Economy
Cash for Containers: A Solution to Pollution Choking Tasmania’s Clean Image
“The atrocious amount of rubbish found around this state is an ugly problem Tasmanians ignore too often,” Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson stated earlier today.
“It’s not just that it looks bad and is blot on our supposed clean green image, it’s potentially very harmful to the environment.
“The litter we frequently find is beverage containers, much of it plastic.
“It’s thrown out the window, often finding its way into our water ways and oceans and is toxic to marine life.
“The key point is that if this rubbish was worth something, if these bottles had a dollar value on them, they wouldn’t be lying around – someone would have an incentive to collect them.
“A connection between cash for container schemes and lower levels of marine plastic pollution was one of the issues discussed in an Australian Greens initiated Senate Inquiry in Adelaide yesterday.
“The inquiry was looking at some of the bottle necks to establishing and rolling out a national cash for containers scheme.
“The South Australian container deposit program has achieved up to an 84% recycling rate on all beverage containers consumed, the highest recycling rate in Australia.
“South Australians are very proud of this achievement and strongly support the export of this scheme to states such as Tasmania.
“Based on what I have learnt from this inquiry, I am confident a national scheme could be funded entirely from private investment, and run efficiently at a much lower cost than existing schemes.
“It has the potential to revolutionise recycling in this country and create thousands of new jobs.
It will also mean less plastic in our waterways and lower levels of plastic entering the food chain. We’ve all seen disturbing pictures of dead sea-birds with stomachs full of bottle caps.
“The big bottlers need to get behind this proposal and help to meet the expectations of the majority of Australians who are on record as supporting such a proposal.”
• CASH FOR CONTAINERS: IT’S TIME TO GET THE BALL ROLLING
Cassy O’Connor MP
Greens Environment Spokesperson
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
The Tasmanian Greens are using National Recycling Week to call on the Minister for the Environment, Brian Wightman, to make good on a cost-benefit analysis for a state based container deposit scheme, which was approved by the House of Assembly earlier this year.
Greens Member for Denison and Environment spokesperson Cassy O’Connor MP said that the House gave tripartisan support to an amended Greens motion in May calling on the Minister to undertake a study if a national scheme did not eventuate in a timely manner.
“Unfortunately, the slow pace for implementation of a nation scheme has been disappointing and it’s time for Minister Wightman to act,” Ms O’Connor said.
“The Greens are calling on the Minister to immediately begin work on a cost benefit study, as the first step in the process for implementation of a state based container deposit scheme.”
Ms O’Connor also urged all Tasmanians to heed the message on waste during National Recycling Week, which runs from the 12th to the 18th of November.
“Tasmanians are generally good recyclers, but still we manage to put over half a million tons of waste into landfill every year,” Ms O’Connor said
“That’s about a tonne of waste per person, much of which could be recycled saving valuable resources and energy.”
“It’s time to help Tasmanians to recycle more efficiently and Recycling Week provides a timely reminder that every year a container deposit scheme is delayed another pile of litter and landfill is created.”
“A container deposit scheme would raise the recovery rate, employ many people in recycling facilities and create a major fundraising source for community groups and charities.”
“Container deposit schemes have been proven worldwide to be the best way to increase recycling rates including South Australia, which has been doing it for 30 years and has a recycle rate of 80%.”