Boost Breach Tip of Iceberg for Poor Packaging

Monday, 21 February 2005 10:00

TEC has called on consumers to boycott juice retailers that fail to use reusable or recyclable cups and for all councils to demand better performance on packaging waste.

"The Boost Juice image of heath and vitality is a sham when it comes to the environment," said Jane Castle, TEC campaigner.

"The company continues to take the cheap and dirty option despite community concerns. Retail juice bars must clean up their act by switching to reusable cups and recyclable paper cups."

Polystyrene cups cannot be recycled in Australia. They are hazardous as litter and they deplete resources. Reusable cups can be used hundreds of times, and paper cups can be recycled. Boost Juice has also made misleading claims on its website that polystyrene cups have minimal environmental impact. An appeal to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission is being considered.

"Boost Juice and other retail juice outlets should set the record straight on the environmental impact of their cups. They should offer customers a discount for using reusable cups and a refundable deposit when they bring back their paper cups."

"This is just another example of the poor performance of the National Packaging Covenant to bring about real improvements, particularly in the retail food sector. The Covenant must be scrapped unless it can be radically overhauled."

State and Federal Ministers have recently ordered the National Packaging Covenant Council to negotiate with environment groups to come up with binding targets to reduce packaging.
"State and Federal governments should mandate reusable and recyclable packaging across the nation. The Boost Juice issue is just the tip of the iceberg."
 

For further information

Contact
:
Jane Castle or Jeff Angel
Phone
:
61 2 9299 5599
Email
:
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:
http://www.tec.org.au/