COUNCILS & CDL

Over the last year the following Victorian Councils have passed motions saying that they would support the introduction of a Container Deposit System.

The Shire of Pyrenees
Golden Plains Shire
The Shire of Southern Grampians
The Shire of Cardinia
The Shire of Yarra Ranges
Maroondah City Council

We applaud Councils which are considering this issue because more effective litter strategies are in the best interests of Councils, ratepayers and the environment.

However, Councils need access to informed and impartial information. An example would be the following report by the Manager of Assets and Development at the Shire of Pyrenees.

CONTAINER DEPOSIT LEGISLATION

INTRODUCTION

Australian Environment Ministers have endorsed a packaging recycling target of 65% to be achieved by 2010. If this is to be achieved, it will mean the annual recovery of an extra 1.0 million tonnes of packaging over and above the current 1.5 million tonnes. How will this happen and who will pay?

Currently local government costs nationally associated with kerbside recycling collection run at $338 million annually. This is an enormous amount of ratepayers' money on top of the cost of collecting household residual waste, street bin rubbish and litter. This public service approach to waste has led to a throw away economy where companies pass on the financial and environmental costs of waste to the community.

It is time to look for solutions to this problem beyond kerbside. Kerbside collections were not designed to deal with the large and growing amount of bottles and cans generated by take away food outlets, sporting venues, pubs, shopping malls, office blocks, parks and beaches.

Container deposits are not a new idea but they have an important role in recycling. Container deposits schemes exist in over 30 nations around the world including American and Canadian states and European countries as well as in South Australia where it has been implemented for over thirty years under the banner of Container Deposit Legislation (CDL).

WHAT IS CONTAINER DEPOSIT LEGISLATION?

Container Deposit Legislation (CDL) refers to the mandatory deposit on containers to encourage their return by consumers. Depending on the deposit system, containers can be returned to the manufacturers via the retailer, designated collection depot, reverse vending machines or recovered as part of existing waste or recycling collection system. Any person returning the container receives a standard refund. CDL requires that manufacturers take responsibility for the returned containers either to refill, recycle or to dispose of them.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH CURRENT RECOVERY OF CONTAINERS FOR
RECYCLING?

Poor recycling rates with no scope to improve
Over 50% of packaging waste is now unrecoverable for recycling - being generated 'away-from home' - and ends up either as litter or in landfill. There is no commitment from any section of society to pay for new away from home recycling infrastructure or collection.

Costs of collecting containers comes from rates and levies
Containers that end up in the tip result in costs for collection, transport, gate charges and landfill levies and those littered have to be gathered by expensive street cleaning equipment.

Comingled kerbside collections result in significant contamination of recyclable materials. The particularly valuable paper component in the recycling bin is increasingly contaminated by broken glass and seepage from left over liquids.

WHY DO DEPOSIT/REFUND SYSTEMS WORK BETTER?

Increased recovery rates.
A simple 5c deposit in SA has been enough for the community to make the extra effort to not litter and recycle their containers, (currently under review to be increased to a 10c deposit). Clean Up Australia shows beverage containers making up 21.7% of litter collected nationally and 9.6% in South Australia, while the SA EPA reports that 80% of beverage containers are collected in that state compared to a total recovery rate in other states of less than 40%.

More equitable, targetted pricing.
The costs of recovering containers are targeted directly to the producer and consumer.

Rewards consumers who recycle
Consumers returning containers receive the deposit those that don't are penalized as deposit is forfeited. This incentive makes it worthwhile for community groups (such as scouts) to become involved in increasing the recycling effort.

CDL supports kerbside systems
CDL would provide funds to Councils providing recycling services and other recycling
infrastructure and education. Rather than competing against kerbside services, deposits paid on containers placed in kerbside bins are redeemed by Council collectors providing income in addition to any value of the post consumer material sold. Individual councils in SA, where CDL exists alongside kerbside collections, report income of up to $90,000 per year in unredeemed deposits. In addition, the reduction in the proportion of high volume / low value containers makes kerbside collections more financially viable.

Container deposit systems cost no more than other resource recovery systems.
A review carried out by industry analysts found that systems in place in California,
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia are cost negative. Features of these systems which make them cost effective are automation through reverse vending machines, location of machines and/or updated design to eliminate the need to sort containers according to brand.

OPPOSITION TO CDL

The main obstacle to CDL being introduced around Australia is the sustained and intense lobbying of government ministers by the PCA (Packaging Council of Australia) who see CDL as a huge financial impost, increasing production costs in the beverage industry thereby reducing profits. The current system where discarded containers are collected by other organisations in recycling and rubbish collections with no obligation on the PCA to encourage their reuse, works well for the beverage industry.

CONCLUSION

With the future recycling targets set by Government and the "towards zero waste"
strategy we need to improve our recycling rates on beverage containers to meet these targets.
Container Deposit Legislation will be inevitably if we are to achieve them.

Container Deposit Legislation is popular with the general public;

Container Deposit Legislation offers the best means to lift Australia's current flagging
recycling rates; and

Container Deposit Legislation would result in significant new industry and jobs.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council supports the introduction of a best practice Container Deposit Legislation that establishes a container deposit and return system for all beverage containers ensuring maximum recycling is achieved.

That Council make representations to State Government supporting the introduction of Container Deposit Legislation.

Author: Bruce Andrews
Director of Assets and Development
Pyrenees Shire Council
Victoria