Direct action fit for purpose initiative jc
- 1. Direct Action Fit-For Purpose Initiative: Objective: The primary objective of this proposal is to ensure that sub-standard consumer products, which are mostly manufactured offshore and imported into Australia and also locally made, must meet stringent quality control and enforced statutory warranties. Reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact, increase consumer confidence and motivate Australian companies to take responsibility for their product’s longevity, efficiency, and impact on the environment by the innovation and design of new low impact and environmentally friendly products. This proposal is designed to meet Australian environmental objectives, and in addition the proposal should gain support from all political parties due to the environmental, consumer and job creation benefits. It would enhance the current governments Direct action policy and new innovation policy while gaining public support. Policy Benefits: Why: Allowing inefficient and low-quality products to be available for sale educates and conditions consumers to accept low-quality items that are not “fit for purpose”, are inefficient and have almost disposable life cycles which are detrimental to the environment. These types of low-quality consumer products are irresponsible, unsustainable and impractical. They often only achieve 10% of the life of a well-designed efficient product made sustainably, (that is “fit for purpose”). The waste generated by manufacturing sub-standard products cause a three-fold problem: 1. Resources are used inefficiently. 2. Greenhouse gases are emitted in producing them. 3. Disposal and recycling of waste have many environmental and financial impacts, which are normally not beared by the original product manufacturer. For example, as consumption grows and waste increases, finding places to put this waste and the infrastructure to recycle the waste is an exponential problem. Simply designing a product to last twice as long halves the environmental impact compared to the original sub-standard item. Every Watt saved in the production process, storage, shipping, efficiency and life cycle of a product is a Watt of power that does not have to be generated. Optimised consumer products can have up to 10 times the life, 90% CO2 reduction and increased consumer confidence. Existing proven products that are fit for purpose, but have room for improvement, would have easy access to Government incentives to help improve their product’s lifecycle and impact on the environment. Innovation Friendly Jobs Positive Greenhouse Gas Reduction Environmentally Responsible Business Positive No New Tax Economically Positive Political Party Friendly Family Friendly Self-Funding Consumer Product Confidence Enforced Statutory Warranties
- 2. Concept: Applies market-based incentives (tax breaks, import/export subsidy) to producers of clean, green and efficient consumer products, processes and services, and causes a natural disincentive for sub-standard, wasteful, short-lived inefficient products, processes and services. Implements a Nationwide ‘Enforced Statutory Warranty’ that warrants the vast majority of consumer goods for a minimum of three years or applicable period. Forcing the importer or manufacturer to replace the faulty goods within the warranty period. This enforced change will naturally eliminate low-quality products, increase consumer confidence, reduce CO2 emissions on a large scale and create many new job opportunities, innovating new efficient consumer product designs and processes. Scores local and imported materials and products by pre-determined metrics relative to similar competing products, and applies measured financial incentive, (relative to that score), to those products and producers, optionally penalising poor scorers with inefficient and sub-standard products. Consumer products that have an efficient and low impact on the environment will naturally gain market share due to their increased incentive and desirability. Undesirable sub-standard consumer products will no longer be viable. Producers/importers of inefficient and sub-standard consumer products will be penalised exponentially, subsidising the creation of clean, efficient and low environmental impact consumer products, through product innovation and research. Simply enforcing an Australia-wide compliance of a fixed term statutory product warranty period on consumer products would evaporate low quality, inefficient and environmentally irresponsible consumer products from our economy. These types of sub-standard consumer products would not be backed by a matching warranty period, by the original manufacturer causing the importer/reseller to naturally deem them too risky and not viable. Product Classification Scoring Criteria: Efficiency Carbon Dioxide load over life-cycle Environmental impact Labour standards Life expectancy Fitness for purpose