The ACCC has issued a draft determination proposing to grant authorisation to Refrigerant Reclaim Australia Limited to continue to operate a product stewardship scheme to recover ozone depleting and synthetic greenhouse gas refrigerants. This scheme was first authorised by the ACCC’s predecessor, the Trade Practices Commission, in 1994 and has been authorised a number of times since.
Refrigerant Reclaim Australia is the industry funded not-for-profit product stewardship organisation that recovers, reclaims and destroys ozone depleting and synthetic greenhouse gas refrigerants. The product stewardship program is funded by a levy on the import and sale of new refrigerant that is currently authorised by the ACCC. The current authorisation is due to expire on 28 May 2021.
The ACCC considers that the scheme is likely to continue to result in public benefits from greater compliance with the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Management Act 1989 (Cth) and thus greater reduction in the release of Refrigerant Gases, pricing for Refrigerant Gases which better reflects the negatives to society inherent in their use, transaction cost savings, and economies of scale. The ACCC considers that the scheme has and is likely to continue to result in minimal public detriment.
Authorisation provides businesses with legal protection for arrangements that may otherwise risk breaching the law but are not harmful to competition and/or are likely to result in overall public benefits. In this case, Refrigerant Reclaim Australia has sought authorisation because its members who are competitors at various levels of the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry among other things, discuss and collectively agree on the levy that is to be paid by businesses using Refrigerant Gases and make decisions on the termination or suspension of businesses which do not abide by the terms of the scheme.
The ACCC proposes to grant authorisation for a further 10 years.
Further information about the ACCC’s decisions is available on the ACCC public register at: Refrigerant Reclaim Australia Limited.