The first month of the government’s Return and Earn container deposit scheme shows it hurts businesses and consumers, a Mudgee-based beverage supplier has said.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bevco owner Larry Etherington said while 20 million containers were returned through collection points in December, approximately 389 million bottles were sold during the month in NSW.
It means just 5 per cent of bottles sold were returned for a refund, although bottles and cans collected through kerbside recycling are also yet to be taken into account.
Suppliers were responsible for funding the scheme and Mr Etherington said Bevco and other beverage companies were charged a first month fee working off a 100 per cent return rate.
“They were never going to get anywhere near a return rate of 100 per cent so why were we charged that and what happens to the money we have paid now?,” he asked.
“For the second and third months we have been charged at return rates of 90 per cent and 80 per cent.
“Exchange for Change said there are around 388 million containers sold in NSW every month so even if they get one million a day returned it is only a small percentage of what is being sold.”
A spokesperson for the NSW EPA said the return rates had been determined based on containers produced for the previous 12 months.
“Any discrepancy between the estimates and actual data will be rectified with suppliers in early 2018,” they said.
Consumers weren’t being given enough places to return empty drink containers for their 10-cent rebate, Mr Etherington said.
In Mudgee there is no return point, and the government has been unable to give a time frame for when one will be installed.
Mr Etherington has been critical of the government’s scheme since it rolled out, arguing the government should have delayed it to ensure it was ready, rather than pushing on despite widespread confusion and a lack of return points.
Bevco faced an uncertain future, Mr Etherington said, and others would certainly go under.
“We tried for 18 months to talk to the Premier [Gladys Berejiklian] and the Environment Minister [Gabrielle Upton] and tell them our concerns but they ignored us,” he said.
A NSW EPA spokesperson said there was “widespread community support for Return and Earn” with more locations to be added for collection points.
