Edge and partners secure Federal funding to develop commercial furniture stewardship scheme

Earlier this month, the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment awarded a grant to a consortium of industry bodies aimed at solving the problem of commercial office furniture going to landfill. Edge Environment, in collaboration with Good Environmental Choice Australia and the Global Product Stewardship Council, will use the funding to design a product stewardship scheme that will help reduce the estimated 30,000 tonnes of furniture – much of it in perfectly good condition – that ends up in Australia’s waste stream each year. 

Commenting on the award, Edge CEO, Jonas Bengtsson, said “We’ve worked on the issue of fitout waste for many years and, despite great leaps forward in diverting materials such as carpet, glass and plasterboard, furniture has remained a stubbornly hard nut to crack. With this funding, we have the opportunity to create a solution that – with the support of property companies, contractors and furniture companies alike – has potential to improve environmental outcomes, drive economic benefits and create hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs.” 

Paula Clasby, Head of Engagement & Marketing at GECA added, “All of GECA’s robust ecolabelling standards include product stewardship criteria, emphasising the value of decreasing contribution to landfill and increasing the reuse and recycling rate of the product at the end of its life. However, there have been many challenges when implementing best-practice product stewardship here in Australia. Along with our licensees, we are thrilled at the opportunity this grant will bring to support a successful product stewardship scheme for commercial office furniture, working with all entities involved to create real impact. We’re proud to be part of this collaboration and solution to induce change.”  

John Polhill, Vice President of the GlobalPSC and Principal of Circular-e solutions commented, “Responsible commercial furniture disposal is something that government and industry has been looking to achieve for a number of years now, but in essence has been limited and fragmented.. Product stewardship provides a framework to identify and address market failures and a structure whereby organisations can work collaboratively and efficiently to design a common and targeted stewardship scheme that improves the reuse and recycling of furniture from commercial properties in Australia.” 

Announcing the funding, Minister Trevor Evans said, “The Australian Government have recently provided more than $370,000 to Edge and its partners to develop, in consultation with industry, a commercial furniture product stewardship scheme. When it comes to commercial furniture, we’re talking about a large amount of both textile and plastic waste across the lifecycle of these products from storage and delivery through to the actual components in the furniture. We’re excited to get behind this new scheme which focuses on waste streams that are priorities for our government.” 

The project is due to kick off in April and will run until 2023. 

GECA 

At GECA, we are a purpose-driven not-for-profit that stands for integrity, independence, and impact. Our mission is to create solutions for sustainable consumption and production. To achieve this, we offer a suite of services designed for anyone committed to continuous improvement in their sustainability, including Australia’s only not-for-profit multi-sector ecolabelling program..   

Following ISO 14024 principles and ISEAL frameworks for global best practice in lifecycle-based ecolabelling, we’ve developed our rigorous voluntary standards, which are then independently assessed by our Assurance Providers.. Our robust standards are relevant to critical Australian industries, and GECA is the only Australian member of the Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN).   

GECA is widely respected and recognised in Australia and globally by green building schemes, including Green Star, WELL, ISCA, NABERS, as well as many procurement channels in government, education, hospitality, business and consumer.  

For more information see https://geca.eco/ 

GlobalPSC 

GlobalPSC is an independent, not-for-profit forum for product stewardship. Its membership spans ten countries and includes producers, product recovery organisations, NGOs and governments. For the last 10 years GlobalPSC has been researching, assessing and disseminating all stages in the development of schemes. 

For more information see https://www.globalpsc.net/