New International Study Shines Light on Solutions for Australia’s Lost 6 Billion Beverage Containers

Friday, 11 November 2011 16:02

 

As Australian environment ministers prepare to make a decision on what to do with the 6 billion beverage containers littered or landfilled each year, the findings of the most extensive international study to date by PwC, launched today in Melbourne gives the answers.

“This report is relevant to Australia because it includes Germany and like them we have a kerbside collection system which a container deposit system (CDS) partly replaces.· It’s important to know if recycling and the kerbside system built up by local councils, are disadvantaged.· Ministers will want to know if Australia will have a better and more cost effective recycling program, as well as recover the lost 6 billion containers each year making up the ugly litter in our streets, parks and rivers ·and dumped in landfills, if we introduce a CDS,” said Jeff Angel, National Convenor of the Boomerang Alliance of 18 environment groups.

“We are privileged to have Juergen Resch, Executive Director of the national green NGO, German Environment Aid here to launch the report and meet stakeholders.”

“The study, ‘‘Reuse and Recycling Systems for Selected Beverage Packaging from a Sustainability Perspective’ was carried out by 17 PwC sustainability experts from eight different· countries, including Australia. The 410 page report reveals significant economic, social and environmental benefits from deposit systems compared to kerbside collection - and that they work well together.· I also know from my own experience in Germany which has a relatively high deposit of 33centsAUD that beverage sales are not impacted by the CDS,” said Juergen Resch.

Key results of the report include:

• Deposit systems provide significant ecological, economic and social advantages compared to kerbside collection systems. Some of the main advantages are:

-······ Higher collection rates (typically 85-99%)[1]

-······ Higher recycling rates (typically 85-99%)

-······ Higher quality of the collected materials (e.g. due to pre-sorting via reverse vending machines and reduced contamination)

-······ Practically no littering of beverage containers

• When comparing a deposit system and a kerbside collection system for one-way beverage containers none of the systems is generally more expensive than the other. Considering the achieved results of deposit systems in form of collection and recycling rates ·they are more cost efficient than kerbside collection

• The introduction of deposit systems for beverage packaging in countries with existing kerbside collection systems does not jeopardize existing collection and recycling systems. Deposit systems supplement kerbside collection schemes and co-exist very well.

Environment ministers will be receiving a ‘regulatory impact statement’ (RIS) in a few weeks examining new packaging laws including a CDS.· After public consultation they will make a decision.· The RIS controversially includes more voluntary action by the beverage industry which will have minimal impacts on recycling and litter.

The RIS has also been criticised by environment groups as ‘another time-wasting study’ after 8 years of investigation into container deposit schemes.

[1] Note: Germany has a high deposit of 33cents AUD and we are advocating 10cents, so returns in Australia would be about 80%