Image: City of Sydney.
As the state of New South Wales ramps up for the rollout of its new container deposit scheme in 2017, local governments have put their two cents into the discussion regarding the popular method of disposing of empty beverage cans and bottles.
Following in the footsteps of South Australia and the Northern Territory, the state government in NSW has announced that a similar container deposit scheme will be initiated in July 2017, which has been touted to lift a significant weight off the environment since NSW is the most populous state in Australia and therefore consumes the most beverages, resulting in more littering.
To gather comments and input from the community and other authorities, the state government released a discussion paper in December 2015, and the City of Sydney has called for a scheme that offers a financial reward in return for empty beverage containers.
In the City’s submission, it has called for a container deposit scheme to significantly increase recycling, reduce waste and protect wildlife and the environment from beverage container pollution.
City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said container deposit schemes have proven very effective in increasing recycling rates and reducing litter.
“Container deposit schemes have been embraced by the public and have produced impressive recycling rates across Australia and globally. It’s time NSW got on board by providing more options and incentives for people to recycle,” Ms Moore said.
She used South Australia’s existing scheme as an example, saying that it has achieved significant recycling rates, nearly double that of NSW.
“The Northern Territory also offers a financial incentive in return for eligible containers, which has produced great recycling rates,” Ms Moore said.
Queensland has also been considering the implementation of its own container deposit scheme.
Meanwhile, the City of Sydney has created its own schemes isolated to the local area in an attempt to improve recycling rates by installing four trial reverse vending machines across the city.
These machines were installed in Haymarket, Circular Quay, Redfern and Wynyard, which offer small rewards such as a donation to charity and food truck vouchers in return for empty drink containers.
According to the National Litter Index, drink containers account for some 44 per cent of all public place litter.
Ms Moore said the reverse vending machines had been highly effective in encouraging a change in community behaviour when it comes to recycling.
“Our machines have recycled nearly 2,000 kilograms of cans and bottles since they were installed less than two years ago,” the Ms Moore said.
“It’s encouraging that so many Sydneysiders have embraced recycling and are doing the right thing by the environment. By using these reverse vending machines, they have saved 139,000 containers from landfill and helped turn rubbish into a valuable resource.”
