That’s the latest news for Mudgee’s Return and Earn vending machine. 

Still no time frame, no location, no other details, just that ‘it’s close’. 

And we’re saying, after five months, we just don’t think ‘close’ is really a very good answer. 

Every drink container purchased in NSW now includes a levy of 15 cents with a 10 cent rebate per can to fund the scheme, introduced by the state government as a way to reduce littler. 

The only problem is, without the collection point, there is no way for our residents to get their money back. 

All the other larger towns in the Central West have a Return and Earn system installed.

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But if you live in Mudgee you’re looking at a two hour round trip to get a refund on your bottles or cans – a refund that, at the moment with the way petrol prices are, wouldn’t even cover the petrol it takes to drive to Rylstone, Kandos or Wellington. 

Who in Mudgee is still storing their cans and bottles? When the government were still answering questions about the blotched Return and Earn scheme, Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton advised people to hold onto their containers until the machine was installed. 

You have to make note though, they stopped answering media questions about the scheme way back in February, pointing everyone to the Environmental Protection Authority. 

That’s a lot of bottles people could be storing in their houses and garages waiting for our machine to be installed. 

And we are guessing, if anyone has listened, when we do finally get a system you would expect it to be full very quickly as residents cash in on all the cans and bottles they have been keeping for the day our system finally arrived. 

Dubbo and Bathurst now have three Return and Earn vending machines each. Orange has two and Wellington, Parkes and Lithgow all have one. And they have all had them for months. 

Yes, the location for a machine in Mudgee has been an issue but off the top of our heads, we can think of a few locations that suit the restrictions quite well. 

People are under enough financial pressure without paying for a scheme they can’t access, for families the scheme could be costing $10, $15 or $20 a month. 

‘Close’ is no longer good enough.