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Statements made by „Clean Up Australia‟ Chairman Ian Kiernan on container deposit systems are misleading Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), Chief Executive Kate Carnell said today.
“Mr Kiernan‟s comment suggesting that there is less litter in South Australia than in other states because it has a container deposit system, is simply not true – and data from the Keep Australia Beautiful National Litter Index (NLI) proves this,” Ms Carnell said. The NLI reports on the overall average number of litter items per 1,000m2 across 151 sites on a state by state basis. The 2008-09 report showed the overall average estimated volume per 1,000m2 in South Australia was 8.02 litres, whilst in Victoria it was only 2.87 litres. “Victoria is successful in its litter prevention and recycling campaigns because the State Government takes on a holistic approach to combat the issue through three key elements - education, infrastructure and enforcement. “Victoria has good public place recycling programs which provide bins and clear signage at venues where people consume a lot of packaging. Good behaviour is encouraged and if caught doing the wrong thing and littering people are fined, it‟s that simple,” Ms Carnell said. Ms Carnell said container deposit systems did not stack up as a cost effective means of material recovery and would trash almost $70 million worth of highly successful industry-led kerbside recycling and packaging waste programs. “A national container deposit system is likely to cost about $500 million a year to run and consumers would face much higher prices - up to 14c* extra– for bottled and canned beverages, including beer and softdrinks,” Ms Carnell said. Industry and Government have been working to achieve high levels of recycling nationally for the past 10 years, through the National Packaging Covenant (NPC). Australia‟s packaging recycling rates have risen from below 40 per cent to almost 60 per cent over the past five years. The Covenant also has to capacity to divert an additional 500,000 tonnes of packaging from landfill each year. -ENDS- More information: Jo Thomas, AFGC Director Corporate Affairs 0417 667 169
* Based on a 10 cent deposit and a four cent handling fee, the cost of a carton of beer would increase by $4 to $5.
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