The beverage and packaging industries have been accused of running a scare campaign over a proposed container deposit scheme for Western Australia.
The beverage and packaging industries have been accused of running a scare campaign over a proposed container deposit scheme for Western Australia.
Recently launched industry lobby group Responsible Recycling has stated its opposition to the introduction of a container deposit “tax”, which it says will impose a substantial cost burden on consumers.
Members of Responsible Recycling include the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA, Liquor Stores Association of WA, Wine Industry Association of WA, and the Australian Hotels Association.
According to its calculations, the price of beverages could increase by as much as 30 per cent under the scheme, lifting the cost of a carton of beer by $10 and a case of soft drink by as much as $6, assuming a 20 cent deposit fee plus handling charges.
The Boomerang Alliance, made up of environmental groups and local government associations, has labelled the campaign as “misleading and untrue,” calling for Responsible Recycling to substantiate its claims.
Alliance spokesperson Dave West said a container deposit scheme was a commonsense measure used throughout the world to increase recycling rates by adopting a polluter pays system.
But CCIWA executive director policy, Deidre Willmott, said a CDS essentially amounted to the introduction of a new tax on business and consumers.
“While the WA business community acknowledges and recognises it has an important part to play in protecting the environment and participating in recycling programs, it is firmly of the view this proposal is not the answer,” she said.
A government-commissioned stakeholder advisory group report on a CDS, released in January, recommended a container deposit fee of either 10 cents or 20 cents.
The group believed the implementation of CDS would at least double the rate of recycling for applicable containers.
WA’s recycling rate currently lags behind other states at 48 kilograms per capita, compared with Victoria (111kg/capita), New South Wales (90kg/capita), South Australia (74kg/capita) and Queensland (57kg/capita).
Liquor Stores Association of WA executive director Lindsay James said the government should look to bolster the existing kerbside-recycling scheme instead of imposing an additional cost for consumers.
He said industry was prepared to assist with community education campaigns and roadside litter clean-ups, and was also looking at the possibility of establishing a glass recycling plant in WA.
There is currently no infrastructure available in WA to recycle glass, which is transported to South Australia recycling facilities.
