Rates of Return

Forest and Bird, Volume 21, Issue 1, 1 February 1990, Page 24

Rates of Return

OST FOREST & BIRD MEMBERS will recall the days when they could return a soft drink bottle to the dairy and receive a refund. For many children collecting and returning bottles provided an important source of pocket money. Today, thanks to government reluctance to intervene in the marketplace, such incentives are history. The Ministry for the Environment has promised to review the waste problem in December 1991 to decide whether a mandatory deposit-refund system should be started. Meanwhile, across the Tasman, South Australia is living proof that such a system works. It has the highest beverage container recycling rate in Australia. It is also the only state with mandatory deposit-refund legislation on the books.

Deposits of 5c to 10c on small containers and 20c on larger ones are refunded when the containers are returned. The result? Recycling rates of more than 85 percent for bottles and 90 percent for cans. By comparison, the return rate on cans in New Zealand is a trifling 20 percent. Figures for bottles are unobtainable. In addition, the South Australian system appears to cater for enthusiasts of the "more market" approach. As Geoff Inglis, director of policy in the SA Department of Environment and Planning points out: "The legislation gives people an incentive to collect containers. It is a direct example of the polluter pays principle. Industry runs it and generally makes it as efficient or inefficient as it chooses."