State Follows South Australia’s Lead in Bid to Tack Waste Bottles : Bottle Deposits in Western Australia to Boost Recycling & Cut Litter
Western Australia is to introduce a container deposit scheme for drink bottles and cans to help improve recycling and reduce littering in the state.
The state government explained that under the scheme consumers will be receive a 10 cent refund on containers usually seen as waste, such as beer cans and bottles, soft drinks and water bottles, sports drinks bottles and spirit-based mixed drinks.
According to state Premier Colin Barnett, community desire for a container deposit scheme was very strong, which should lead to high participation.
The refund will be available from reverse vending machines and collection depots at parks, beaches and other public spaces across Western Australia.
"Drinks containers are commonly littered, which is not only unsightly, but can cause environmental harm,” said Barnett. “With a 10 cent refund available, there is a greater incentive to recycle as everyone can benefit from doing the right thing,"
Environment Minister Albert Jacob added that the scheme would complement WA's recycling culture.
"It will benefit charities, sporting groups and community groups by allowing them to profit by participating in large-scale recycling activities,” he said. “It's a win for the environment, jobs, the community and the recycling industry."
"I have been persuaded by the success of schemes in other States and Territories. South Australia records higher recycling rates than any other State and significantly less beverage container litter and WA has the highest percentage of drinks containers in our litter. I believe a scheme will make a big difference in this State," continued Jacob.
The State Government said that the container deposit scheme will complement the Western Australian Waste Strategy: Creating the right environment and the Litter Prevention Strategy for Western Australia 2015-2020.
Other reforms include increases in the landfill levy, bigger fines for littering and illegal dumping, the Better Bins system for households and the Recycled Construction Products Program.
It is expected the scheme will start in mid-2018.
The Beautiful South
In South Australia, where a deposit system is already in place, the litter stream has only 2.2% drink containers, compared with 13.2% in Western Australia.
South Australia leads the nation in the recovery, recycling and litter reduction of beverage containers with a current, overall return rate of 76.5%. With the refund scheme, beverage containers make up only 2.2% of litter.
The scheme was introduced way back in 1977, and in 2015–16, more than 582 million containers (43,165 tonnes) were recovered by collection depots for recycling. This means that $58 million was refunded to the community during that period.
According to the South Australian state government a 2012 survey showed that 98% of respondents support the container deposit scheme with an overwhelming majority perceiving the scheme to be effective in reducing litter, encouraging the recycling and reuse of drink containers as well as reducing the number of containers going to landfill.
New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory are also introducing container deposit schemes.
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