Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Hansard source

That there is already action being taken by industry voluntarily and without there being a demonstration of a clear benefit to the community from imposing legislation is the reason the government has not supported this motion. The incompatibility of chargers for mobile phones constitutes only a small part of electronic waste, with only two per cent of phones and accessories being disposed to landfill in 2009. The mobile phone industry already provides Australian consumers with a capacity to recycle their old chargers at the same time as they recycle their old phones through the industry led scheme, Mobile Muster. I am advised that the current approach in the European Union favours a voluntary memorandum of understanding between major suppliers of mobile phones, not legislation. The government is already in the process of developing product stewardship legislation that will support voluntary schemes such as that already operating in the mobile phone industry.