Clean Up Australia Day - Container Deposit Scheme - 27 February 2009

“This Sunday’s Clean Up Australia Day could be a daily occurrence if NSW took real action to reduce waste through such initiatives as a Container Deposit Scheme (“CDS”)”, says Greens MP Ian Cohen.

“Results from Clean Up Australia Day 2008 showed that one third of the rubbish collected were drink containers. Clean Up Australia Day is a perfect time for the Rees Government to observe how passionate people are about a clean environment and stop listening to the anti-CDS lobby and corporate donors.”

“If NSW adopted a CDS similar to the one that has operated in South Australia for 34 years - which provides the return of a 10c deposit on bottles - we may witness our beverage container recycling rate jump from its current rate of 36% to anywhere upwards of 80% and expect local ratepayers to save close to $60 million per year. ”

“The figures speak for themselves — a container deposit scheme could reduce the volume of litter in our parks, beaches and roadsides by 12-15%, increase Australia’s recycling by over 630,000 tonnes a year, divert 6% of all Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) waste away from landfill and reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of taking 140,000 cars off the road”, says Mr Cohen.

“Local community groups also greatly benefit. Scouts in South Australia make over 1 million a year from CDS collection activities. The community minded spirit we see once a year in the Clean Up Australia campaign could be a part of our everyday lives if people were involved in cleaning up year round.”

“The NSW Government and the Opposition have an opportunity to deliver NSW a container deposit scheme next week. My Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery (Container Recovery) Bill 2008 is at the top of the Parliamentary list and all it would take is NSW Labor support to provide NSW with a effective waste recovery and recycling system.”

For further Information or photos: Ian Cohen: 0409 989 466 or Scott Hickie 9230 3305 – PTO for Fact Sheet.

FACT SHEET

According to 2008 Boomerang Alliance Report a Container Deposit Scheme could;

· Reduce the volume of litter in our parks, beaches and roadsides by 12-15%
· Increase Australia’s recycling by over 630,000 tonnes a year
· Achieve a 6% diversion of all Municipal Solid Waste (”MSW”) waste away from landfill
· Reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by over 1.3 million tonnes of CO2e per year (equivalent to 197,000 homes switching to 100% renewable energy)
· Save enough water to permanently supply over 24,000 Australian homes
· Deliver the same level of Australian air quality improvements as taking 140,000 cars off the road
· Provide 250,000+ Australian homes with access to recycling services for the first time
· Save rate payers over $59.8 million per annum
· Significantly reduce the number of turtles, lizards, seals and birds killed by litter across Australia
· Create at least 1,000 new jobs, mostly in rural and regional Australia

See for full report:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B2D7nbNH9abfZDg4ZmNjZjEtYjc4NS00MjBlLThhNTEtMTViY2VlZTAxMjYy&hl=en_GB