Page 4724 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 31 October 2017
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It is important that the beverage industry is not negatively impacted by numerous and differing schemes and requirements. The ACT government has had, and will continue, discussions with other states and territories to ensure that all jurisdictions’ schemes are aligned to assist industry and reduce confusion in the community.
As soon as possible following the passing of this bill I intend to enter into agreements with a scheme coordinator and a network operator who will work together to deliver the CDS scheme on the ground. The scheme coordinator will manage the funding and administration of the scheme. This will include ensuring payments are received from the beverage industry to fund the scheme and that container refunds are passed through to the community when returning empty beverage containers.
The scheme coordinator will also monitor progress towards container recovery targets and be responsible for auditing and verifying the scheme to minimise the potential for fraud. The network operator will manage the day-to-day operations of the scheme, ensuring that bottles, cans and all eligible containers are able to be redeemed quickly for a 10c refund at conveniently located container collection points.
The network operator may operate collection points or they may also enter into agreements with collection point operators where it will pay collection point operators the refund amount, as well as a handling fee, for containers redeemed. These collection point operators could be a social enterprise business, a charity or a community group. The scheme will therefore provide another source of potential benefit to these groups.
The scheme agreements will include incentives for good performance. This could include provisions to allow a contract to be extended due to good performance. On the other hand, penalties will apply if requirements or performance targets are not met, including community access targets and opening hours.
To ensure the integrity of the scheme, a detailed verification system will be required to substantiate the number of containers redeemed. Without such verification, it may be easy for collection points to inflate the number of containers collected.
The regulatory framework underpinning the scheme has penalties for fraudulent behaviour or misreporting. This includes people seeking to claim refunds for containers which are not eligible under the scheme, for double claiming or for claiming a larger than normal number of containers without substantial proof of purchase.
The scheme will have a robust auditing framework, implemented by the scheme coordinator and overseen by the territory. This will ensure that beverage manufacturers and suppliers are only paying refunds for containers redeemed through the scheme and that handling fees are kept to a minimum.
The scheme will have a high level of transparency and accountability. There will be an annual report prepared by the scheme coordinator which will be tabled in the
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