As Australia transitions toward a more circular economy, product stewardship is proving effective in bridging the gap between product use and sustainable end-of-life management.
Product stewardship involves designing and managing products so that their environmental, health and safety impacts are reduced across their entire lifecycle. From production and use to disposal or reuse, product stewardship ensures we’re not simply shifting waste downstream but actively working to close the loop.
From linear to circular: why stewardship matters
Most product systems today are still fundamentally linear: extract, manufacture, use and dispose. Product stewardship offers a practical way to embed circularity by:
- Reducing the volume of material going to landfill.
- Creating incentives to redesign products for durability or recyclability.
- Building infrastructure and supply chains to recover valuable materials.
- Increasing consumer awareness about responsible disposal.
Importantly, stewardship can take different forms – from voluntary industry-led programs to co-regulatory arrangements or fully mandated schemes, depending on the nature and risk profile of the product.
Product stewardship in action
Marsden Jacob Associates has supported governments and industry in designing and evaluating various product stewardship and container deposit schemes. These two recent examples show the diversity of products that can benefit from various types of stewardship schemes.
Battery stewardship in New South Wales – supporting the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) on Australia’s first mandatory battery stewardship regulation in response to growing safety risks (such as lithium-ion fires), poor recovery rates, and widespread consumer confusion about correct disposal. In this case, a mandatory scheme, paired with public education and better collection systems, was the optimal solution.
Tyre stewardship and end-of-life recovery – as the Australian car market continues to transition to electric vehicles (EVs), we supported Tyre Stewardship Australia by examining options for collecting and reusing end-of-life EV tyres. This project considered how existing stewardship models could evolve to meet the needs of a changing transport sector. See post.
Though these are very different products requiring tailored approaches, the core challenge is the same: how to achieve the safest, most economically viable, and environmentally sound management of end-of-life materials.
Making stewardship work
Through our experience working on product stewardship projects, we have found that for product stewardship to be effective, the following needs to be considered:
- Clear roles and responsibilities Who is responsible for what? Producers, retailers, consumers, recyclers and governments all have a part to play and need to understand their roles.
- Practical recovery or reuse pathways There needs to be a viable way to collect, process and ideally repurpose or recycle the material.
- Informed consumers Without consumer awareness, even well-designed schemes will hit roadblocks. Education is critical.
- A flexible approach As the examples above show, one size does not fit all. Tailored schemes are needed to address product-specific risks and opportunities.
Looking ahead
Australia already has a range of stewardship schemes in place – from container deposit schemes to those targeting e-waste, paint and agricultural chemicals. However, as product complexity increases and consumer expectations evolve, our stewardship models must also adapt.
Product stewardship is not just about waste management – it is about rethinking product systems and design to support economic, environmental and social sustainability, and shaping the future of Australia’s circular economy.
By Philippa Short, Principal at Marsden Jacob Associates. Philippa has extensive experience in economic and natural resource analysis across a range of sectors, including circular economy and waste, the environment and earth resources.
Published June 3, 2025
