India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the draft Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movements) Second Amendment Rules, 2024 on August 14, 2024, and is inviting comments for 60 days. The proposed rules include an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)… Read More »India Notifies Draft EPR Rules for Aluminium, Copper & Zinc and its Products

On August 19, 2024, the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) unveiled the APCO 2030 Strategic Plan, aligning with its responsibilities to manage the Australian Packaging Covenant (the Covenant). This strategy introduces an innovative membership fee model, aiming to support the increased recycling activities and foster… Read More »APCO Unveils the 2030 Strategic Plan to Revolutionize the Australian Packaging Industry

In August, 2024, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and Ministry of the Environment (MOE) jointly released a draft measure under the Chemical Substances Control Law (CSCL) concerning perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and its related substances.… Read More »Japan to Restrict PFHxS and Related Substances and Products From 2025

The Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) was introduced by the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (“PETRA”) on July 26, 2024, and it is scheduled to start in September of that same year. With an open grid access system, which allows third parties… Read More »Malaysia: Introduction of the Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS)

Dechlorane Plus, widely used in electronics, construction, and automotive industries, has been designated as a persistent organic pollutant due to its long-lasting, bioaccumulative, and toxic properties. At the 2022 Geneva Convention, parties unanimously agreed to include it in Annex A, requiring a cessation of its… Read More »Stockholm Convention Proposed to Add Dechlorane Plus to Restricted List

The draft of the scope of mobile phone manufacturers’ and importers’ responsibilities for marking recycling logos and other binding obligations was released on August 6, 2024 by Taiwan’s Ministry of Environment (MOENV). The draft specifies rules for recycling labels as well as recycling obligations for… Read More »Taiwan Proposes Recycling Rules for Mobile Phones

Fluorinated gases (F-gases) are man-made gases used in a range of industrial applications. F-gases are often used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances because they do not damage the atmospheric ozone layer. However, F-gases are powerful greenhouse gases, with an even higher warming potential than carbon… Read More »F-gases

The Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (AREC) (known as K-REACH) is a crucial regulatory framework in South Korea aimed at ensuring the safe management of chemical substances. Chemical producers and importers must register their materials with the Ministry of Environment (MoE) in… Read More »K-REACH Compliance: The Last Day to Register Existing Chemical Substances is Near

A major strategy under the Act on Preventing Mercury Pollution of the Environment was recently announced by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of the Environment. The program will gradually phase out the manufacture of 10 specific items that contain mercury, with… Read More »Japan Declares a Ban on the Manufacturing of 10 Products Including Mercury

The import, manufacture, or use of these three POPs and products containing them will be prohibited or restricted in New Zealand. New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is currently consulting on the proposal to include three new persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Schedule 2A of… Read More »New Zealand to Prohibit 3 POPs under HSNO Act