cut costs, align organisational goals and enhance reputation. From environmental management systems to technical assessments to strategic advice, Equilibrium’s expertise and experience extends across many sectors of the economy including food manufacturing, stadiums and events, Government, waste management, recycling, agriculture, packaging and facilities management.

Equilibrium has worked extensively in policy and regulatory development, especially in waste and materials efficiency and including product stewardship across a range of schemes and materials. To find out more, visit here.

The PVC Product Stewardship Program is a voluntary initiative  launched by the Vinyl Council of Australia in 2002. The 2014 Annual Report recently released for the Program shows increased commitment from signatories and a 50 percent increase in the number of companies in the Australian vinyl industry reporting actions to improve energy efficiencies on site, monitoring carbon emission or setting targets to reduce energy consumption.

The Program aims to improve the sustainability of vinyl, or PVC, products by delivering change across the life cycle of PVC. Signatories include local manufacturers and importers of a wide range of products – pipes, conduit, cable, flooring, windows, building profiles, flexible packaging, fabrics and medical products – as well as suppliers of raw materials and intermediates.

The Program is structured around five specific aspects of the life cycle of PVC products: best practice manufacturing, safe and sustainable use of additives, energy and greenhouse gas management, resource efficiency, and transparency and engagement.

According to the report, more than two thirds of signatory companies are now complying with the industry’s ‘Energy Efficiency & Greenhouse Gas Charter’. The Charter, introduced into the industry’s long-running PVC Stewardship Program three years ago, formally commits businesses to improve energy efficiency at the warehouse, distribution and manufacturing level, and to reduce the carbon footprint of their operations, and ultimately, their products.

Innes & Company LLC is a U.S.-based consultancy assisting clients around the globe in reaching their goals in the areas of product stewardship and sustainability.

Innes & Company President Melissa Walsh Innes is a former legislator with extensive experience in recycling and product stewardship legislation, including packaging, paint, medical sharps, pharmaceuticals, compact fluorescent lamps, electronics, and containers.

Melissa was the sponsor of Maine’s first-in-the-nation Product Stewardship Framework Law of 2010, as well as the sponsor of a successful electronic recycling program expansion in 2011 (both enacted with unanimous bipartisan support).

Melissa is the former deputy director for Recycling Reinvented, a U.S. national nonprofit working to advance recycling policies to increase national recycling rates for packaging and printed paper. Her experience at Recycling Reinvented incorporated best practices from recycling experts around the world, knowledge that Melissa uses to benefit the clients of Innes & Company.

In her time at Recycling Reinvented, Melissa further honed her skills in client engagement, stakeholder relations, media outreach, organization development, and policy crafting.

Melissa’s experience and approach to policy negotiation and stakeholder relations includes working side by side with a variety of stakeholders, from environmental organizations to chambers of commerce. Innes & Company helps clients achieve their policy goals using the same successful approach.

Contact details include:
400 East Elm Street
Yarmouth, Maine 04096  USA
207.847.3177 (office)
melissa@innesandcompany.com
Twitter: @InnesReport

Melissa also serves as a member of the GlobalPSC Advisory Group.

The Global Product Stewardship Council is an independent, not-for-profit forum for product stewardship development and an online resource for information on product stewardship policies and programs across the world.

The GlobalPSC has over 60 members based in 12 countries and operating worldwide.

Members span producers, product recovery organisations, NGOs and governments at federal, state/provincial and local levels.

Learn more about the GlobalPSC, our members and our activities by checking out our latest brochure and member profiles.

Reclay StewardEdge Inc. is based in Toronto with additional offices in other Canadian provinces and US states. An international consultancy organization with extensive experience and expertise in sustainability related to the end-of-life management of packaging and products, their principals are considered pioneers in the recycling and sustainability field. In November 2012, StewardEdge Inc. became part of the Reclay Group (Cologne, Germany) to extend their global reach and offer a broader suite of services to their clients.

The Waste Recycling Industry Association of Queensland (WRIQ) is Queensland’s leading waste and recycling association. As an Australian not-for-profit industry-sponsored association, it has over 90 members, ranging from small independent operators through to the large national and multi-national organisations.

WRIQ provides its members with confidence and professionalism that their business interests will be advocated clearly and concisely to all stakeholders to ensure the industry remains a dynamic, sustainable and significant sector in relation to the provision of waste and recycling services. This includes industry and regulator working groups to advocate clear policy direction to increase resource recovery and the promotion of sound principles such as product stewardship.

WRIQ produces voluntary Codes and Guidelines which promote sound industry practices and build confidence in the professionalism and identity of the sector. WRIQ and its stakeholders acknowledge industry achievements and showcase its member’s services of delivering highly ethical and compliant industry practices through the WRIQ Annual Member Awards Program, which recognises outstanding achievements by members, their employees and potential new entrants (students) into the industry.

Focused on improving job skills, training opportunities and the level of professionalism for all industry employees, WRIQ offers monthly member forums and has a Next Generation Group.

For more information on WRIQ please contact its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Rick Ralph on +61 7 3375 6961. Please visit the WRIQ website for the latest industry reports and information on the current working groups.

The Global Product Stewardship Council recently joined Sustainability Victoria (SV), the Australian Battery Recycling Initiative (ABRI), MobileMuster, recyclers including TES-AMM and various retailers in launching Batteryback across 34 retail locations in Melbourne, Australia. Batteryback is a free household battery collection and recycling service available at select Bunnings, Coles, HEARLINK, Michael’s Cameras, Queen’s Parade Hardware and Officeworks stores.

Australia has released a priority list of products potentially covered under the Product Stewardship Act 2011 (the Act). The Act provides a framework for establishing voluntary, co-regulatory and regulatory approaches for product stewardship. Under the Act, any future mandatory or co-regulatory approach must be preceded by 12 months notice before a particular product can have such a regulatory approach applied.

The designated products include:

• Waste architectural and decorative paint
• End-of-life handheld batteries (less than 2kg in weight)
• Packaging (and subsets of packaging, such as consumer packaging and beverage packaging)
• End-of-life air conditioners with small gas charges
• End-of-life refrigerators with small gas charges

The reasons given for their inclusion on the list are available here. In April 2013, Environment Ministers from Australia and New Zealand acting as the  Standing Council on Environment and Water (SCEW) added end-of-life handheld batteries and waste paint to their work plan. Preparation of a Decision Regulation Impact Statement is also underway for packaging.

Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, the Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, sought advice from a range of sources including the Product Stewardship Advisory Group, the SCEW, jurisdictional priorities, industry stakeholders, and international obligations in determining the list.

The Global Product Stewardship Council and GlobalPSC members serving on the Product Stewardship Advisory Group include: