WHY VICTORIA NEEDS DEPOSITS ON DRINK CONTAINERS LIKE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

1: It will reduce litter. Experience shows that less people litter drink containers when they are worth money. * See quotes 1&2 below.

(* Figures, from the 2006 National Litter Index, show that in Australia, drink containers are the number one litter item by volume and the number three litter item by quantity. South Australia has significantly less than the other States. See 'Community Litter Report', www.AFROCAB.org.au )

2: It will increase recycling. In South Australia, they recycle 74% of plastic bottles and 80% of aluminium cans. In comparison, Victoria recycles 35% of plastic bottles and 65% of cans.

3: It will help charities and community groups. In South Australia the Scouts make over one million dollars a year from cans and bottles. Other charities and community groups also benefit financially. The same will happen here.

4: It will save resources. Over 2.5 billion plastic drink bottles, aluminium cans and glass bottles become litter or go to landfill in Australia every year. This is an unsustainable waste of valuable, non renewable resources.

5: It will help cut greenhouse gases. By recycling more used containers we save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. *See quote 3 below

6: It will help protect our waterways. Each year millions of cans and bottles end up as litter on our roadsides. Many are washed down roadside drains into our creeks, rivers and oceans. *See 2006 'Community Litter Report' www.AFROCAB.org.au

7: It will create jobs. Recycling collection centres are labour intensive work places. Many of these jobs will be in country towns and regional centres.

8: It will save ratepayers money. Every year Victorian Councils spend over 40 million dollars of ratepayer money collecting litter. This figure will continue to grow if we do not reduce the amount of beverage litter.

9: It will reward young Australians. As kids, older generations made pocket money collecting glass soft drink bottles. A deposit of ten cents on a wide range of beverage containers would give current generations the same incentive and reward.

10: It will save landfill space. As landfills around major cities fill up rubbish must be transported further, at increasing expense to ratepayers. Old landfill sites cost millions of dollars to cap and new sites cost millions more to open. By taking billions of beverage containers out of the litter and rubbish streams, a deposit system will help conserve landfill space. *See quote 4 below.

11: It will save water. Less water is used when products are made from recycled materials instead of raw materials. * See quote 5 below

12: It will address the biggest weakness in our kerbside recycling system. At present over 50% of drink containers are consumed away from the home and away from the kerbside recycling system. This is why so many drink containers end up as rubbish in landfill or as litter. By putting a value on drink containers people and businesses will have a financial incentive to ensure that they are recycled.

13: It will improve the financial viability of our kerbside recycling system. Our kerbside systems are a financial burden on councils and ratepayers because of the high cost of collecting relatively valueless materials. Under a deposit system bottles, cans and cartons have a higher value. As a result, contractors make more money from these products, even though the quantity of beverage containers going through the kerbside system is less. Secondly, reduced volumes make the kerbside system marginally cheaper to run. Thirdly, interstate and international experience proves beyond all doubt, that refund systems do not undermine kerbside systems. * See quote 6 below

14: It will help small businesses. At present restaurants, hotels and food vendors in shopping malls have no incentive to recycle empty containers used by their customers. Commercial recycling services cost money and sorting beverage containers from other rubbish takes staff away from their core duties. If these containers have a refund value it offsets these costs making it more financially attractive to recycle these containers.

15: It will help Councils achieve their goal of moving towards zero waste. This goal will simply not be achievable, if government does not address the growing problem of away from home drink consumption. Trials have shown that because of contamination, public place recycling bins do not address this problem. A refund system is the only proven solution. In Europe and North America refunds of over ten cents per container have resulted in recycling rates of over 90%.

16: It will help our tourism industry. Drink containers are large and conspicuous. Their presence in large numbers on roadsides, undermines efforts to promote Victoria for its natural beauty and attractive scenery. *See quote 7 below.

17: Because the public wants it. The South Australian system has a public approval rating of over 90%. There is also a high level of public support for a similar system in Victoria. Public support is the key ingredient needed to ensure that any litter policy is successful and effective.

Quotes

1:"We've got 50% less collection of beverage containers on Clean Up Australia Day in South Australia than other states". Ian Kiernan, Chairman of Clean Up Australia.

2: "Our 20 year old Bottle Bill (Deposit system) has been a phenomenal success at keeping millions of containers out of our landfills and off our streets in the form of beverage litter".
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, 2002

3: The 2007, final report of the Stakeholders Advisory Group Investigation into a Container Deposit system for Western Australia, said that a container deposit system in WA would "reduce CO2 emissions by tens of thousands of tonnes per year".

4: The 2007, final report of the Stakeholders Advisory Group Investigation into a Container Deposit system for Western Australia, said that a container deposit system in WA would "save tens of thousands of tonnes of waste that would otherwise go to landfill".

5: The 2007, final report of the Stakeholders Advisory Group Investigating into a Container Deposit system for Western Australia, said that it would "save hundreds of millions of litres of water throughout the production process".

6: The 2007, final report of the Stakeholders Advisory Group Investigation into a Container Deposit System for Western Australia said that it "could reasonably be expected to reduce waste management costs for most local governments."

7: "As a tourist oriented state whose major attraction is its natural beauty, we are very aware of the contribution of the deposit system in keeping our roadsides clean". Angus King, Governor of Maine 1996.

* The Stakeholders Advisory Group Report can be found at www.zerowastewa.com.au /ourwork/specificprograms