Page 4723 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 31 October 2017
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redeeming containers and the opportunity for various forms of payment of the 10c refund.
The ACT government has heard much feedback from the community and looks forward to more as a result of the debate in this Assembly today. I am optimistic that this bill will be passed and that the feedback from the community can be incorporated into the territory’s container deposit scheme.
Experience from other schemes is that 80 per cent of sold beverage containers will be returned for a 10c refund. This will mean that empty containers will be returned and recycled and not littered across our streets, parks and waterways, and the community will be able to profit whilst delivering a better environment. The scheme will be funded by the beverage industry and delivered by experienced operators in the recycling and beverage industries. The scheme will be mobilised across the territory in early 2018.
The structure of the scheme emphasises the obligations of beverage manufacturers and suppliers to participate in and fund the scheme. There will be a regulatory framework which is set out in the bill to ensure that the government is able to oversee the performance of the scheme and that it delivers for the Canberra community.
An important aspect of container deposit schemes is about alignment to other states and territories. These are state-based schemes. Many other states and territories understand that these schemes are a great way to promote the recovery, reuse and recycling of empty beverage containers, and keep them out of the litter stream.
The territory’s scheme is being developed in close consultation with the New South Wales government. New South Wales is introducing a similar scheme on 1 December this year. Given that the geographic location of the territory places it effectively within New South Wales, our scheme has been designed to enable the community to access refunds for eligible containers across both jurisdictions seamlessly. It makes sense for the territory to align its scheme with New South Wales. Of course, people come and go between New South Wales and the ACT on a daily basis.
In terms of volumes, there are an estimated 3.5 billion eligible beverage containers sold into the New South Wales market each year compared with around 180 million into the ACT. This represents around five per cent of the total ACT and New South Wales combined beverage market. It is unlikely that manufacturers and suppliers will differentiate between the ACT and New South Wales in terms of any retail price adjustments due to the introduction of the scheme.
When the New South Wales scheme commences on 1 December the cost of the beverage sold in Canberra is likely to change by the same amount as the cost of a beverage sold in Queanbeyan. This bill also aligns the territory’s scheme with the existing schemes in South Australia and the Northern Territory, and upcoming schemes in Queensland and Western Australia to be introduced in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
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