THE LATEST NEWS ON THE CONTAINER DEPOSIT SCHEMELatest News
The most up-to-date way to see all the news on the Container Deposit Scheme is to visit our facebook page (don't forget to 'like' us!)
If you're not a social media fan then here are the most recent updates:
April 12 2013 - Tim Strom, Real News Network, releases his report on the status of deliberations so far. More info
April 12 2013 - Victorian Premier Dennis Napthine publicly announces support for a national refund scheme, stating he is keen to pursue the opportunities in Victoria. More info
April 11 2013 - GreenPeace sends an open letter to Coke's Australian MD. More info
April 11 - The NT Government announced they have secured support from all Australian jurisdictions for the Territory's bid to get a Commonwealth exemption to keep their popular container recycling scheme going. More info
April 11 - The COAG meeting of state environment ministers rebuffs Coca Cola's attempts to derail the intruduction of a national container refund scheme by annnouncing they would deal with the final assessment of the scheme as soon as possible.
March 2013- The ACT Legislative Assembly today passed a motion to support the progress of CDS across Australia. More info
March 2013 - The NT Government has pledged to underwrite the scheme for the next 8 weeks, they will continue to pay the 10cents refund while give time for the legal processes to work. Read the full press release
March 2013 - A welcome breakthrough as the Senate unanimously votes to support the continued operation of the Northern Territory's Container Deposit Scheme. Read the full press release
March 2013 - Full page print ad in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age showing a dead Shearwater bird with a stomach full of plastic and a call to NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to stand up to Coke's bullying and help the 'Cash for container's campaign go national. View the ad
March 2013 - Coca Cola issue a press release to try and finally get some good publicity. It fails and the Australian public see through the propaganda. Read some of the comments regarding the press release. Coke claim that the National Bin Network is the best way forward but this scheme has been proven to be far less successful than CDS. Firstly because if relies on people to actually put their rubbish in the bin in the first place. Secondly the rubbish needs to go in the correct bin, if a recycle bin contains over 7% of the wrong rubbish it will ALL go straight to landfill. CDS works as there are always going to be people to will litter, but if there is a 10c value on each of the bottles and cans then there will always be someone who picks them up and collects the cash.
March 2013 - Huge backlash on social media against Coca Cola, Lion Nathan and Schweppes for effectively saying they are against recycling and helping the environment. Tens of thousands of Australian pledge to boycott them and their products.
March 2013 5pm - Coca Cola, Lion Nathan and Schweppes have won the court case against the NT government to stop their container deposit scheme. Very disappointing news for the environment.
March 2013 10am - Ian Kiernan, our Chairman and Founder, pays a visit to Coca Cola Amatil headquarters to return some of the bottles and cans collected on Clean Up Australia Day. He was stopped by 6 policemen - what a ridiculous waste of poice resources! Photo of Ian at Coke headquarters
March 2013 - On Clean Up Australia Day, approximately 40% of the rubbish collected nationally were beverage containers. In South Australia, where they have a successful Container Deposit Scheme, the figure is just 10%.
February 2013 - The online petition set up by Greenpeace to campaign for a CDS has over 40,000 signatures in just one week. If you'd like to sign it click here
February 19th 2013 - The Federal Court heard Coca Cola's, Lion Nathan's and Schweppes' challenge to the NT's Container Deposit Scheme. Th judge stated he would hand his decision down in 2 weeks. The argument by the beverage companies is that the scheme is illegal due to the Mutual Recognition Act of 1992. The act states that there should be free movement of goods and service providers throughout Australia, and therefore the scheme breaches Commonwealth law because it required different production processes for the same products in different states and territories. The Nt argued that their scheme should be exempt because it was aimed at reducing environmental harm. South Australia also have a CDS but theirs was brought in before the act was passed.
Support us in the call for a Container Deposit Scheme
We know that more than 82% of the community supports a national container deposit scheme. Show our ministers what you think about a Container Deposit Scheme. Use our online Ministers Letter tool to send a note to your State Minister.
-> Write a letter to your Minister now! *
*Clean Up Australia is proud to be a member of the Boomerang Alliance , a group of Australia's leading environmental groups committed to zero waste in Australia. When you complete the online form to let your State Minister know about the importance of a Container Deposit Scheme, you will receive a message from all of us at the Boomerang Alliance to say thank you for your support.
Why we need a Container Deposit Scheme
We all use beverage containers every day to hold our soft drink, water, milk, fruit juice and alcohol.
… but they can be a killer
Australians use up to 13 billion containers every year. Beverage related rubbish is the most common type found by our volunteers on Clean Up Australia Day. Across the country it represents 48% of reported rubbish. When bottles and cans end up in the environment they are not just an eyesore they harm wildlife, becoming killers if mistaken for food.
So why not reuse them?
All containers, whether they are glass, metal or plastic, are made from materials that are in finite supply. These materials can be remanufactured many times when they are collected correctly, saving energy, water and virgin stock.
Glass and metal containers can be cleaned and reused or crushed for remanufacture.
Containers that have been designed for single use e.g., soft drink and water plastic bottles, should not be reused, as they have chemicals within their make-up that leach. This is especially a problem with bottles that are stored in cars that have been parked in the sun.
Recycling is good but a Container Deposit Scheme is even better
Recycling is an effective and easy way of collecting materials for remanufacturing, but the recycling of beverage containers, in particular those consumed away-from-home, is poor with rates of recycling for glass as low as 40% and plastics (PET) a shameful 27%.
There are many people, including high profile brands within the beverage industry, who support public place recycling as the preferred option to increase recycling rates. But for the vast number of non-managed public place recycling bins, the level of contamination is between 10-20%. Anything above 3% is sent to landfill. Why would this be a good solution to our rubbish problem?
A 10cent deposit gives people an incentive for returning containers for recycling. This is where a Container Refund Scheme plays a vital role because it establishes a system that is proven to increase recycling rates around the world. South Australia has had a Container Deposit scheme in place for over 30 years and has a proud recycling rate of 75-85%. The Northern Territory launched their scheme in January – already reporting around 6 million containers that have been diverted from landfill or our environment.
How does a Container Refund Scheme work?
It’s just as easy as purchasing the drink. You pay a 10cent deposit which is included in your purchase price, enjoy your refreshment and then you return your container to a designated recycling agent to receive your cash back. This is what makes it a deposit versus a tax. The 10c keeps going around and around. Check out this video and share it with your friends and family.
What can you do?
Nearly 90% of Australians we surveyed responded that they agreed that a 10c deposit and refund scheme would encourage more people to recycle bottles and cans.
Clean Up Australia believes that a Container Refund Scheme will help us reduce the amount of containers that are ending up in our environment
We need to take action to ensure we look our precious environment for future generations.
-> Write a letter to your Minister now!
Check out this video and share it with your friends and family.
You can do even more
Support us by donating today so that we can all enjoy a litter free environment tomorrow.
Your donation will be directly allocated to our campaign of lobbying for the introduction of a National Container Refund Scheme. We’ll be actively engaging with people right across Australia all the way to the finish line in August. It’s a fight we cannot afford to loose. So make your voice heard!
Thank you for your support.