On January 10 drumMUSTER, Australia’s leading agricultural sector product stewardship program will no longer have the ACCC authorised levy model as its funding mechanism.
drumMUSTER’s manager Agsafe reports even though the levy is to end, there has been strong industry support to continue to offer the highly successful drumMUSTER program with minimal change to its key features.
Agsafe general manager Alicia Garden said Agsafe has transitioned the drumMUSTER program to a direct, fee-for-service relationship between each participating company and Agsafe. AgStewardship is no longer involved.
“Importantly, while a fee-for-service will replace the levy, there will be no operational changes to the way the drumMUSTER program collects and disposes of chemical containers for recycling,” she said.
Given the looming deadline, she urges drumMUSTER participant companies to contact Agsafe and sign a fee-for-service agreement to be able to continue to demonstrate to their customers, stakeholders, and regulators that there is a recycling pathway available for their chemical containers post-use.
“We note that the change to the drumMUSTER model will necessitate a change to price presentation, point-of-sale information and accounting policies,” she said.
“You are no longer able to itemise the drumMUSTER levy on your invoices. This will mean that your business will need to decide whether to absorb the cost of drumMUSTER or trigger a review of your prices to include this cost. Whichever path your company decides to take, it must take full effect on or before 10th January 2024.”
Accounting administration and information provided to customers may vary, but for most operations invoices and point of sale (POS) communication will need to be amended to reflect the change. Where relevant, on invoices and POS material, participating companies are asked to remove the old AgStewardship agreement wording:
‘We promote responsible industry waste management by participating in the drumMUSTER and ChemClear programs. This invoice includes a levy of six cents per litre/kilogram on all sales of AgVet Chemicals or Products in containers eligible to participate in those Programs.’
Ms Garden said if companies chose to do so, they could replace it with:
‘Products marked with a * are eligible for drumMUSTER recycling and ChemClear collection. Any products with the drumMUSTER logo are eligible for recycling at drumMUSTER or ChemClear collection sites using existing registration processes.’
She said this change will help farmers continue to understand which drums remain eligible for collection under both programs.
Valid products will still use the drumMUSTER sticker to denote their eligibility.
“These adjustment reinforce the move towards industry taking greater responsibility for product stewardship and waste management,” she said.
“The efficiencies gained will deliver benefits for farmers and chemical users across Australia and ensure they will continue to be able to access drumMUSTER and ChemClear for many years to come.”
