A consortium of green groups are pressuring the Australian government to take action on a proposed national recycling scheme for bottles and cans.
Environment ministers are scheduled to meet in Darwin to talk about the potential container bin scheme after decisions on the move were delayed last year so more research could be conducted. Under the proposal, the current 10-cent recycling fee levied on bottles and cans would be returned when the containers are brought for recycling.
At present, South Australia has been the only state to implement such a scheme. But environmental groups are calling for the government to nationalise the standard. A newly revised federal government-sponsored report said that it would cost roughly $680 million each year for the government to run the scheme.
Jeff Angel of Total Environment Centre said that the scheme would be the most effective way to increase recycling rates across the country. He said that by offering the scheme it would effectively reduce the amount of litter and increase recycling rates. Adding that the infrastructure needed for the scheme would greatly improve recycling facilities and creating thousands of jobs.
However, the Australian Food and Grocery Council spokeswoman, Kate Carnell said that $680 million is too much money to dump into such a scheme. According to Ms Carnell, putting that much money into a national scheme for a container deposit system would be silly.
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