In a decision seen as a slap in the face for the drink companies Coca-Cola Amatil, Lion Nathan and Schweppes, state governments have agreed to take another step towards a national ”cash for cans” recycling scheme.
The nation’s environment ministers agreed for the first time to a detailed analysis of a national scheme at a Council of Australian Governments meeting yesterday.
Among the options is a 10¢ levy on containers, cans and bottles, to be redeemed when they are collected and recycled - a move that could also reduce littering and council rubbish collection costs. That model has been hotly contested by the food and beverage industry, which says it would increase its costs.
NSW led the push for a final study into the viability of various schemes, said the state’s Environment Minister, Robyn Parker. ”We’re going to look at all the evidence in terms of economic outcomes and environmental outcomes for each state,” she said.
”At the end of this process we will be able to say to our communities in each state that we have examined this absolutely, and we can be confident about the best way to go about doing it.”
Ministers will examine three recycling plans - a joint industry-government scheme just for drink containers, an expansion of the existing industry-run approach, and the government-led cash for cans plan.
The Australian Food and Grocery Council, an industry body, claimed yesterday’s decision brought an ”expensive drink container tax” one step closer.
But a coalition of 22 green groups, the Boomerang Alliance, said it was confident the new study would show the benefits of a national recycling scheme for containers.
