Tasmanian Greens member Phillip Bingley has introduced an e-Petition calling for Container Deposit Legislation as a matter of urgency, following the lead of South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Mr Bingley cares passionately about the Derwent Valley, and in 2010 was the Chairperson of the Tidy Towns campaign which won the State award for New Norfolk. The recent Greens candidate for the Upper House seat of Derwent, Mr Bingley is calling on the State government’s Minister for the Environment, Mr Wightman, to ensure that CDL is introduced into Tasmania.
“Tasmania has for too long been selling itself as the clean, green state of Australia. Yet successive Liberal and Labor governments have been unwilling to introduce a simple and commonsense strategy, which would deliver a 10 cent refund on all used cans and bottles. Such a straightforward system would dramatically reduce roadside littering, waste to landfill, whilst creating hundreds of real green jobs,” Mr Bingley said.
“The Keep Australia Beautiful’s National Litter Index revealed that Tasmanians are Australia’s worst litter bugs, and if Tasmania were to introduce CDL similar to that of South Australia and the Northern Territory, the public will have that incentive to recycle and reclaim their deposit from the time of purchase.”
“Every day that we delay implementing this scheme means more recyclable waste clogging up our waterways, playgrounds, roadsides, and landfill.”
“During recent weeks and months, I have spoken to many Tasmanians who have all indicated their support for this commonsense win-win solution to our roadside litter problem,” Mr Bingley said.
The e-Petition has been sponsored by Tim Morris. Members and supporters of the e-Petition can sign by visiting the Tasmanian House of Assembly e-Petitions website.
Authorised by Suzanne Cass, 208 Elizabeth Street, Hobart
