Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or Regulate

In Australia, the National Packaging Covenant is a self-regulatory agreement between industries in the packaging chain and all spheres of government for the management of packaging waste. The aim of this study is to determine whether the Covenant has the capacity to achieve the environmental objectives of the government in its application to the packaging of fruit and vegetables in Western Australia. This resolves into two major questions, whether self-regulation is the appropriate policy instrument and whether the Covenant can achieve the environmental objectives of the government. Self-Regulation, and its relationship to Public Choice Theory, is the basis of the examination of an industry that has a majority of stakeholders without effective representation, together with small, well organised and dominant groups. The research establishes that the Covenant has had little impact, has failed to engage the majority of stakeholders and is characterised by a general lack of commitment by dominant firms within the industry. The major finding is that an effective voluntary agreement requires carefully targeted objectives, negotiations with all stakeholders, incentives for innovation and the certainty of penalties for non-compliance.