Media Release: NSW councils in favour of Container Deposit Legislation

9 March 2012

The Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW have slammed a report on the impact of Container Deposit Legislation (CDL) on councils by the National Packaging Covenant Industry Association (NPCIA) as completely misleading and ill-informed.

President of the Shires Association of NSW, Cr Ray Donald, said container deposit systems are cost-effective and offer high-returns as proven in the US, Canada and Europe, as well as Australia.

"Discarded beverage containers continue to pose a real problem for our rural and regional communities - both environmentally and financially," said Cr Donald.

"Despite what the beverage and retail industry lobby group NPCIA asserts, a container deposit scheme would help reduce litter, save millions of dollars in clean-up costs for councils, lower greenhouse gas emissions and help protect local wildlife, especially marine animals."

"There is plenty of existing infrastructure that can easily be adapted to accept containers and there is a lot of community support for this important issue."

"The release of this flawed study is a desperate attempt by the beverage industry to maintain the status quo at the expense of improved waste and recycling services for local communities," said Cr Donald.

President of the Local Government Association of NSW, Cr Keith Rhoades AFSM, said there is unanimous support by NSW councils for the introduction of a container deposit scheme.

"How the NPCIA can assert that introducing CDL will have no impact on waste management costs to councils is beyond me. Especially when their own report acknowledges that NSW Local Government spends millions of dollars each year dealing with waste and litter, which includes a high proportion of containers," said Cr Rhoades.

"Furthermore, one has to wonder why the NPCIA would survey council staff from every state in Australia, and exclude South Australia which has had an effective container deposit scheme in place since the 1970s."

"NSW Local Government certainly won't be taking the advice or listening to the far-fetched assertions of NPCIA, which has produced a badly researched, selectively analysed and sloppy report."

"It's time for the producers of non-biodegradable container packing to take responsibility for the recycling of their product, instead of passing the buck on to councils!"

Media Enquiries

Cr Keith Rhoades AFSM         President, Local Government Association: 0408 256 405

Cr Ray Donald                         President, Shires Association: 0438 699 910

Alex Power                               LGSA senior Media Officer: 0408 603 093