As environment ministers await the final economic analysis on a national container deposit system(CDS), a recently released study has confirmed significant savings for local councils.*
“Some members of the beverage and packaging industry have attempted a scare campaign saying that councils will be disadvantaged by a CDS,” said Jeff Angel, national convenor of the Boomerang Alliance. However, this latest study* backs up the findings of the last five government-initiated reports: local councils will benefit by reduced collection costs. As well, there is a significant increase in value of remnant material in kerbside because the bottles and cans each have a 10-cent deposit.
“The study has important implications for the economic work being done for environment ministers who will soon decide whether to adopt a CDS.
“It calls into question the findings of a recent report by the Equilibrium group for Sustainability Victoria**, that claimed some metro councils would be financially disadvantaged by a CDS. This study stated there could be no change in collection costs. However, the new data clearly shows this is wrong. It also omitted payments to MRF made under the Boomerang model.”
“Controversially, the Equilibrium report failed to include savings in sorting and processing in its primary findings – strangely, an appendix in this report did calculate such savings and found local councils would save a net $4.59 million per year!
“The beverage industry and their allies should stop disseminating misleading or incomplete analysis. The demand for a national CDS will not go away with such studies and the more there is a delay in a decision – the more industry will face the risk of multiple state based schemes as Tasmanian now looks like being the next state to go it alone.”
* The study by Anne Prince Consultants (2012) shows that the absence of glass bottles in kerbside due to a CDS allows improved compaction rates and less transport and labour costs without adversely affecting resource recovery. ‘Optimum Compaction Rate for Kerbside Recyclables’.
**Equilibrium (2012), ‘The financial impacts of Container Deposit Legislation to local governments in Victoria’. (106)
